When Lawrence Croft reached the Green Sulphur Springs, after his
interview with Miss March, his soul was still bubbling and boiling with
emotion, and it continued in that condition all night, at least during
that great part of the night of which he was conscious. The sight of the
lady he loved, under the new circumstances in which he found her, had
determined him to throw prudence and precaution to the winds, and to ask
her at once to be his wife.
But the next morning Lawrence arose very late. His coffee had evidently
been warmed over, and his bacon had been cooked for a long, long time.
The world did not appear to him in a favorable light, and he was obliged
to smoke two cigars before he was at all satisfied with it. While he was
smoking he did a good deal of thinking, and it was then that he came to
the conclusion that he would not go over to Midbranch and propose to
Roberta March. Such precipitate action would be unjust to himself and
unjust to her. In her eyes it would probably appear to be the act of a
man who had been suddenly spurred to action by the sight of a rival, and
this, if Roberta was the woman he believed her to be, would prejudice
her against him. And yet he knew very well that these reasons would
avail nothing if he should see her as he intended. He had found that he
was much more in love with her than he had supposed, and he felt
positively certain that the next time he was alone with her he would
declare his passion.
Another thing that he felt he should consider was that the presence of
Keswick, if looked upon with a philosophic eye, was not a reason for
immediate action. If the old engagement had positively been broken off,
he was at the house merely as a family friend; while, on the other hand,
if the rupture had not been absolute, and if Roberta really loved this
tall Southerner and wished to marry him, there was a feeling of honor
about Lawrence which forbade him to interfere at this moment. When she
came to New York he would find out how matters really stood, and then he
would determine on his own action.
And yet he would have proposed to Roberta that moment if he had had the
opportunity. Her personal presence would have banished philosophy, and
even honor.
Lawrence was a long time in coming to these conclusions, and it was late
in the afternoon when he despatched his note. Having now given up his
North Carolina trip--one object of which had been still another visit to
Midbranch on his return--he was obliged to wait until the next day for a
train to the North; and, consequently, he had another evening to devote
to reflections. These, after a time, became unsatisfactory. He had told
the exact truth in his note to Roberta, for he felt that it was
necessary for him to leave that part of the country in order to make
impossible an interview for which he believed the proper time had not
arrived. He was consulting his best interests, and also, no doubt, those
of the lady. And yet, in spite of this reasoning, he was not satisfied
with himself. He felt that his note was not entirely honest and true.
There was subterfuge about it, and something of duplicity. This he
believed was foreign to his nature, and he did not like it.
Lawrence had scarcely finished his breakfast the next morning when Mr
Junius Keswick arrived at the door of his cottage. This gentleman had
walked over from Midbranch and was a little dusty about his boots and
the lower part of his trousers. Lawrence greeted him politely, but was
unable to restrain a slight indication of surprise. It being more
pleasant on the porch than in the house, Mr Croft invited his visitor to
take a seat there, and the latter very kindly accepted the cigar which
was offered him, although he would have preferred the pipe he had in his
pocket.
"I thought it possible," said Keswick, as soon as the two had fairly
begun to smoke, "that you might not yet have left here, and so came over
in the hope of seeing you."
"Very kind," said Lawrence.
Keswick smiled. "I must admit," said he, "that it was not solely for the
pleasure of meeting you again that I came, although I am very glad to
have an opportunity for renewing our acquaintance. I came because I am
quite convinced that Miss March wished very much to see you at the time
arranged between you, and that she was annoyed and discomposed by your
failure to keep your engagement. Considering that you did not, and
probably could not, know this, I deemed I would do you a service by
informing you of the fact."
"Did Miss March send you to tell me this?" exclaimed Lawrence.
"Miss March knows nothing whatever of my coming," was the answer.
"Then I must say, sir," exclaimed Lawrence, "that you have taken a great
deal upon yourself."
Keswick leaned forward, and after knocking off the ashes of his cigar on
the outside of the railing, he replied in a tone quite unmoved by the
reproach of his companion: "It may appear so on the face of it, but, in
fact I am actuated only by a desire to serve Miss March, for whom I
would do any service that I thought she desired. And, looking at it from
your side, I am sure that I would be very much obliged to any one who
would inform me, if I did not know it, that a lady greatly wished to see
me."
"Why does she want to see me?" asked Croft. "What has she to say to me?"
"I do not know," said Keswick. "I only know that she was very much
disappointed in not seeing you yesterday."
"If that is the case, she might have written to me," said Lawrence.
"I do not think you quite understand the situation," observed his
companion. "Miss March is not a lady who would even intimate to a
gentleman that she wished him to come to her when it was obvious that
such was not his desire. But it seemed to me that if the gentleman
should become aware of the lady's wishes through the medium of a third
party, the matter would arrange itself without difficulty."
"By the gentleman going to her, I suppose," remarked Croft.
"Of course," said Keswick.
"There is no 'of course' about it," was Lawrence's rather quick reply.
At that moment some letters were brought to him from a little
post-office near by, to which he had ordered his mail to be forwarded.
As the address on one of these letters caught his eye, the somewhat
stern expression on his face gave place to a smile, and begging his
visitor to excuse him, he put his other letters into his pocket, and
opened this one. It was very short, and was from Mr Candy's cashier. It
was written from Howlett's, Virginia, a place unknown to him, and stated
that the writer expected in a very short time to give him some accurate
information in regard to Mr Keswick, and expressed the hope that he
would allow the affair to remain entirely in her hands until she should
write again. It was quite natural that, under the circumstances,
Lawrence should smile broadly as he folded up this note. The man in
question was sitting beside him, and, in a measure, was turning the
tables upon him. Lawrence had been very anxious to find out what sort
of a man was Keswick, and the latter now seemed in the way of making
some discoveries in the same line in regard to Lawrence. One thing he
must certainly do; he must write as soon as possible to his enterprising
agent, and tell her that her services were no longer needed. She must
have pushed the matter with a great deal of energy to have brought her
down to Virginia, and he could not help hoping that her discretion was
equal to her investigative capacity.
When, after this little interruption, Lawrence again addressed Junius
Keswick his manner was so much more affable that the other could not
fail but notice it.
"Mr Keswick," he said, "as our conversation seems to be based upon
personalities, perhaps you will excuse me if I ask you if I am mistaken
in believing that you were once engaged to be married to Miss March?"
"You are entirely correct," said Junius. "I was engaged to her, and I
hope to be engaged to her again."
"Indeed!" exclaimed Croft, turning in his chair with a start.
"Yes," continued Keswick, "our engagement was dissolved in consequence
of a certain family complication, and as I said before, I hope in time
to be able to renew it."
Lawrence threw away his cigar, and sat for a few moments in thought. The
engagement, then, did not exist. Roberta was free. Recollections came
to him of his own intercourse with her during the past summer, and his
heart gave a bound. "Mr Keswick," said he, "upon consideration of the
matter I think I will call upon Miss March this morning."
If Keswick had expressed himself entirely satisfied with this decision
he would have done injustice to his feelings. The service he had taken
upon himself to perform for Miss March he had considered a duty, but if
his mission had failed he would have been better pleased than with its
success. He made, however, a courteous reply to Croft's remark, and rose
to depart. But this the other would not allow.
"You told me," said Croft, "that you walked over here; but it is much
warmer now, and you must not think of such a thing as walking back. The
man here has a horse and buggy. I will get him to harness up, and I will
drive you over to Midbranch."
As there was no good reason why he should decline this offer, Junius
accepted it, and in half an hour the two were on their way.