To the open chagrin of most of the gentlemen and the unexpected relief
of some of her own sex, Maruja, after an evening of more than usual
caprice and willfulness, retired early to her chamber. Here she
beguiled Enriquita, a younger sister, to share her solitude for an
hour, and with a new and charming melancholy presented her with mature
counsel and some younger trinkets and adornments.
"Thou wilt find them but folly, 'Riquita; but thou art young, and wilt
outgrow them as I have. I am sick of the Indian beads, everybody wears
them; but they seem to suit thy complexion. Thou art not yet quite old
enough for jewelry; but take thy choice of these." "'Ruja," replied
Enriquita, eagerly, "surely thou wilt not give up this necklace of
carved amber, that was brought thee from Manilla--it becomes thee so!
Everybody says it. All the caballeros, Raymond and Victor, swear that
it sets off thy beauty like nothing else." "When thou knowest men
better," responded Maruja, in a deep voice, "thou wilt care less for
what they say, and despise what they do. Besides, I wore it
to-day--and--I hate it." "But what fan wilt thou keep thyself? The
one of sandal-wood thou hadst to-day?" continued Enriquita, timidly
eying the pretty things upon the table. "None," responded Maruja,
didactically, "but the simplest, which I shall buy myself. Truly, it
is time to set one's self against this extravagance. Girls think
nothing of spending as much upon a fan as would buy a horse and saddle
for a poor man." "But why so serious tonight, my sister?" said the
little Enriquita, her eyes filling with ready tears. "It grieves me,"
responded Maruja, promptly, "to find thee, like the rest, giving thy
soul up to the mere glitter of the world. However, go, child, take the
heads, but leave the amber; it would make thee yellower than thou art;
which the blessed Virgin forbid! Good-night!"
She kissed her affectionately, and pushed her from the room.
Nevertheless, after a moment's survey of her lonely chamber, she
hastily slipped on a pale satin dressing-gown, and, darting across the
passage, dashed into the bedroom of the youngest Miss Wilson, haled
that sentimental brunette from her night toilet, dragged her into her
own chamber, and, enwrapping her in a huge mantle of silk and gray fur,
fed her with chocolates and chestnuts, and, reclining on her
sympathetic shoulder, continued her arraignment of the world and its
follies until nearly daybreak.
It was past noon when Maruja awoke, to find Faquita standing by her
bedside with ill-concealed impatience.
"I ventured to awaken the Dona Maruja," she said, with vivacious
alacrity, "for news! Terrible news! The American, Dr. West, is found
dead this morning in the San Jose road!"
"Dr. West dead!" repeated Maruja, thoughtfully, but without emotion.
"Surely dead--very dead. He was thrown from his horse and dragged by
the stirrups--how far, the Blessed Virgin only knows. But he is found
dead--this Dr. West--his foot in the broken stirrup, his hand holding a
piece of the bridle! I thought I would waken the Dona Maruja, that no
one else should break it to the Dona Maria."
"That no one else should break it to my mother?" repeated Maruja,
coldly. "What mean you, girl?"
"I mean that no stranger should tell her," stammered Faquita, lowering
her bold eyes.
"You mean," said Maruja, slowly, "that no silly, staring,
tongue-wagging gossip should dare to break upon the morning devotions
of the lady mother with open-mouthed tales of horror! You are wise,
Faquita! I will tell her myself. Help me to dress."
But the news had already touched the outer shell of the great house,
and little groups of the visitors were discussing it upon the veranda.
For once, the idle badinage of a pleasure-seeking existence was
suspended; stupid people with facts came to the fore; practical people
with inquiring minds became interesting; servants were confidentially
appealed to; the local expressman became a hero, and it was even
noticed that he was intelligent and good-looking.
"What makes it more distressing," said Raymond, joining one of the
groups, "is, that it appears the Doctor visited Mrs. Saltonstall last
evening, and left the casa at eleven. Sanchez, who was perhaps the
last person who saw him alive, says that he noticed his horse was very
violent, and the Doctor did not seem able to control him. The accident
probably happened half an hour later, as he was picked up about three
miles from here, and from appearances must have been dragged, with his
foot in the stirrup, fully half a mile before the girth broke and freed
the saddle and stirrup together. The mustang, with nothing on but his
broken bridle, was found grazing at the rancho as early as four
o'clock, an hour before the body of his master was discovered by the
men sent from the rancho to look for him."
"Eh, but the man must have been clean daft to have trusted himself to
one of those savage beasts of the country," said Mr. Buchanan. "And he
was no so young either--about sixty, I should say. It didna look even
respectable, I remember, when we met him the other day, careering over
the country for all the world like one of those crazy Mexicans. And
yet he seemed steady and sensible enough when he didna let his schemes
of 'improvements' run away with him like yon furious beastie. Eh well,
puir man--it was a sudden ending! And his family--eh?"
"I don't think he has one--at least here," said Raymond. "You can't
always tell in California. I believe he was a widower."
"Ay, man, but the heirs; there must be considerable property?" said
Buchanan, impatiently.
"Oh, the heirs. If he's made no will, which doesn't look like so
prudent and practical a man as he was--the heirs will probably crop up
some day."
"PROBABLY! crop up some day," repeated Buchanan, aghast.
"Yes. You must remember that WE don't take heirs quite as much into
account as you do in the old country. The loss of the MAN, and how to
replace HIM, is much more to us than the disposal of his property.
Now, Doctor West was a power far beyond his actual possessions--and we
will know very soon how much those were dependent upon him."
"What do you mean?" asked Buchanan, anxiously.
"I mean that five minutes after the news of the Doctor's death was
confirmed, your friend Mr. Stanton sent a messenger with a despatch to
the nearest telegraphic office, and that he himself drove over to catch
Aladdin before the news could reach him."
Buchanan looked uneasy; so did one or two of the native Californians
who composed the group, and who had been listening attentively. "And
where is this same telegraphic office?" asked Buchanan, cautiously.
"I'll drive you over there presently," responded Raymond, grimly.
"There'll be nothing doing here to-day. As Dr. West was a near
neighbor of the family, his death suspends our pleasure-seeking until
after the funeral."
Mr. Buchanan moved away. Captain Carroll and Garnier drew nearer the
speaker. "I trust it will not withdraw from us the society of Miss
Saltonstall," said Garnier, lightly--"at least, that she will not be
inconsolable."
"She did not seem to be particularly sympathetic with Dr. West the
other day," said Captain Carroll, coloring slightly with the
recollection of the morning in the summer-house, yet willing, in his
hopeless passion, even to share that recollection with his rival. "Did
you not think so, Monsieur Garnier?"
"Very possibly; and, as Miss Saltonstall is quite artless and childlike
in the expression of her likes and dislikes," said Raymond, with the
faintest touch of irony, "you can judge as well as I can."
Garnier parried the thrust lightly. "You are no kinder to our follies
than you are to the grand passions of these gentlemen. Confess, you
frightened them horribly. You are---what is called--a bear--eh? You
depreciate in the interests of business."
Raymond did not at first appear to notice the sarcasm. "I only
stated," he said, gravely, "that which these gentlemen will find out
for themselves before they are many hours older. Dr. West was the
brain of the county, as Aladdin is its life-blood. It only remains to
be seen how far the loss of that brain affects the county. The Stock
Exchange market in San Francisco will indicate that today in the shares
of the San Antonio and Soquel Railroad and the West Mills and
Manufacturing Co. It is a matter that may affect even our friends
here. Whatever West's social standing was in this house, lately he was
in confidential business relations with Mrs. Saltonstall." He raised
his eyes for the first time to Garnier as he added, slowly, "It is to
be hoped that if our hostess has no social reasons to deplore the loss
of Dr. West, she at least will have no other."
With a lover's instinct, conscious only of some annoyance to Maruja, in
all this, Carroll anxiously looked for her appearance among the others.
He was doomed to disappointment, however. His half-timid inquiries
only resulted in the information that Maruja was closeted with her
mother. The penetralia of the casa was only accessible to the family;
yet, as he wandered uneasily about, he could not help passing once or
twice before the quaint low archway, with its grated door, that opened
from the central hall. His surprise may be imagined when he suddenly
heard his name uttered in a low voice; and, looking up, he beheld the
soft eyes of Maruja at the grating.
She held the door partly open with one little hand, and made a sign for
him to enter with the other. When he had done so, she said, "Come with
me," and preceded him down the dim corridor. His heart beat thickly;
the incense of this sacred inner life, with its faint suggestion of
dead rose-leaves, filled him with a voluptuous languor; his breath was
lost, as if a soft kiss had taken it away; his senses swam in the light
mist that seemed to suffuse everything. His step trembled as she
suddenly turned aside, and, opening a door, ushered him into a small
vaulted chamber.
In the first glance it seemed to be an oratory or chapel. A large gold
and ebony crucifix hung on the wall. There was a prie-dieu of heavy
dark mahogany in the centre of the tiled floor; there was a low ottoman
or couch, covered with a mantle of dark violet velvet, like a pall;
there were two quaintly carved stiff chairs; a religious, almost
ascetic, air pervaded the apartment; but no dreamy eastern seraglio
could have affected him with an intoxication so profoundly and
mysteriously sensuous.
Maruja pointed to a chair, and then, with a peculiarly feminine
movement, placed herself sideways upon the ottoman, half reclining on
her elbow on a high cushion, her deep billowy flounces partly veiling
the funereal velvet below. Her oval face was pale and melancholy, her
eyes moist as if with recent tears; an expression as of troubled
passion lurked in their depths and in the corners of her mouth.
Scarcely knowing why, Carroll fancied that thus she might appear if she
were in love; and the daring thought made him tremble.
"I wanted to speak with you alone," she said, gently, as if in
explanation; "but don't look at me so. I have had a bad night, and now
this calamity"--she stopped and then added, softly, "I want you to do a
favor for--my mother?"
Captain Carroll, with an effort, at last found his voice. "But YOU are
in trouble; YOU are suffering. I had no idea this unfortunate affair
came so near to you."
"Nor did I," said Maruja, closing her fan with a slight snap. "I knew
nothing of it until my mother told me this morning. To be frank with
you, it now appears that Dr. West was her most intimate business
adviser. All her affairs were in his hands. I cannot explain how, or
why, or when; but it is so."
"And is that all?" said Carroll, with boyish openness of relief. "And
you have no other sorrow?"
In spite of herself, a tender smile, such as she might have bestowed on
an impulsive boy, broke on her lips. "And is that not enough? What
would you? No--sit where you are! We are here to talk seriously. And
you do not ask what is this favor my mother wishes?"
"No matter what it is, it shall be done," said Carroll, quickly. "I am
your mother's slave if she will but let me serve at your side. Only,"
he paused, "I wish it was not business--I know nothing of business."
"If it were only business, Captain Carroll," said Maruja, slowly, "I
would have spoken to Raymond or the Senor Buchanan; if it were only
confidence, Pereo, our mayordomo, would have dragged himself from his
sick-bed this morning to do my mother's bidding. But it is more than
that--it is the functions of a gentleman--and my mother, Captain
Carroll, would like to say of--a friend."
He seized her hand and covered it with kisses. She withdrew it gently.
"What have I to do?" he asked, eagerly.
She drew a note from her belt. "It is very simple. You must ride over
to Aladdin with that note. You must give it to him ALONE--more than
that, you must not let any one who may be there think you are making
any but a social call. If he keeps you to dine--you must stay--you
will bring back anything he may give you and deliver it to me secretly
for her."
"Is that all?" asked Carroll, with a slight touch of disappointment in
his tone.
"No," said Maruja, rising impulsively. "No, Captain Carroll--it is NOT
all! And you shall know all, if only to prove to you how we confide in
you--and to leave you free, after you have heard it, to do as you
please." She stood before him, quite white, opening and shutting her
fan quickly, and tapping the tiled floor with her little foot. "I have
told you Dr. West was my mother's business adviser. She looked upon
him as more--as a friend. Do you know what a dangerous thing it is for
a woman who has lost one protector to begin to rely upon another?
Well, my mother is not yet old. Dr. West appreciated her--Dr. West did
not depreciate himself--two things that go far with a woman, Captain
Carroll, and my mother is a woman." She paused, and then, with a light
toss of her fan, said: "Well, to make an end, but for this excellent
horse and this too ambitious rider, one knows not how far the old story
of my mother's first choice would have been repeated, and the curse of
Koorotora again fallen on the land."
"And you tell me this--you, Maruja--you who warned me against my
hopeless passion for you?"
"Could I foresee this?" she said, passionately; "and are you mad enough
not to see that this very act would have made YOUR suit intolerable to
my relations?"
"Then you did think of my suit, Maruja," he said, grasping her hand.
"Or any one's suit," she continued, hurriedly, turning away with a
slight increase of color in her cheeks. After a moment's pause, she
added, in a gentler and half-reproachful voice, "Do you think I have
confided my mother's story to you for this purpose only? Is this the
help you proffer?"
"Forgive me, Maruja," said the young officer, earnestly. "I am
selfish, I know--for I love you. But you have not told me yet how I
could help your mother by delivering this letter, which any one could
do."
"Let me finish then," said Maruja. "It is for you to judge what may be
done. Letters have passed between my mother and Dr. West. My mother is
imprudent; I know not what she may have written, or what she might not
write, in confidence. But you understand, they are not letters to be
made public nor to pass into any hands but hers. They are not to be
left to be bandied about by his American friends; to be commented upon
by strangers; to reach the ears of the Guitierrez. They belong to that
grave which lies between the Past and my mother; they must not rise
from it to haunt her."
"I understand," said the young officer, quietly. "This letter, then,
is my authority to recover them?"
"Partly, though it refers to other matters. This Mr. Prince, whom you
Americans call Aladdin, was a friend of Dr. West; they were associated
in business, and he will probably have access to his papers. The rest
we must leave to you."
"I think you may," said Carroll, simply.
Maruja stretched out her hand. The young man bent over it respectfully
and moved towards the door.
She had expected him to make some protestation--perhaps even to claim
some reward. But the instinct which made him forbear even in thought
to take advantage of the duty laid upon him, which dominated even his
miserable passion for her, and made it subservient to his exaltation of
honor; this epaulet of the officer, and blood of the gentleman, this
simple possession of knighthood not laid on by perfunctory steel, but
springing from within--all this, I grieve to say, was partly
unintelligible to Maruja, and not entirely satisfactory. Since he had
entered the room they seemed to have changed their situations; he was
no longer the pleading lover that trembled at her feet. For one base
moment she thought it was the result of his knowledge of her mother's
weakness; but the next instant, meeting his clear glance, she colored
with shame. Yet she detained him vaguely a moment before the grated
door in the secure shadow of the arch. He might have kissed her there!
He did not.
In the gloomy stagnation of the great house, it was natural that he
should escape from it for a while, and the saddling of his horse for a
solitary ride attracted no attention. But it might have been noticed
that his manner had lost much of that nervous susceptibility and
anxiety which indicates a lover; and it was with a return of his
professional coolness and precision that he rode out of the patio as if
on parade. Erect, observant, and self-possessed, he felt himself "on
duty," and, putting spurs to his horse, cantered along the high-road,
finding an inexpressible relief in motion. He was doing something in
the interest of helplessness and of HER. He had no doubt of his right
to interfere. He did not bother himself with the rights of others.
Like all self-contained men, he had no plan of action, except what the
occasion might suggest.
He was more than two miles from La Mision Perdida, when his quick eye
was attracted by a saddle-blanket lying in the roadside ditch. A
recollection of the calamity of the previous night made him rein in his
horse and examine it. It was without doubt the saddle-blanket of Dr.
West's horse, lost when the saddle came off, after the Doctor's body
had been dragged by the runaway beast. But a second fact forced itself
equally upon the young officer. It was lying nearly a mile from the
spot where the body had been picked up. This certainly did not agree
with the accepted theory that the accident had taken place further on,
and that the body had been dragged until the saddle came off where it
was found. His professional knowledge of equitation and the technique
of accoutrements exploded the idea that the saddle could have slipped
here, the saddle-blanket fallen and the horse have run nearly a mile
hampered by the saddle hanging under him. Consequently, the saddle,
blanket, and unfortunate rider must have been precipitated together,
and at the same moment, on or near this very spot. Captain Carroll was
not a detective; he had no theory to establish, no motive to discover,
only as an officer, he would have simply rejected any excuse offered on
those terms by one of his troopers to account for a similar accident.
He troubled himself with no further deduction. Without dismounting, he
gave a closer attention to the marks of struggling hoofs near the edge
of the ditch, which had not yet been obliterated by the daily travel.
In doing so, his horse's hoof struck a small object partly hidden in
the thick dust of the highway. It seemed to be a leather letter or
memorandum case adapted for the breast pocket. Carroll instantly
dismounted and picked it up. The name and address of Dr. West were
legibly written on the inside. It contained a few papers and notes,
but nothing more. The possibility that it might disclose the letters
he was seeking was a hope quickly past. It was only a corroborative
fact that the accident had taken place on the spot where he was
standing. He was losing time; he hurriedly put the book in his pocket,
and once more spurred forward on his road.