A MODERN MARANA.
My journey westward was an eventful one; but this is not a "History of
Tom Jones," and I shall refrain from detail. Denver I reached at last,
after a week's stop-over in Kansas City. It was a delightful
adventure--but it had nothing to do with the story.
I left the train at the Rocky Mountain city about the middle of the
afternoon. And now, what to do? I think I am not a fool, but I
certainly lack the training of a detective, and I felt perfectly
rudderless and helpless as I ordered the taxi-driver to take me to the
Alcazar Hotel.
I was by no means sure that Harry had come to Denver. He was traveling
with a bundle of animated caprice, a creature who would have hauled him
off the train at Rahway, New Jersey, if she had happened to take a
fancy to the place. At the moment, I reflected, they might be driving
along Michigan Boulevard, or attending a matinee at the Willis Wood, or
sipping mint juleps at the Planters'.
Even if they were in Denver, how was I to find them? I keenly
regretted the week I had lost. I was sure that Harry would avoid any
chance of publicity and would probably shun the big hotels. And Denver
is not a village.
It was the beauty of Le Mire that saved me. Indeed, I might have
foreseen that; and I have but poorly portrayed the force of her
unmatchable fascination unless you have realized that she was a woman
who could pass nowhere without being seen; and, seen, remembered.
I made inquiries of the manager of the hotel, of course, but was
brought up sharply when he asked me the names of my friends for whom I
was asking. I got out of it somehow, some foolish evasion or other,
and regarded my task as more difficult than ever.
That same evening I dined at the home of my cousin, Hovey Stafford, who
had come West some years before on account of weak lungs, and stayed
because he liked it. I met his wife that evening for the first time;
she may be introduced with the observation that if she was his reason
for remaining in the provinces, never did man have a better one.
We were on the veranda with our after-dinner cigars. I was
congratulating Hovey on the felicity of his choice and jocularly
sympathizing with his wife.
"Yes," said my cousin, with a sigh, "I never regretted it till last
week. It will never be the same again."
Mrs. Hovey looked at him with supreme disdain.
"I suppose you mean Senora Ramal," said she scornfully.
Her husband, feigning the utmost woe, nodded mournfully; whereupon she
began humming the air of the Chanson du Colonel, and was stopped by a
smothering kiss.
"And who is the Senora Ramal?" I asked.
"The most beautiful woman in the world," said Mrs. Hovey.
This from a woman who was herself beautiful! Amazing! I suppose my
face betrayed my thought.
"It isn't charity," she smiled. "Like John Holden, I have seen
fire-balloons by the hundred, I have seen the moon, and--then I saw no
more fire-balloons."
"But who is she?"
Hovey explained. "She is the wife of Senor Ramal. They came here some
ten days ago, with letters to one or two of the best families, and
that's all we know about them. The senora is an entrancing mixture of
Cleopatra, Sappho, Helen of Troy, and the devil. She had the town by
the ears in twenty-four hours, and you wouldn't wonder at it if you saw
her."
Already I felt that I knew, but I wanted to make sure.
"Byron has described her," I suggested, "in Childe Harold."
"Hardly," said Hovey. "No midnight beauty for hers, thank you. Her
hair is the most perfect gold. Her eyes are green; her skin remarkably
fair. What she may be is unknowable, but she certainly is not Spanish;
and, odder still, the senor himself fits the name no better."
But I thought it needless to ask for a description of Harry; for I had
no doubt of the identity of Senor Ramal and his wife. I pondered over
the name, and suddenly realized that it was merely "Lamar" spelled
backward!
The discovery removed the last remaining shadow of doubt.
I asked in a tone of assumed indifference for their hotel, expressing a
desire to meet them--and was informed by Hovey that they had left
Denver two days previously, nor did he know where they had gone.
Thus did I face another obstacle. But I was on the track; and the
perfume of a woman's beauty is the strongest scent in the world as well
as the sweetest. I thanked my cousin for a pleasant evening--though he
did not know the extent of my debt to him--and declined his urgent
invitation to have my luggage brought to his home.
On my way to the hotel I was struck by a sudden thought: Senor Ramal
could not be my brother or my cousin would have recognized him! But I
immediately reflected that the two had not seen each other for some ten
years, at which time Harry had been a mere boy.
The following morning, with little difficulty, I ascertained the fact
that the Ramals had departed--at least ostensibly--for Colorado Springs.
I followed. That same evening, when I registered at the Antlers Hotel,
a few minutes before the dinner hour, I turned over two pages of the
book, and there before me was the entry, "Senor and Senora Ramal,
Paris." It was in Harry's handwriting.
After dinner--a most excellent dinner, with melons from La Junta and
trout from the mountain streams--I descended on the hotel clerk with
questions. He was most obliging--a sharp, pleasant fellow, with
prominent ears and a Rocky Mountain twang.
"Senor and Senora Ramal? Most assuredly, sir. They have been here
several days. No, they are not now in the hotel. They left this
afternoon for Manitou, to take dinner there, and are going to make the
night trip up the Peak."
An idea immediately suggested itself to me. They would, of course,
return to the hotel in the morning. All I had to do was to sit down
and wait for them; but that would have been dull sport. My idea was
better.
I sought out the hotel's wardrobe--there is nothing the Antlers will
not do for you--and clothed myself in khaki, leggings, and boots. Then
I ordered a car and set out for Manitou, at the foot of the mountain.
By ten o'clock I was mounted on a donkey, headed for the top, after
having been informed by a guide that "the man and the beautiful lady"
had departed an hour previous.
Having made the ascent twice before, I needed no guide. So I decided;
but I regretted the decision. Three times I lost the path; once I came
perilously near descending on the village below--well, without
hesitation. It was well after midnight when I passed the Half-way
House, and I urged my donkey forward with a continual rat-a-tat-tat of
well-directed kicks in the effort to make my goal.
You who have experienced the philosophical calm and superb indifference
of the Pike's Peak donkey may imagine the vocabulary I used on this
occasion--I dare not print it. Nor did his speed increase.
I was, in fact, a quarter of an hour late. I was still several hundred
yards from the summit when the sun's first rays shot through the thin
atmosphere, creating colorful riot among the clouds below, and I
stopped, holding my breath in awe.
There is no art nor poetry in that wonderful sight; it is glorious war.
The sun charges forth in a vast flame of inconceivable brilliance; you
can almost hear the shout of victory. He who made the universe is no
artist; too often He forgets restraint, and blinds us.
I turned, almost regretting that I had come, for I had been put out of
tune with my task. Then I mounted the donkey and slowly traversed the
few remaining yards to the Peak.
There, seated in the dazzling sunshine on the edge of a huge boulder
near the eastern precipice, were the two I sought.
Le Mire's head was turned from me as she sat gazing silently at the
tumbling, gorgeous mass of clouds that seemed almost to be resting on
her lap; Harry was looking at her. And such a look!
There was no rival even in nature that could conquer Le Mire; never, I
believe, did woman achieve a more notable victory than hers of that
morning. I watched them for several minutes before I moved or spoke;
and never once did Harry's eyes leave her face.
Then I advanced a step, calling his name; and they turned and caught
sight of me.
"Paul!" cried Harry, leaping to his feet; then he stopped short and
stared at me half defiantly, half curiously, moving close to Le Mire
and placing his hand on her shoulder like a child clinging to a toy.
His companion had not moved, except to turn her head; but after the
first swift shadow of surprise her face brightened with a smile of
welcome, for all the world as though this were a morning call in her
boudoir.
"Senor and Senora Ramal, I believe?" said I with a smile, crossing to
them with an exaggerated bow.
I could see Harry cocking his ear to catch the tone of my first words,
and when he heard their friendliness a grin overspread his face. He
took his hand from Le Mire's shoulder and held it out to me.
"How did you come here? How did you find us?"
"You forgot to provide Le Mire with a veil," said I by way of answer.
Harry looked at me, then at his companion. "Of course," he agreed--"of
course. By Jove! that was stupid of us."
Whereupon Le Mire laughed with such frank enjoyment of the boy's
simplicity that I couldn't help but join her.
"And now," said Harry, "I suppose you want to know--"
"I want to know nothing--at present," I interrupted. "It's nearly six
o'clock, and since ten last night I've been on top of the most
perfectly imbecile donkey ever devised by nature. I want breakfast."
Velvet lids were upraised from Le Mire's eyes. "Here?" she queried.
I pointed to the place--extreme charity might give it the title of
inn--where smoke was rising from a tin chimney.
Soon we were seated inside with a pot of steaming black coffee before
us. Harry was bubbling over with gaiety and good will, evidently
occasioned by my unexpected friendliness, while Le Mire sat for the
most part silent. It was easy to see that she was more than a little
disturbed by my arrival, which surprised me.
I gazed at her with real wonder and increasing admiration. It was six
in the morning; she had had no sleep, and had just finished a most
fatiguing journey of some eight hours; but I had never seen her so
beautiful.
Our host approached, and I turned to him:
"What have you?"
There was pity in his glance.
"Aigs," said he, with an air of finality.
"Ah!" said Le Mire. "I want them--let's see--au beurre noire, if you
please."
The man looked at her and uttered the single word: "Fried."
"Fried?" said she doubtfully.
"Only fried," was the inexorable answer. "How many?"
Le Mire turned to me, and I explained. Then she turned again to the
surly host with a smile that must have caused him to regret his
gruffness.
"Well, then, fr-r-ied!" said she, rolling the "r" deliciously. "And
you may bring me five, if you please."
It appeared that I was not the only hungry one. We ate leisurely and
smoked more leisurely still, and started on our return journey a little
before eight o'clock.
It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at the Antlers. The trip
was accomplished without accident, but Le Mire was thoroughly exhausted
and Harry was anything but fresh. That is the worst of mountain
climbing: the exaltation at the summit hardly pays you for the reaction
at the foot. We entered the broad portico with frank sighs of relief.
I said something about joining them at dinner and left for my own rooms.
At dinner that evening Harry was in high spirits and took great delight
in everything that was said, both witty and dull, while Le Mire
positively sparkled.
She made her impression; not a man in the well-filled room but sent his
tribute of admiring glances as she sat seemingly unconscious of all but
Harry and myself. That is always agreeable; a man owes something to
the woman who carries a room for him.
I had intended to have a talk with Harry after dinner, but I postponed
it; the morning would assuredly be better. There was dancing in the
salon, but we were all too tired to take advantage of it; and after
listening to one or two numbers, during which Le Mire was kept busy
turning aside the importunities of would-be partners, we said good
night and sought our beds.
It was late the next morning when the precious pair joined me in the
garden, and when we went in for breakfast we found the dining-room
quite empty. We did not enjoy it as on the morning previous; the
cuisine was of the kind usually--and in this case justly--described as
"superior," but we did not have the same edge on our appetite.
We were not very talkative; I myself was almost taciturn, having before
me the necessity of coming to an understanding with Harry, a task which
I was far from relishing. But there were certain things I must know.
"What do you say to a ride down the valley?" said Harry. "They have
excellent horses here; I tried one of 'em the other day."
"I trust that they bear no resemblance to my donkey," said I with
feeling.
"Ugh!" said Le Mire with a shudder. "Never shall I forget that ride.
Besides," she added, turning to Harry, "this morning I would be in the
way. Don't you know that your brother has a thousand things to say to
you? He wants to scold you; you must remember that you are a very bad
boy."
And she sent me a glance half defiant, half indifferent, which plainly
said: "If I fight you, I shall win; but I really care very little about
it one way or the other."
After breakfast she went to her room--to have her hair dressed, she
said--and I led Harry to a secluded corner of the magnificent grounds
surrounding the hotel. During the walk we were both silent: Harry, I
suppose, was wondering what I was going to say, while I was trying to
make up my own mind.
"I suppose," he began abruptly, "you are going to tell me I have acted
like a fool. Go ahead; the sooner it's over the better."
"Nothing of the sort," said I, glad that he had opened it.
He stopped short, demanding to know what I meant.
"Of course," I continued, "Le Mire is a most amazing prize. Not
exactly my style perhaps, but there are few men in the world who
wouldn't envy you. I congratulate you.
"But there were two things I feared for several reasons--Le Mire's
fascination, your own youth and impulsive recklessness, and the rather
curious mode of your departure. I feared first and most that you would
marry her; second, that you would achieve odium and publicity for our
name."
Harry was regarding me with a smile which had in it very little of
amusement; it held a tinge of bitterness.
"And so," he burst out suddenly, "you were afraid I would marry her!
Well, I would. The last time I asked her"--again the smile--"was this
morning."
"And--"
"She won't have me."
"Bah!" I concealed my surprise, for I had really not thought it
possible that the lad could be such a fool. "What's her game, Harry?"
"Game the deuce! I tell you she won't have me."
"You have asked her?"
"A thousand times. I've begged her on my knees. Offered
her--anything."
"And she refuses?"
"Positively."
"Refuses?"
"With thanks."
I stared at him for a moment in silence. Then I said: "Go and get her
and bring her here. I'll find out what she wants," and sat down on a
bench to wait. Harry departed for the hotel without a word.
In a few minutes he returned with Le Mire. I rose and proffered her a
seat on the bench, which she accepted with a smile, and Harry sat down
at her side. I stood in front of them.
"Le Mire," said I, and I believe I frowned, "my brother tells me that
you have been offered the name of Lamar in marriage."
"I have thanked him for it," said she with a smile.
"And declined it."
"And--declined it," she agreed.
"Well," said I, "I am not a man of half measures, as you will soon see,
Le Mire. Besides, I appreciate your power. On the day," I continued
with slow precision--"on the day that you give me a contract to adhere
to that refusal you may have my check for one million dollars."
She surprised me; I admit it. I had expected a burst of anger, with a
touch of assumed hauteur; the surrender to follow, for I had made the
stake high. But as I stood looking down at her, waiting for the flash
of her eye, I was greeted by a burst of laughter--the frank laughter of
genuine mirth. Then she spoke:
"Oh, you Americans! You are so funny! A million dollars! It is
impossible that I should be angry after such a compliment. Besides,
you are so funny! Do you not know Le Mire? Am I not a princess if I
desire it--tomorrow--today? Bah! There is the world--is it not mine?
Mrs. Lamar? Ugh! Pardon me, my friend, but it is an ugly name.
"You know my ancestors? De L'Enclos, Montalais, Maintenon, La Marana!
They were happy--in their way--and they were great. I must do nothing
unworthy of them. Set your mind at rest, Mr. Lamar; but, really, you
should have known better--you who have seen the world and Le Mire in
Paris! And now our amusement is perhaps ended? Now we must return to
that awful New York? Voila!"
Indeed I had not understood her. And how could I? There is only one
such woman in a generation; sometimes none, for nature is sparing of
her favorites. By pure luck she sat before me, this twentieth-century
Marana, and I acknowledged her presence with a deep bow of apology and
admiration.
"If you will forgive me, madame," I said, "I will--not attempt to make
reparation, for my words were not meant for you. Consider them
unspoken. As for our amusement, why need it end? Surely, we can
forget? I see plainly I am not a St. Evremond, but neither am I a
fool. My brother pleases you--well, there he is. As for myself, I
shall either stay to take care of you two children, or I shall return
to New York, as you desire."
Le Mire looked at me uncertainly for a moment, then turned to Harry and
with a fluttering gesture took his hand in her own and patted it gaily.
Then she laughed the happy laugh of a child as she said:
"Then it is well! And, monsieur, you are less an American than I
thought. By all means, stay--we shall be so jolly! Will we not, my
little friend?"
Harry nodded, smiling at her. But there was a troubled look in his
face.