IV

He came in again on Sunday, but Burleigh and other men were there; and

as the Senate had adjourned until the fifth, there was no excuse for

him to call at the late hour when she was sure to be alone; so he

dropped in twice to luncheon, and they went for a long walk in Rock

Creek Park afterward. On one of these occasions Sally Carter joined

them; and on the other, although but for the occasional passer-by they

were alone for two hours in the wild beauty of rocky gorges and winter

woods, they talked of war and Spain. He left her at the door.

On Thursday night she was to have her dinner, and in spite of her

stormy inner life she felt a pleasurable nervousness as the hour

approached; for on its results depended the colour of her future. With

love or without it she had to live on, and if she could see the way to

serve her country, to preserve some of its higher ideals as well as to

win a distinguished position, she had no doubt that in time she should

find resignation.

All her invitations but one had been accepted: the British Ambassador

was attending a diplomatic dinner, but would come in later. Betty was

not altogether regretful, for the question of precedence, with all her

personages, was sufficiently complicated. The Speaker ranked the

Senators, but there were eight Senators to be disposed of with tact;

they might overlook a mistake, but their wives or daughters would not.

She had spared no pains to honour her guests. She still scorned the

plutocratic multiplication of flowers until they seemed to rattle like

the dollars they stood for, but the table looked very beautiful, and

the silver and china and crystal had endured through several

generations. Some of it had been used in the White House in the days

when it was an honour to have a President in one's family. Her father's

wine-cellar had been celebrated, and she had employed connoisseurs in

its replenishment ever since the duties of entertaining had devolved

upon her. She also had her own _chef,_ and knew with what satisfaction

he filled the culinary brain-cells of the patient diner out in

Washington. All the lower house was softly lit with candles; except her

boudoir, which was dark and locked.

She wore a gown of apple-green satin which looked simple and was not.

Mrs. Madison was like an exquisite miniature, in satin of a pinkish

gray hue, trimmed with much Alencon, a collar of diamonds, and a pink

spray in her soft white hair. Her blue eyes were very bright, and there

was a pink colour in her cheeks, but she looked better than she felt.

She was, indeed, hot and cold by turns, and she held herself with a

majesty of mien which only a tiny woman can accomplish.

Sally Carter was the first to arrive, and looked remarkably well in her

black velvet of Custom House indignities. The Montgomerys followed, and

Lady Mary wore the azure and white in which she appeared harmless and

undiplomatic. No one was more than ten minutes late, and at eight

o'clock the party was seated about the great round table in the

dining-room.

Senator North sat on Betty's right, Senator Ward on her left. Next to

that astute diplomatist was the lady in azure and white, whom he

admired profoundly and understood thoroughly. She never knew the latter

half of his attitude, however. He was a gallant American, and delighted

to indulge a pretty woman in her fads and ambitions. Mrs. Madison

achieved resignation between the Speaker of the House and Senator

Maxwell, and Sally Carter was paired with Senator March.

Betty had meditated several hours over the placing of her guests, and

had invited as many pretty and charming women as the matrimonial

entanglements of her statesmen would permit. Fortunately it was early

in the year, and a number of wives had tarried behind their husbands.

The family portraits on the dark old walls had not looked down upon so

brilliant a gathering for half a century, and Betty's eyes sparkled and

she lifted her head, her nostrils dilating. The light in her inner life

burned low, and her brain was luminous with the excitement of the hour.

And as he was beside her, there really was no cause for repining.

At once the talk was all of war. Washington, like the rest of the

country, did not rise to its highest pitch of excitement until after

the destruction of the _Maine_, but no other subject could hold its

interest for long. In ordinary conditions politics are barely mentioned

when the most political city in the world is in evening dress, but war

is a microbe.

"I am for it," announced Lady Mary, "if only to give you a chance to

find out whom your friends are."

"There is nothing in the history of human nature or of nations to

disprove that our friends of to-day may be our enemies of to-morrow,"

observed Senator North.

"I believe you hate England."

"On the contrary, I am probably the best friend she has in the Senate.

My mission is to forestall the hate which leads so many ardent but

ill-mated couples into the divorce courts."

"Well, you will see," said Lady Mary, mysteriously.

"I do not doubt it," said Senator North, smiling. "And we shall be

grateful. If the circumstances ever are reversed, we shall do as much

for her."

"How much?"

"That will depend upon the quality of statesmanship in both Houses."

"I wish you would explain what you mean by that." Lady Mary's wide

voice was too well trained to sharpen. Her cold blue eyes wore the

dreamy expression of their most active moments.

"I wish I knew whether the statesmen of the future were to be Populists

or Republicans."

"Well, whatever you mean you have no sentiment."

"I have no sentimentalism."

Lady Mary shrugged her shoulders and turned to Senator Ward. She knew

better than to talk politics to him before dinner was two thirds over,

but she bent her pretty head to him, and gave him her distinguished

attentions while he re-invigorated his weary brain. He smiled

encouragingly.

"The statesmen of the future will be Populists, Senator," announced

Betty's last recruit, a man with a keen sharply cut face and a slightly

nasal though not displeasing voice. He was forty and looked thirty.

"The Populist will have called himself so many things by that time that

'statesman' will do as well as any other," growled the Speaker. "'The

Statesmen's Party' would sound well, and would be worthy of the noble

pretensions of your leader."

"Well, they are noble," said Armstrong tartly, but glad of the

opportunity to talk back to the personage who treated him in the House

as a Czar treats a minion. "We are the only party that is ready to

cling to the Constitution as if it were the rock of ages."

"Well, you've clung so hard you've turned it upside down, and the new

inventions and patent improvements you've stuccoed it with will do for

the 'Statesmen's Party,' but not for the United States--Madam?"

Mrs. Madison had touched his arm timidly, and asked him if he liked

terrapin. Her colour was deeper, but she exerted herself to keep the

attention of this huge personality whom a poor worm might be tempted to

assassinate.

Senator Burleigh's voice rose above the chatter. "Who would be a

Western Senator?" he said plaintively. "My colleague and I received a

document today, signed by two thousand of our constituents, the entire

population of an obscure but determined town, in which we were ordered

to acknowledge the belligerency of the Cubans at once or expect to be

tarred and feathered upon our return. The climate of my State is

excellent for consumption, but bad for nerves. Doubtless most of these

men come of good New England stock, whose relatives 'back East' would

never think of doing such a thing; but the intoxicating climate they

have been inhaling for half a generation, to say nothing of the raw

conditions, makes them want to fight creation."

Senator Maxwell, who had more of the restlessness of youth than the

repose of age, threw back his silver head and gave his little irritated

laugh. "That is it," he said. "It is the lust of blood that possesses

the United States. They don't know it. They call it sympathy; but their

blood is aching for a fight, so that they can read the exciting horrors

of it in the newspapers. You might as well reason with mad dogs."

"I shall not attempt to reason with my kennel," said Burleigh. "In the

present congested state of the mails this particular memorial has gone

astray."

"The trials of a Senator!" cried Sally Carter. "Petitions and

lobbyists, election clouds, fractious and dishonest legislatures,

unprincipled bosses and the country gone mad!"

"I can give you a list as long as my arm," said Senator March, grimly;

"and you may believe it or not, but it is all I can do to walk in my

Committee-room and I haven't a chair to sit on. I live under a

snow-storm of petitions, memorials, and resolutions. I expect to see

them come flying through the window, and I dream of nothing else."

Betty had taken part in the general conversation until the last few

moments, but as it concentrated on the subject of Cuban autonomy and

her guests ceased to appeal to her, she fell into conversation with

Senator North, who she knew would be willing to dispense with politics

for a few moments.

"You have no idea how I miss Jack Emory," she said. "He half lived with

us, you know, and I am always expecting to meet him in the hall. When I

was writing my invitations I caught myself beginning a note, 'Dear

Jack.' It is uncanny."

"It is the only revenge the dead have; and doubtless it is this vivid

after life of theirs in memory that is at the root of the belief in

ghosts. You say that you are going to open your _salon_ every year with

a dinner to the original members. It will be interesting to watch the

two faces in some of the seats--if you attempt to fill the vacant

chairs."

Betty pressed her handkerchief against her lips, for she knew they had

turned white. She was but twenty-eight, and if her _salon_ was the

success it promised to be she would sit at the head of this table for

twenty-eight years to come, and then have compassed fewer years than

the man beside her. She had refused resolutely to permit her thought to

dwell on the tragic difference in their ages, a difference that had no

meaning now, but would symbolize death and desolation hereafter; but

her mind had moments of abrupt insight that no Will could conquer, and

not long since she had gasped and covered her face with her hands.

"That was brutal of me," he said hurriedly. "Your dinner is the

brilliant success that it deserves to be, and you should be permitted

to be entirely happy. There is not a bored face, and if they are all

jabbering about the everlasting subject, so much the better for you. It

gives your _salon_ its political character at once; you would have had

a hard time getting them to begin on bimetallism and the census--perish

the thought! Ward is now making Lady Mary think that she is a greater

diplomatist than himself. Maxwell and the Speaker are wrangling across

your mother, who looks alarmed; Burleigh is flirting desperately with

Miss Alice Maxwell, who is purring upon his senatorial vanity; your

Populist is breaking out into the turgid rhetoric of Mr. Bryan; French

has persuaded that charming English girl that he is the most literary

man in America, and Miss Carter is condoling with March about an

ungrateful State. So be happy, my darling, be happy."

His voice had dropped suddenly. She made an involuntary movement toward

him.

"I am," she said below her breath. "I am." She added in a moment, "Will

you always come to my Thursday evenings, no matter what happens?"

"Always."

He had turned slightly, and one hand was on his knee. She slipped hers

into it recklessly; they were safe in the crowd, and her hand ached for

his. It ached from the grasp it received, for he was a man whose

self-control was absolute or non-existent. But she clung to him as long

as she dared, and when she withdrew her hand she sought for distraction

in her company.

It looked as gay and happy as if war had been invented to animate

conversation and make a bored people feel dramatic. Death was close

upon the heels of two of the distinguished men present; but even though

the eyes of the soul be raised everlastingly to the world above, they

are blind to the portal. The busy member who had incurred Miss Carter's

disapproval and the brilliant Librarian of Congress were among the

liveliest at the feast.

It was Senator Ward at one end of the table and Burleigh at the other,

who finally started the topic of Miss Madison's intended _salon_, not

only that those unacquainted with her ambition might be enlightened,

but that the great intention should receive a concrete form without

further delay. A half-hour later, when the women left the table, Betty

had the satisfaction of knowing that whatever the final result of her

venture, her stand was as fully recognized as if she had written a book

and found a publisher and critics to advertise her.

V

Betty went to the Senate Gallery on the following day at the request of

Armstrong, and heard an exposition of the Populist religion by the

benevolent-looking bore from Nebraska. He was followed by an

arraignment of the "gold standard Administration" and the Republican

Party, from the leading advocate of bimetallism

with-or-without-the-concurrence-of-Europe. The utterances of both

gentlemen were delivered with the repose and dignity peculiar to their

body, and Patriotism and the Constitution would appear to be their

watchword and fetish. Burleigh came up to the gallery as the Silver

Senator sat down, and smiled wearily at Betty's puzzled comments.

"Of course they sound well," he replied. "In the first place there is

always much to be said on both sides of any question, and a clever

speaker can make his side dwarf the other. And of course no party could

exist five minutes unless it had some good in it. There are several

admirable principles in the Populist creed; there are enough windy

theories to upset the Constitution of which they prate; and, by the

way, the more wrong-headed a would-be statesman is the more

hysterically does he plead for the Constitution. As to the other

Senator--I sympathize as deeply with the farmer as any man, and I hoped

against hope for the success of the bimetallic envoys; but the farmer

is of considerably less importance than the national honour; and if a

man is not statesman enough to take the national view when he comes to

the Senate, he had better stay at home and become a party boss."

"Are you in trouble at home? I saw that you made a speech just before

you left."

"They are furious, and elections are imminent; but I never have

believed that it paid in the end to be a politician, and I propose to

hold to that view. If I am not re-elected this time, I will venture to

say that I shall be six years later--"

"Oh, I should be sorry! I should be sorry! Your heart is in the Senate.

How could you settle down contentedly to practise law in a Western city

for six years?"

"I certainly should have very little to offer a woman," he said

bitterly. His frank handsome face had lost the expression of gayety

which had sat so gracefully upon the determination of its contours; he

looked harassed and a trifle cynical. "There is only one thing I hate

more than leaving the United States Senate--and God knows I love it and

its traditions: what that is I feel I now have no right--"

"Oh, yes, you have; for if I loved you I would live at the North Pole

with you, and I hate cold weather. I don't want you to put me in that

sort of position, both for the sake of your own pride and for our

friendship."

"That is like you, and I shall take you at your word. Perhaps you can

imagine what it cost me to come out and declare myself in a State

howling for Silver, when I knew that to leave Washington meant losing

my chance with you. For if I am not re-elected I must go out there and

stay. I could afford to live here, of course--I hope you know that I

have plenty of money--but my political future is there. Even if you

made it a condition, I should not pull up stakes, for a man who

despised himself for abandoning his ambitions and his power for

usefulness could not be happy with any woman."

"I should not make such a condition. As I said, I willingly would go

West with you if I loved you."

"Would to God you did! What I meant was that in going I lose my chance."

Betty looked at him and shook her head slowly.

"Yes!" he said. "Yes! Yes! I believe, I know that I could win you with

time. And now that the future looks dark I want you more than ever."

"Ah, I wish I could love you," she exclaimed fervently. "I have enough

of feminine insight to know that a woman is really happy only when she

is making a man happy, and that she is almost ready to bless the

troubles which give her the opportunity to console him."

She was looking straight down at Senator North as she spoke. Her voice

was impassioned as she finished, and she forgot the man at her side.

But he never had suspected that she loved another man. His face flushed

and he lowered his head eagerly.

"Betty!" he said, "Betty! Come to me and I swear to make you happy. You

don't know what love is. You need to be taught. Any man can make a

woman of feeling love him if he loves her enough and she has no

antipathy to him. And there is no reason under heaven why we should not

be happy together."

There was only one. Betty was convinced of that; and for the moment the

dull ache in her heart prompted her to wish that she never had seen the

man down there listening impassively to remarks on the Immigration

bill. She wanted to be happy, she was made to be happy, and it was easy

to imagine the most exacting woman deeply attached to Robert Burleigh.

What was love that it defied the Will? Why could not she shake up her

brain as one shakes up a misused sofa-cushion and beat it into proper

shape? What was love that persisted in spite of the Will and the

judgment, that came whence no mortal could discover, but an abnormal

condition of the brain, a convolution that no human treatment could

reach? But she only shook her head at Burleigh, although she knew that

it would be wisdom to give him her hand in full view of the stragglers

in the gallery.

"I must go now," she said. "I have calls to pay. Come and dine with us

to-night. If there is even a chance of our losing you, my mother and I

must have all of you that we can, meanwhile."