Jack opened his eyes sleepily, blinked at the sight of them, and sprang
up.
"What's the matter!" he said. "Where am I? Oh--I must have fallen
asleep. Please excuse me!"
He flattered himself it was very well done. Bobo at least was
completely taken in. As to the girl, he could not be sure. It was
likely that being an accomplished dissimulator herself, she would on
principle suspect him of dissimulation.
But she gave away nothing in her face. "You're excusable," she said
with a light laugh. "They told us you hadn't come. If you could have
seen how funny you looked! Come on, let's have tea."
Throughout that ceremony Jack labored with his most light-hearted air
to remove any suspicions she might have that he had overheard her talk
with Bobo. It was not easy to read that young lady's face, but he
believed that he saw her gradually relax and be at ease again.
The sequel to this scene took place later the same night. Jack, Bobo
and Miriam went to the theater, and afterwards to the Alpine Heights to
sup. Having arrived at the exquisite restaurant, Miriam announced that
she had lost a pearl pin in the theater. Poor Bobo had to go back
after it, though he had already ordered a _recherché_ little supper.
Jack offered to go, but Miriam silenced him with a peculiar look, so he
sat back and let things take their course.
When they were alone together, Miriam softly said, turning the hazel
eyes full on him: "Why can't we be friends, Jack?"
He could have sworn the lovely orbs were big with tears, and in spite
of himself his heart leaped; she was so beautiful! "Steady!" he
whispered to himself. "It's probably onions or pepper!"
"Aren't we friends?" he said with an air of surprise.
She sadly shook her head. "You know we're not! You distrust me,
dislike me; you cannot hide it!"
"It's not so!" said Jack. "I've already explained what it is that you
think is dislike. You put a man on the defensive. You've already
gobbled up poor Bobo, skin and bones and hymn-book, too! I've got to
be careful!"
"Oh, you won't be serious!" she pouted. "And you saw how I lied to get
the chance of speaking to you alone."
"Then there wasn't any pearl pin?"
"Of course not!"
"Poor Bobo! I'll be serious. What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing special! I just wanted to see if I couldn't bring
about a better understanding between you and me. It's awfully hard on
Bobo, who is such friends with both of us--that you and I can't get on
better I mean."
"Let's have a better understanding!" said Jack heartily. Privately he
was thinking: "Lovely lady, what are you driving at now?"
"Bobo is such a dear," she went on, "but he's terribly dependent. He
depends on you, and now he's beginning to depend on me! Well, it seems
to me that we share a pretty serious responsibility, his having all
that money and all. We ought to consult about what we should do, and
agree on a course of action. If you and I pull against each other,
Bobo will be torn in two, so to speak."
Jack looked seriously impressed, but inwardly he was grinning wickedly.
"Ha!" he thought, "having failed in her effort to kick me out she is
now proposing in diplomatic language that we get together and whack
up." Aloud he said: "I expect you're right, though I hadn't thought of
it that way. I thought I would take care of Bobo's business affairs,
and you would look after his personal character."
"But under altered circumstances it might be difficult," she said
darkly.
"Eh?"
"Don't be dense. I suppose you know that Bobo wants to marry me."
Jack never batted an eye. "I can't say that I am exactly surprised.
Nor that I blame him," he added gallantly.
"Be serious. Of course I haven't accepted him yet. I have to be sure
of my own feelings."
Jack stroked his lip to hide a grim smile.
"Have you any objection to his marrying me?" she asked boldly.