"I think I may say that I know practically all that there is to tell."
He leant forward suddenly, rested an arm on the table, and fixed me with
eager eyes.
"Miss Harding, I want a friend! I want an ally. I came here to-day,
hoping to find one in you. Will you be on my side?"
I drew back; but, before I had time to protest, he hurled another crisp,
sharp question at my head:--
"Do you love your niece?"
The question appealed to me. I answered promptly, as it were mentally
licking my lips:--
"I _do_! I may say I am much attached to Evelyn. She has faults
(judicially), but she is a pleasant, well-meaning girl. She has been
(unctuously) very kind to me."
"She is kind to everyone," he said shortly, "except myself! Of course
she has faults! Plenty of them. You could not know her without seeing
that."
I glared, outraged. Oh, indeed! If my faults are so many and so
obvious, why on earth does he--?
"You are very keen-sighted for a lover, Mr Maplestone," I said coldly.
"If I were Evelyn, I should prefer the idealism which is usual under the
circumstances. But perhaps you do not pose as an ordinary lover."
"I don't know," he said shortly--"I don't know. This is a new
experience to me. I can only say one thing"--his voice softened,
swelled into deep, low notes--"she is my life. She means everything--
the beginning and the end. I shall fight on and on until she is mine."
Miss Harding coughed, and twitched at her shawl, and blinked at the
ceiling, and feebly shook her grey head.
"It is a pity," she said weakly, "to make too sure! In these matters
force is--er--is out of place. Evelyn must decide. She should not be
coerced. If I know her nature, coercion will do no good. She is
inclined to obstinacy."
"Coercion would fail, but _love_--Your niece is very feminine. She
would be unhappy alone. She needs to be loved. I have love to give
her--enough to satisfy any girl--more than enough! At the bottom of her
heart she knows it. She ran away because she was afraid. Left no
address."
"Mr Maplestone, I am sorry to appear unkind, but Miss Wastneys' plans
were made before she guessed your wishes."
That was true, and hit him hard. His face fell, and he looked so
quelled, so dejected, that my heart ached with remorse. What foolish
thing I might have said I don't know, but at that moment the door burst
open, and Winifred and Marion precipitated themselves into my arms.
Taking no notice of the strange man, they proceeded to confide the
adventures of their walk. It was "Miss Harding, this; darling Miss
Harding, that; Miss Harding, dear, the other," while I undid their
mufflers, and smoothed their hair, and smiled in benevolent interest.
What could be a finer testimony to Miss Harding's verisimilitude than
the blandishments of these sweet innocents?
For some minutes Mr Maplestone's presence was ignored, but when I
looked at him again it was to realise with surprised curiosity that his
bearing had undergone a startling change. His cheeks had flushed, the
weary lines had disappeared, he looked young, brisk, assured. Nothing
had happened to account for it; nothing had been said, bearing in the
remotest sense on his affairs. I had made no slip of any kind, but had
been laboriously elderly and restrained, and yet, there it was--an
unmistakable air of satisfaction and relief.
He rose, held out his hand.
"I see you are busy. I won't detain you longer. If you will allow me I
will call again."
"Mr Maplestone, excuse my want of hospitality, but it is quite
useless."
He retained my hand in his; he spoke in a pleading voice.
"I am a very lonely man. I have no one else to whom I can speak. It
would be a pleasure just to see anyone who belonged--I will promise not
to be a nuisance. Please let me come!"
"Well!" I said helplessly. "Well!"
Short of being absolutely brutal, what else could I say? Besides--it
may be a pleasure to me, too!
That same evening a letter arrived from Charmion. Nothing like having
all one's excitements at the same time. It was good to see the dear
writing again, and I was in the mood when I badly needed some words of
comfort. I tore open the envelope, hoping to find them inside.