To Myra's relief, Lady Fermanagh returned just then, full of apologies
for having been detained so long at the telephone.
"I hope Myra has been keeping you entertained, señor," she inquired,
and Don Carlos nodded smilingly.
"More than entertained, Lady Fermanagh," he answered. "Miss Rostrevor
and I have been discussing predestination. I have been telling her it
was foretold by the King of the Gypsies that in this, my thirty-fifth
year, I should meet my ideal, the woman predestined to be my wife. I
have met her. The prophecy has come true."
"I'm afraid it is another case of mistaken identity, Aunt Clarissa,"
interposed Myra. "Señor de Ruiz has made the amazing and amusing
suggestion that I am the woman! Did you ever hear anything more
absurd?"
She thought to cover Don Carlos with confusion, but he did not turn a
hair.
"Alas, Lady Fermanagh, your charming niece refuses to take me
seriously!" he smilingly lamented. "It seems she was warned as a child
to beware of a tall, dark, handsome man, and to put no faith in his
honeyed words. I am desolated--but only temporarily!"
"From what I can make of it, you appear to have been engaged in a
'leg-pulling' contest," commented Lady Fermanagh, darting a quick
glance from one to the other, and deciding that Myra was probably
evolving some mischievous joke. "You don't mean to tell me seriously,
Don Carlos, that you have any faith in the predictions of a gipsy?"
"Dear lady, since the King of the Gypsies predicted I should get my
heart's desire, surely it would be almost heresy to doubt?" Don Carlos
replied, with a side-glance at Myra. "In my own country I have the
reputation always of gaining anything on which I set my heart, and here
I intend to live up to my reputation. Assuredly the Gypsy King's
prediction will come true, your ladyship."
He took his leave a few minutes later, pleasing Lady Fermanagh greatly
by bowing low over her hand and raising her fingers to his lips.
"One of the most charming men I have met for years," the old lady
remarked, when the door closed behind him. "He is a true Spanish
grandee, with all the grace of a born courtier. I think it was
exceedingly rude of you, Myra, to snatch your hand away as you did when
Don Carlos was going to kiss your fingertips."
"Personally, Aunt, I think he is the most arrogant, ill-mannered and
insufferably conceited man I have ever met," Myra responded warmly.
"He openly boasts that no woman can resist him, prides himself on his
conquests, and while you were out of the room he was making passionate
love to me, and only made fun of my attempts to snub him. I hope you
won't invite the horrible creature here again."
Lady Fermanagh regarded her in amazement for a few moments, then
dissolved into laughter.
"Oh, you modern girls!" she exclaimed. "You think you know such a lot
and are so advanced, yet you are as easily scared or fooled as any
country maiden in Victorian times."
"My dear aunt, Don Carlos de Ruiz can neither scare nor fool me,"
protested Myra; "but surely I have a right to object to his attempting
to make love to me when he knows I am engaged to Tony Standish."
"Remember he is a Spaniard, my dear," said her aunt, with a tolerant
smile. "The greatest compliment a Latin can pay a woman is to make
love to her--and the majority make love merely by way of being
complimentary. Don Carlos de Ruiz probably makes love to every woman
he meets, which very likely explains why he is so popular. Why, my
dear, he almost made love to me!"
"But he didn't tell you he wanted to marry you, did he, Aunt Clarissa,
swear he would win you by hook or by crook, and vow that Old Nick
himself would not prevent him from making you his own?" inquired Myra,
beginning to smile again.
Lady Fermanagh laughed heartily.
"No, my dear, he certainly did not go as far as that," she answered.
"You don't mean to tell me he actually said something to that effect to
you?"
"Yes, both last night at the dance, and again a few minutes ago--and he
said it as if he meant it. I have half a mind to ask Tony to tell the
arrogantly conceited Spaniard not to pester me with his attentions
again."
"My dear child, don't make yourself ridiculous by doing anything so
foolish. You need not take Don Carlos too seriously. He is very much
a man of the world, probably something of a Don Juan, and likely makes
love as a pastime. I met many of his type when your Uncle was in the
Diplomatic Service--wealthy bachelors who made love to almost every
pretty woman they met, provided always, however, that the woman was
married or engaged, and there was no danger of being caught in the
matrimonial net. I should say, my dear, judging from my experience,
that Don Carlos probably would only have paid you compliments instead
of making love to you, if he had not known you were engaged."
"That sort of philanderer deserves to be kicked or horsewhipped, Aunt
Clarissa, for making a mockery of love."
"Oh, I don't know about that, my dear Myra. After all, as I have told
you, men of the Latin races make love almost indiscriminately by way of
paying a compliment, and pretty women in Spain, Italy, or France, would
feel quite insulted if the men to whom they were introduced did not
profess to be hopelessly in love with them. If you had lived abroad,
Myra, you would feel flattered rather than annoyed."
"Maybe--and maybe not," said Myra, with a toss of her red-gold head.
"If you are right, then Don Carlos is merely trying to amuse himself at
my expense. I have no use for a professional philanderer who imagines
that no woman can resist him. Him and his King of the Gypsies
prophecy! Pouf!"
Yet as she dressed for dinner a little later she found herself
recalling the passionate words of Don Carlos, remembering the ardent
light in his dark eyes, the vibrant note in his deep, musical voice,
found herself wondering, wondering, and wishing with all her heart that
Tony Standish was a little more like Don Carlos de Ruiz.
"I'm not scared of him, and I am certainly not going to lose my heart
to him," Myra whispered to her reflection in the mirror. "If Aunt
Clarissa is right, he is only making love to me for his own amusement,
and would sheer off if I took him seriously and expected him to marry
me. A pretty fool I should look if I fell in love with him, broke off
my engagement to Tony, and then Don Carlos levanted! But I'm not going
to fall in love with him.... He certainly is fascinating, and he would
be a wonderful lover if he were in earnest, but he can't make a fool of
Myra Rostrevor. I'll show the conceited creature that there is one
girl at least who does not find him irresistible, and I'll give him the
cold shoulder again at the first opportunity."
Yet again she had the opportunity sooner than she had expected. Almost
it seemed as if the fates were playing into the hands of Don Carlos.
That very evening Myra discovered, to her inward consternation, that
Don Carlos de Ruiz was the guest of honour at the dinner-dance to which
she had been invited, and her hostess, finding they had met before,
placed them together at the dinner table.
"Truly, the gods are good, fair lady!" exclaimed Don Carlos, his dark
eyes sparkling. "I am the most fortunate of men to have so lovely and
charming a partner. And I think I have reason to congratulate myself
on contriving to surprise you twice within a few hours."
"A very unpleasant surprise," commented Myra coldly. "After what
happened an hour or two ago, I should have begged to be excused from
this party if I had known you would be present."
"Alas! señorita, it is sad to find you still rebelling against
destiny," said Don Carlos. "Yet I am flattered, for your desire to
avoid me does but prove you are afraid of losing your heart to me, and
you know that only by avoiding me can you delay the day of surrender."
"Sure, señor, if conceit were a disease you would have died of it long
since," retorted Myra, and turned to talk to the man on her other side.
She ignored Don Carlos completely for some time, but she found herself
listening to his deep, musical voice as he chatted to his hostess and
modestly acknowledged compliments fired at him across the table by a
polo enthusiast. When common politeness at last compelled her to turn
to speak to him again, it was to find his eyes still twinkling
mischievously.
"A thousand thanks, señorita, for giving me the opportunity of admiring
your beautiful back for so long," he said in a low voice. "It is
flawless. Your skin is smooth as polished marble, yet soft and sweet
as the petals of a rose."
"Your compliments are becoming tedious, señor," Myra remarked, assuming
an air of boredom. "Am I expected to endure this kind of talk all
evening?"
"All the days of your life, I hope, señorita," Don Carlos answered
calmly. "In the intervals of making love to you, Myra, I shall sing
the praises of your beauty even after you are all mine."
"Don Carlos, you are quite impossible!" exclaimed Myra. "I warn you
again I shall take precautions to avoid you in future if you persist in
this folly."
"That will necessitate your cancelling all your engagements, or nearly
all of them, for the rest of the season," responded Don Carlos.
"Already I have contrived to obtain an invitation to practically every
function at which you are likely to be present. Your aunt was good
enough to show me your engagement book this afternoon. Dear lady, I
assure you that you will find it difficult to avoid me."
Myra fancied he was boasting again, but he was stating facts, as she
subsequently discovered. At practically every Society function she
attended during the next few weeks, save for a few private parties, Don
Carlos de Ruiz was a fellow guest, and invariably he contrived to talk
to her and make love, even when Tony Standish was also present, and
ignored the snubs and rebuffs she administered.
"Sure, and I'm beginning to feel something like the fox must feel when
the hounds are in full cry after him," soliloquised Myra, as she drove
home one night after another vain attempt to rebuff Don Carlos. "No
wonder he is able to boast of so many conquests if he has pursued every
other woman who took his fancy as relentlessly as he is pursuing me!
What can I do?"
What made Myra's position the more embarrassing was that de Ruiz and
Standish had become very friendly, Don Carlos having exercised his
personal magnetism to the utmost to win Tony's regard. One hobby they
actually had in common was collecting old jade, and on discovering this
Don Carlos sent to Spain for two of the choicest and rarest of his
pieces--ancient Chinese sword ornaments of jade set with gold. These
he presented to Tony, who was delighted, but protested that he could
not accept so valuable a gift without making some return.
"Later, I promise you, my dear Standish, I shall take one of your
treasures," said Don Carlos in his charming way. "Meanwhile accept
these trifles as a token of my esteem. It is a joy to give to a fellow
collector something which money cannot buy, and it will be a delight to
take from you something you prize. By the way, let me remind you again
of your promise to come to my place in Spain this winter to see my
collection. I shall be pleased and honoured to entertain you and any
of your friends at El Castillo de Ruiz."
"Thanks. Frightfully good of you, Don Carlos," said Tony. "If I make
my usual cruise in my yacht this year I shall certainly make a point of
visiting you. I say, if you are not already booked, what about doing
me the honour of being one of my guests at Auchinleven in August for
the shooting, and then being one of the yachting party later on if I
arrange a cruise. I shall be charmed if you will."
"My dear Mr. Standish, you are too good," exclaimed Don Carlos, with
unaffected delight. "Ten thousand thanks! Nothing will give me
greater pleasure. I gladly and gratefully accept your invitation, but
you must promise to allow me to attempt to return your hospitality in
Spain. I cannot promise you much in the way of sport, except, perhaps,
a little brigand shooting, but I can promise you some novel
experiences."
"Thanks awfully," said Tony. "I must tell Myra, and show her your
beautiful present."
Myra gazed at her fiancé in wide-eyed amazement and consternation when
she heard the news.
"Tony Standish, you must be blind and crazy!" she burst out
tempestuously. "I won't come to Auchinleven if Don Carlos is to be one
of your house party. I won't! Surely you must have seen for yourself
that Don Carlos has been making love to me on every possible occasion
for weeks? Yes, right in front of your very nose, Tony. He said he
would see to it that we were fellow-guests for the shooting--and now
you have invited him to Auchinleven!"
"I--er--I say, Myra, this is news to me," exclaimed Tony,
flabbergasted. "You--er--you don't actually mean to say that Don
Carlos has been making love to you in earnest? I can't imagine his
doing such a thing. I mean to say he--er--he seems an awfully good
sort, although he is a foreigner, and he and I have become quite pally.
He seems quite a good sport, and he does not strike me as being the
sort of chap who would poach on another fellow's preserves. Really,
Myra, this is quite a shock!"
"If you are referring to me as your 'preserves,' Tony, Don Carlos has
certainly been poaching--or trying to poach," said Myra. "He persists
in making love to me and refuses to be rebuffed, and he has repeatedly
sworn that he will take me from you and make me his own at all costs."
"The deuce he has!" ejaculated Tony, surprised, indignant, and
flustered. "I say, Myra dear, I--er--I wish--er--I wish you'd told me
this before--I mean before he and I became pally, I had no idea he was
really making love to you. No idea, I assure you. If I'd known, I
certainly wouldn't have invited him to Auchinleven or accepted his
presents. Now I don't know what the deuce to do. I'm in a frightfully
awkward position. Frightfully awkward!"
"Frightfully awkward!" Myra mimicked. "Oh, Tony, don't be such a
duffer! Unless you want to lose me, you've got to tell Don Carlos de
Ruiz--and tell him very, very plainly--that his attempts to make love
to me and win me away from you have got to stop. You've got to warn
him off."
"Why, of course I will, darling," said Tony, in flustered haste.
"Confound the fellow! I should not have believed it of him. Never
heard of such outrageous conduct. I'll go and see him at once, Myra,
and warn him that if he dares to attempt to make love to you again
I'll--er--I'll show him! Yes, by Jove!"
He rushed off, full of righteous indignation but still feeling he was
in a "frightfully awkward position," to interview Don Carlos, whom he
found wearing a silken dressing gown and stretched out luxuriously
among cushions on a settee in his suite at the Ritz.
"My dear Standish, how good of you to return my call so soon!" cried
Don Carlos, rising with a welcoming smile as Tony was shown in. "I am
truly delighted to see you. You know what a pleasure is an unexpected
visit from a friend when one is feeling bored. Sit down and make
yourself comfortable, my dear Standish, and let me mix you a drink."
"Er--no, thank you," said Standish, disarmed to some extent at the
outset, for he felt it would be boorish and "bad form" to have a row
with a man who seemed to hold him in high regard. "No, I won't have a
drink. As a matter of fact, Don Carlos, I have called to see you in
connection with--er--with a delicate personal matter."
"My dear Mr. Standish, I am flattered that you should make me your
confidant, and I shall be only too pleased if I can assist you."
"Assist me! Hang it all, sir, you--er--you don't seem to understand!"
spluttered Tony, taken aback again, but determined, nevertheless, to
"have it out" with the Spaniard. "I--er--I haven't called to take you
into my confidence or anything of the sort. I have come to demand an
explanation."
"An explanation?" Don Carlos raised his black eyebrows in seeming
bewilderment. "An explanation? Concerning what, Mr. Standish?"
"Concerning your outrageous conduct, sir," blurted out Tony, trying to
look fierce, but succeeding only in looking hot and embarrassed.
"Concerning Myra--Miss Rostrevor. She tells me you have persistently
been attempting to make love to her ever since you first met her, and
have even gone so far as to ask her to throw me over and elope with
you! What the deuce do you mean by it, sir? Miss Rostrevor, as you
are well aware, is engaged to be married to me. How dare you make love
to my fiancée?"