THE WOMAN I LOVED
THE crucial moment had arrived, and I think my heart actually stopped
beating as I stood gazing helplessly into her face. I saw her eyes open
wide in astonished recognition, and then a deep flush swept over throat
and cheek. For the instant I believed she would not speak, or that she
would give way to her excitement and betray everything. I durst give
no signal of warning, for there existed no tie between us to warrant my
expecting any consideration from her. It was an instant so tense that
her silence seemed like a blow. Yet it was only an instant. Then her
eyes smiled into mine most frankly, and her hand was extended.
“I am more than delighted to meet you, Colonel Curran,” she said calmly,
although I could feel her lips tremble to the words, while the fingers
I held were like ice. “Myrtle was one of my dearest friends, and she
chanced to be in my mind even as we met. That was why,” she added,
turning toward Miss Minor, as though she felt her momentary agitation
had not passed unobserved, “I was so surprised when you first presented
Colonel Curran.”
“I confess to having felt strangely myself,” returned the other, archly,
“although I believe I concealed my feelings far better than you did,
Edith. Really, I thought you were going to faint. It must be that
Colonel Curran exercises some strange occult influence over the weaker
sex. Perhaps he is the seventh son of a seventh son; are you, Colonel?
However, dear, I am safe for the present from his mysterious spell, and
you will be compelled to face the danger alone, as here comes Lieutenant
Hammersmith to claim the dance I've promised him.”
Before Mrs. Brennan could interfere, the laughing girl had placed her
hand on the Lieutenant's blue sleeve, and, with a mocking good-bye flung
backward over her shoulder, vanished in the crowd, leaving us standing
there alone.
The lady waited in such apparent indifference, gently tapping the floor
with her neatly shod foot, her eyes wandering carelessly over the throng
in our front, that I felt utterly at sea. Evidently she had no intention
of addressing me, yet I could not continue to stand there beside her in
silence like a fool. That she possessed a pretty temper I already knew,
but better a touch of that than this silent disdain.
“Would you be exceedingly angry if I were to ask you to dance?” I
questioned, stealing surreptitiously a glance at her proudly averted
face.
“Angry? Most assuredly not,” in apparent surprise. “Yet I trust you will
not ask me. I have been upon the floor only once to-night. I am not at
all in the mood.”
The words were not encouraging, yet they served to break the ice, and I
was never easily daunted.
“If there were chairs here I should venture to ask even a greater
favor--that you would consent to sit out this set with me.”
She turned slightly, lifted her eyes inquiringly to mine, and her face
lightened.
“No doubt we might discover seats without difficulty, in the anteroom,”
she answered, indicating the direction by a glance. “There do not
appear to be many 'sitters-out' at this ball, and the few who do are not
crowded.”
If the pendulum of hope and despair swings one way, the unalterable
laws of mental gravitation compel it to go just as far the other, and
although I do not remember uttering so much as a word while we traversed
the crowded floor and gained entrance to the smaller room beyond, yet my
heart was singing a song of the deepest hope. The apartment contained,
as she prophesied, but few occupants, and I conducted her to the
farther end of it, where we found a comfortable divan and no troublesome
neighbors.
As I glanced at her now, I marked a distinct change in her face. The old
indifference, so well assumed while we were in the presence of others,
had utterly vanished as by magic, and she sat looking at me in anxious
yet impetuous questioning.
“Captain Wayne,” she exclaimed, her eyes never once leaving my face,
“what does this mean? this masquerade? this wearing of the Federal
uniform? this taking of another's name? this being here at all?”
“If I should say that I came hoping to see you again,” I answered,
scarce knowing how best to proceed or how far to put confidence in her,
“what would you think?”
The color flamed quickly into her cheeks, but the clear eyes never
faltered. They seemed to read my very soul.
“If that is true, that you were extremely foolish to take such a
risk for so small a reward,” she returned calmly. “Nor, under these
circumstances, would I remain here so much as a moment to encourage you.
But it is not true. This is no light act; your very life must lie in the
balance, or you could never assume such risk. Doubtless you hesitate to
trust me fully, but I assure you you need not, for you have placed me
under certain personal obligations which I have no desire to ignore.
Captain Wayne, you are in trouble, in danger--will you not tell me all,
and permit me to aid you by every means in my power?”
“I would trust you gladly with my life or my honor,” I replied soberly.
“If I had less faith in you I should not be here now.”
She started slightly at the words, and for an instant her eyes fell.
“Your life?” she questioned, “do you mean that is in the balance?”
“I understand that I am condemned to be shot as a spy at daybreak.”
“Shot? On what authority? Who told you?”
“On the order of General Sheridan. My informant was Lieutenant Caton, of
his staff.”
“Shot? As a spy? Why, it surely cannot be! Frank said--Captain Wayne,
believe me, I knew absolutely nothing of all this. Do not think I should
ever have rested if I had dreamed that you were held under so false a
charge. I promised you I would see General Sheridan on your behalf.”
“Yes,” I assented hastily, for her agitation was so great I feared it
might attract the attention of others. “I remember you said so at the
time of my arrest, but supposed you had either forgotten or had found
your intercession fruitless.”
“Why, how you must have despised me! Forgotten?”--her eyes filled
instantly with tears. “Not for an hour, Captain Wayne, but Frank--” she
bit her lip impatiently--“I was told, that is, I was led to believe
that you were--had been sent North as a prisoner of war late last night.
Otherwise I should have insisted upon seeing you--on pleading your cause
with the General himself. The Major and I breakfasted with him this
morning, but your name was not mentioned, for I believed you safe.”
She did not appear to realize, so deep was her present indignation and
regret, that my hand had found a resting-place upon her own.
“You must believe me, Captain Wayne; I could not bear to have you feel
that I could prove such an ingrate.”
“You need never suppose I should think that,” I replied, with an
earnestness of manner that caused her to glance at me in surprise. “I
confidently expected to hear from you all day, and finally when no word
came I became convinced some such misconception as you have mentioned
must have occurred. Then it became my turn to act upon my own behalf if
I would preserve my life; yet never for one moment have I doubted you or
the sincerity of your pledge to me.”
She drew her hand away from my clasp, gently and not unkindly, then
passed it through the masses of her dark, shining hair, but her face
remained turned aside from me. Oh, how I longed at that moment to pour
forth in fervent words the affection that burned within my heart! But
irrespective of the doubt as to her being free to listen to such a
declaration, there was a pride about her manner, a certain restraint
which she ever seemed to exercise over me, that effectually sealed my
lips. Her very presence was a moral tonic, and I felt it would be easier
to tear out my tongue than to utter anything which she could construe
into possible insult. The very depth of her perfect womanhood was itself
protection, and, until the veil was finally lifted, my lips were vowed
to silence.
She waited quietly while a couple passed us and sought seats nearer the
door.
“Tell me the entire story,” she said gently.
As quickly as possible I reviewed the salient events which had occurred
since our last meeting. Without denying the presence of Major Brennan
during my stormy meeting with General Sheridan, I did not dwell upon it,
nor mention the personal affray that had occurred between us. Even had
I not supposed the man to be her husband I should never have taken
advantage of his treachery to advance my own cause. God knows I have
enough failings to account for, but I have never done my fighting in the
dark. Neither did I speak of the information I now sought to bring to
Lee, for her sympathy, her interest, her loyalty, were all with the
opposing army. She followed my narrative eagerly, her eyes growing
darker with intensity of interest as I depicted our eventful climb
up the black chimney, and my venture down the stairs into the crowded
ballroom. As I concluded there was a tear glistening on her long lashes,
but she seemed unconscious of it, and made no attempt to dash it away.
“You have not told me all,” she commented quietly. “But I can understand
and appreciate the reason for your silence. I know Frank's impetuosity,
and you are very kind, Captain Wayne, to spare my feelings, but you must
not remain here; every moment of delay increases your danger. Sheridan
and those of his staff who would surely recognize you were expected back
before this, and may appear at any moment--yet how can you get away? how
is it possible for me to assist you?”
There was an eager anxiety in her face that piqued me. Like most lovers
I chose to give it a wrong interpretation.
“You are anxious to be rid of me?” I asked, ashamed of the words even as
I uttered them.
“That remark is unworthy of you,” and she arose to her feet almost
haughtily. “My sole thought in this is the terrible risk you incur in
remaining here.”
“Your interest then is personal to me, may I believe?”
“I am a loyal woman,” proudly, “and would do nothing whatever to imperil
the cause of my country; but your condemnation is unjust, and I am, in
a measure, responsible for it. I assist you, Captain Wayne, for your own
sake, and in response to my individual sense of honor.”
God knows I could not speak, although my heart seemed bursting within my
bosom. By sheer power of her will, her pride, her perfect womanhood, she
held me from her as though a wall divided us. Not for an instant did she
permit me to forget that she was the wife of another.
“Have you formulated any plan?” she asked quickly, and her rising color
made me feel that she had deciphered my struggle in my eyes.
“Only to walk out under protection of this uniform, and when once
safe in the open to trust that same good fortune which has thus far
befriended me.”
She shook her head doubtfully, and stood a moment in silence, looking
thoughtfully at the moving figures in the room beyond.
“I fear it cannot be done without arousing suspicion,” she said at last,
slowly. “I chance to know there are unusual precautions being taken
to-night, and the entire camp is doubly patrolled. Even this house has a
cordon of guards about it, but for what reason I have not learned. No,”
she spoke decisively, “there is no other way. Captain Wayne, I am going
to try to save you to-night, but in doing so I must trust my reputation
in your keeping.”
“I will protect it with my life.”
“Protect it with your silence, rather. I know you to be a gentleman, or
I should never attempt to carry out the only means of escape which seems
at all feasible. Discovery would place me in an extremely embarrassing
position, and I must rely upon you to protect me from such a
possibility.”
“I beg you,” I began, “do not compromise yourself in any way for my
sake.”
“But I am myself already deeply involved in this,” she interrupted, “and
I could retain no peace of mind were I to do otherwise. Now listen.
Make your way back to the ballroom, and in fifteen minutes from now be
engaged in conversation with General Carlton near the main entrance.
I shall join you there, and you will take your cue from me. You
understand?”
“Perfectly, but--”
“There is no 'but,' Captain Wayne, only do not fail me.”
Our eyes met for an instant; what she read in mine God knows--in hers
was determination, with a daring strange to woman. The next moment she
had vanished through a side door, and I was alone.