The four men--the two railway magnates, Francis Markrute, and Lord
Tancred--had all been waiting a quarter of an hour before the
drawing-room fire when the Countess Shulski sailed into the room. She
wore an evening gown of some thin, black, transparent, woolen stuff,
which clung around her with the peculiar grace her poorest clothes
acquired. Another woman would have looked pitifully shabby in such a
dress, but her distinction made it appear to at least three of the men
as the robe of a goddess. Francis Markrute was too annoyed at the delay
of her coming to admire anything; but even he, as he presented his
guests to her, could not help remarking that he had never seen her look
more wonderful, nor more contemptuously regal.
They had had rather a stormy scene in the library, half an hour before.
Her words had been few, but their displeasure had been unconcealed. She
would agree to the bare bargain, if so be this strange man were willing,
but she demanded to know the reason of his willingness.
And when she was told it was a business matter between the two men, and
that she would be given a large fortune, she expressed no more surprise
than a disdainful curl of the lips.
For her, all men were either brutes--or fools like poor Mimo.
If she had known that Lord Tancred had already refused her hand and
that her uncle was merely counting upon his own unerring knowledge of
human nature--and Lord Tancred's nature in particular--she might have
felt humiliated, instead of full of impotent rage.
The young man, for his part, had arrived exactly on the stroke of eight,
a rare effort of punctuality for him. Some underneath excitement to see
his friend Markrute's niece had tingled in his veins from the moment he
had left the house.
What sort of a woman could it be who would be willing to marry a
perfect stranger for the sake of his title and position? The
quarter-of-an-hour's wait had not added to his calm. So when the door
had eventually opened for her entry he had glanced up with intense
interest, and had then drawn in his breath as she advanced up the room.
The physical part of the lady at all events was extremely delectable.
But when he was presented and his eyes met hers he was startled by the
look of smoldering, somber hate he saw in them.
What could it all mean? Francis must have been romancing. Why should she
look at him like that, if she were willing to marry him? He was piqued
and interested.
She spoke not a word as they went down to dinner, but he was no raw
youth to be snubbed thus into silence. His easy, polished manner soon
started a conversation upon the usual everyday things. He received "Yes"
and "No" for answers. The railway magnate on her other side was hardly
more fortunate, until the entrées were in full swing, then she unfroze a
little; the elderly gentleman had said something which interested her.
The part which particularly irritated Lord Tancred was that he felt sure
she was not really stupid--who could be stupid with such a face? And he
was quite unaccustomed to being ignored by women. A like experience had
not occurred to him in the whole of his life.
He watched her narrowly. He had never seen so white a skin; the
admirably formed bones of her short, small face caused, even in a side
light, no disfiguring shadows to fall beside the mouth and nose, nor on
the cheeks; all was velvety smooth and rounded. The remote Jewish touch
was invisible--save in the splendor of the eyes and lashes. She filled
him with the desire to touch her, to clasp her tightly in his arms, to
pull down that glorious hair and bury his face in it. And Lord Tancred
was no sensualist, given to instantly appraising the outward charm of
women.
When the grouse was being handed, he did get a whole sentence from her;
it was in answer to his question whether she liked England.
"How can one say--when one does not know?" she said. "I have only been
here once before, when I was quite a child. It seems cold and dark."
"We must persuade you to like it better," he answered, trying to look
into her eyes which she had instantly averted. The expression of
resentment still smoldered there, he had noticed, during their brief
glance.
"Of what consequence whether I like it or no," she said, looking across
the table, and this was difficult to answer! It seemed to set him upon
his beam-ends. He could not very well say because he had suddenly begun
to admire her very much! At this stage he had not decided what he meant
to do.
An unusual excitement was permeating his being; he could not account for
how or why. He had felt no sensation like it, except on one of his lion
hunts in Africa when the news had come into camp that an exceptionally
fine beast had been discovered near and might be stalked on the morrow.
His sporting instincts seemed to be thoroughly awakened.
Meanwhile Countess Shulski had turned once more to Sir Philip Armstrong,
the railway magnate. He was telling her about Canada and she listened
with awakening interest: how there were openings for every one and great
fortunes could be made there by the industrious and persevering.
"It has not come to a point, then, when artists could have a chance, I
suppose?" she asked. Lord Tancred wondered at the keenness in her voice.
"Modern artists?" Sir Philip queried. "Perhaps not, though the rich men
are beginning to buy pictures and beautiful things, too; but in a new
country it is the man of sinew and determination, not the dreamer, who
succeeds."
Her head then drooped a little; her interest now seemed only mechanical,
as she answered again, "Yes" and "No."
Lord Tancred wondered and wondered; he saw that her thoughts were far
away.
Francis Markrute had been watching things minutely while he kept up his
suave small talk with Colonel Macnamara on his right hand. He was well
pleased with the turn of events. After all, nothing could have been
better than Zara's being late. Circumstance often played into the hand
of an experienced manipulator like himself. Now if she only kept up this
attitude of indifference, which, indeed, she seemed likely to do--she
was no actress, he knew--things might be settled this very night.
Lord Tancred could not get her to have a single continued conversation
for the remainder of dinner; he was perfectly raging with annoyance, his
fighting blood was up. And when at the first possible moment after the
dessert arrived she swept from the room, her eyes met his as he held the
door and they were again full of contemptuous hate.
He returned to his seat with his heart actually thumping in his side.
And all through the laborious conversation upon Canada and how best to
invest capital, which Francis Markrute with great skill and apparently
hearty friendship prolonged to its utmost limits, he felt the attraction
and irritation of the woman grow and grow. He no longer took the
slightest interest in the pros and cons of his future in the Colony, and
when, at last, he heard the distant tones of Tschaikovsky's _Chanson
Triste_ as they ascended the stairs he came suddenly to a determination.
She was sitting at the grand piano in the back part of the room. A huge,
softly shaded lamp shed its veiled light upon her white face and rounded
throat; her hands and arms, which showed to the elbow, seemed not less
pale than the ivory keys, and those disks of black velvet gazed in front
of them, a whole world of anguish in their depths.
For this was the tune that her mother had loved, and she was playing it
to remind herself of her promise and to keep herself firm in her
determination to accept the bargain, for her little brother Mirko's
sake.
She glanced at Lord Tancred as he entered. Count Ladislaus Shulski had
been a very handsome man, too. She did not know enough of the English
type to judge of Lord Tancred morally. She only saw that he was a
splendid, physical creature who would be strong--and horrible
probably--like the rest.
The whole expression of her face changed as he came and leaned upon the
piano. The sorrow died out of her eyes and was replaced by a fierce
defiance; and her fingers broke into a tarantella of wild sounds.
"You strange woman!" Lord Tancred said.
"Am I strange?" she answered through her teeth. "It is said by those who
know that we are all mad--at some time and at some point. I have, I
think, reason to be mad to-night." And with that she crashed a final
chord, rose from her seat, and crossed the room.
"I hope, Uncle Francis, your guests will excuse me," she said, with an
imperial, aloof politeness, "but I am very tired. I will wish you all a
good-night." She bowed to them as they expressed their regrets, and then
slowly left the room.
"Goodnight, madame," Lord Tancred said, at the door. "Some day you and I
will cross swords."
But he was rewarded by no word, only an annihilating glance from her
sullen eyes, and he stood there and gazed at her as she passed up the
stairs.
"An extraordinary and beautiful woman--your niece--eh, my dear
Markrute?" he heard one of the pompous gentlemen say, as he returned to
the group by the fire, and it angered him--he could not have told why.
Francis Markrute, who knew his moments, began now to talk about her,
casually; how she was an interesting, mysterious character; beautiful?
well, no, not exactly that--a superlative skin, fine eyes and hair, but
no special features.
"I will not admit that she is beautiful, my friend," he said. "Beauty
suggests gentleness and tenderness. My niece reminds me of the black
panther in the Zoo, but one could not say--if she were tamed."
Such remarks were not calculated to allay the growing interest and
attraction Lord Tancred was feeling. Francis Markrute knew his audience;
he never wasted his words. He abruptly turned the conversation back to
Canada again, until even the two magnates on their own ground were bored
and said goodnight. The four men came downstairs together. As the two
others were being assisted into their coats by Turner and his satellites
the host said to Lord Tancred:
"Will you have a cigar with me, Tancred, before you go on to your supper
party?" And presently they were both seated in mammoth armchairs in the
cozy library.
"I hope, my dear boy, you have all the information you want about
Canada," Mr. Markrute said. "You could not find two more influential
people than Sir Philip and the Colonel. I asked--" but Lord Tancred
interrupted him.
"I don't care a farthing more about Canada!" he flashed out. "I have
made up my mind. If you really meant what you said to-day, I will marry
your niece, and I don't care whether she has a penny or no."
The financier's plans had indeed culminated with a rush!
But he expressed no surprise, merely raised his eyebrows mildly and
puffed some blue rings of smoke, as he answered:
"I always mean what I say, only I do not care for people to do things
blindly. Now that you have seen my niece are you sure she would suit
you? I thought, after all, perhaps not, to-night: she is certainly a
difficult person. It would be no easy task for any man to control
her--as a wife."
[Illustration: "The whole expression of her face changed as he came and
leaned upon the piano."]
"I don't care for tame women," Lord Tancred said. "It is that very
quality of difficulty which has inspired me. By George! did you ever see
such a haughty bearing? It will take a man's whole intelligence to know
which bit to use."
"She may close her teeth on whatever bit you use, and bolt with it. Do
not say afterwards that I let you take her blindly."
"Why does she look at me with such hate?" Lord Tancred was just going to
ask--and then he stopped himself. It was characteristic of him that now
he had made up his mind he would not descend to questions or details--he
would find all out later for himself--but one thing he must know: had
she really consented to marry him? If so, she had her own reasons, of
course, and desire for himself was not among them; but, somehow, he felt
sure they were not sordid or paltry ones. He had always liked dangerous
games--the most unbroken polo ponies to train in the country, the
freshest horses, the fiercest beasts to stalk and kill--and why not a
difficult wife? It would add an adorable spice to the affair. But as he
was very honest with himself he knew, underneath, that it was not wholly
even this instinct, but that she had cast some spell over him and that
he must have her for his own.
"You might very well ask her history," Francis Markrute said. He could
be so gracious when he liked, and he really admired the wholehearted
dash with which Lord Tancred had surrendered; there was something big
and royal about it--he himself never gambled in small sums either. "So
as I expect you won't," he continued, "I will tell you. She is the
daughter of Maurice Grey, a brother of old Colonel Grey of Hentingdon,
whom everybody knew, and she has been the widow of an unspeakable brute
for over a year. She was an immaculate wife, and devoted daughter before
that. The possibilities of her temperament are all to come."
Lord Tancred sprang from his chair, the very thought of her and her
temperament made him thrill. Was it possible he was already in love,
after one evening?
"Now we must really discuss affairs, my dear boy," the financier went
on. "Her dower, as I told you, will be princely."
"That I absolutely refuse to do, Francis," Lord Tancred answered. "I
tell you I want the woman for my wife. You can settle the other things
with my lawyer if you care to, and tie it all up on her. I am not
interested in that matter. The only thing I really wish to know is if
you are sure she will marry me?"
"I am perfectly sure." The financier narrowed his eyes. "I would not
have suggested the affair to-day if I had had any doubt about that."
"Then it is settled, and I shall not ask why. I shall not ask any thing.
Only when may I see her again and how soon can we be married?"
"Come and lunch with me in the city to-morrow, and we will talk over
everything. I shall have seen her, and can then tell you when to present
yourself. And I suppose you can have the ceremony at the beginning of
November?"
"Six whole weeks hence!" Lord Tancred said, protestingly. "Must she get
such heaps of clothes? Can't it be sooner? I wanted to be here for my
Uncle Glastonbury's first shoot on the 2nd of November, and if we are
only married then, we shall be off on a honeymoon. You must come to that
shoot, by-the-way, old boy, it is the pleasantest of the whole lot he
has; one day at the partridges, and a dash at the pheasants; but he only
asks the jolliest parties to this early one, for Ethelrida's birthday,
and none of the bores."
"It would give me great pleasure to do so," Francis Markrute said. And
he looked down so that Lord Tancred should not see the joy in his eyes.
Then they shook hands most heartily, and the newly made fiancé said
good-night, with the happy assurance in his ears that he might claim his
bride in time to be back from a week's honeymoon for the Glastonbury
shoot.
When he had gone Francis Markrute's first act was to sit down and write
a four-figure check for the Cripple Children's Hospital: he believed in
thankofferings. Then he rubbed his hands softly together as he went up
to his bed.