Harding was the last arrival, and in his honor the card games were
discontinued for a little, while we talked about home. Marcel justified
my confidence in him; he discoursed so brilliantly upon England that one
would have fancied he knew more about the old country than all the
remainder of us combined. But Marcel has at times a large, generous way,
and he talked wholly of extensive generalities, never condescending to
particulars. This period of conversation was brought to a successful end
by glasses of wine all around, and then we settled again to the more
serious business of cards. Belfort had been very quiet after his failure
with Harding, and he looked both mortified and thoughtful. I was
inclined to the belief that his suspicions about our identity had been
dissipated, and that he would seek a quarrel with at least one of us on
other grounds.
The game proceeded, and I won steadily. My luck was remarkable. If I
ever succeeded in escaping from Philadelphia with a sound neck, my stay
there was likely to prove of profit.
The night advanced, but we played on, although it was far past twelve
o'clock, and probably we would have played with equal zest had the
daylight been coming in at the windows. The room was hot and close; but
we paid no attention to such trifles, having eyes only for the cards and
the money, and the shifting chances of the game. My luck held, and the
little heap of shining gold coins gathered at my elbow was growing fast.
"Evidently the Goddess, fickle to others, favors you," said Belfort, at
last. He regarded me with no pleasant eye. Much of his money had gone to
swell my yellow hoard. Doubtless it seemed to the man that I was
destined always to come in his way, to be to him a sort of evil genius.
I was in an exultant mood, my winnings and my release from the great
fear that had fallen upon me lifting me up, and I had no wish to soothe
him.
"If the Goddess favors me, it is not for me to criticise her taste," I
replied.
"No; that can safely be left to others," said Belfort.
He had been drinking much wine, and while all of us were hot and
flushed, he seemed to have felt the effects of the night, the gaming,
and the liquors more than anybody else. But despite our condition, his
remark created surprise.
"Pshaw, Belfort, you jest badly!" said Vivian.
Belfort flushed a deeper red, but did not reply. Neither did I say
anything. I have heard that the card-table is more prolific in quarrels
than any other place in the world, and I saw the need of prudence. I had
concluded that it would be very unwise to quarrel with Belfort, and my
reckless mood abating, I determined not to lead him on. But a chance
remark of Moore's set flame to the fuel again.
"I would pursue my luck, if I were you, Melville," he said. "Any
Irishman would, and an Englishman ought not to be slack."
"How?" I asked.
"In the two accompaniments of cards, war and love. You have shown what
you can do in cards and in a measure in war. Now, to be the complete
gentleman, you must be successful in love."
"Melville has proved already that he has a correct eye for beauty," said
Vivian.
"You mean Miss Desmond," said Catron, "but his eye has been neither
quicker nor surer than those of others. There are enough officers at her
feet to make a regiment."
I was sorry that they had brought up Miss Desmond's name, yet these
young officers meant no disrespect to her. In our time all beautiful
women were discussed by the men over cards and wine, and it was
considered no familiarity, but a compliment.
"I wish you would not speak so often and with such little excuse of Miss
Desmond," exclaimed Belfort, angrily.
"Why not?" I asked, replying for Vivian. His manner of appropriating
Miss Desmond, a manner that I had noticed before, was excessively
haughty and presumptuous, and it irritated every nerve in me.
"If you speak for yourself," he replied, turning a hot face upon me, "it
is because you have known her only a few days and you have assumed an
air which impresses me particularly as being impertinent."
It seemed as if there could be no end to his arrogance. He even made
himself the sole judge of my manners, dismissing all the others as
incompetent. Yet I was able to control my temper in face of such an
insult in a way that surprised me.
"Your opinion of impertinence, Mr. Belfort, appears to differ from that
of other people, and I fear you are not an authority on the subject," I
replied, and I think there was no break in my voice, "yet I am willing
to discuss the subject in any fashion you wish until we shall have
reached some sort of a conclusion."
I knew he was bent upon forcing a quarrel upon me, and I did not see how
I could honorably make further attempts to avoid it.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Catron. "You shall not quarrel. I am your host,
and I forbid it. You have both taken too much wine, and the code does
not demand that hot words spoken at three o'clock in the morning shall
breed sparks the next day."
Now, I had drank very little wine, and Catron knew it, but he included
me in his indictment in order to ease Belfort, and I did not object. I
waited, willing, even after what had been said, that peace should be
made between us, but Belfort shook his head.
"Lieutenant Melville's words amounted to a challenge," he said, "and I
would deem myself but the small part of a man if I refused it."
"I have nothing to withdraw," I interrupted. It seemed best to me to
have it out with Belfort. I had been willing to smooth over all
differences with him until he made Mary Desmond the issue between us.
Somehow I could not pass that by, although she might never be anything
to either him or me. Even in that moment when the quarrel was hot upon
me, I wondered at the hold this Tory girl had taken upon my mind,--a
girl whom I had seen but two or three times, and from whom I had
received nothing but haughtiness.
"So be it, then," said Catron, impatiently, "but I trust that both of
you will permit me to say what I think of you."
"Certainly! Tell us!" I said.
"Then I think you are both confounded fools to push a quarrel and cut
each other up with pistol bullets or sword blades when you might dwell
together in peace and friendship. Moreover, you have disturbed the
game."
"We can go on with the cards," I suggested, "and Lieutenant Belfort and
I will settle our affairs later."
"Of course," replied Catron. "You cannot fight at night, and we will
meet here to-morrow in the afternoon to arrange for this business that
you and Belfort seem bent on transacting. Meanwhile we will make the
most of the night's remainder."
A few moments later we were absorbed in the cards, and the subject of
the duel seemed to be banished from the minds of all, save those most
concerned.
"What do you think of it?" I asked Marcel, when I was first able to
speak to him, unheard by others.
"It is unfortunate, on the whole, though you are not to blame," he
replied, pursing up his lips. "If you were to run him through with your
sword, his inquisitive tongue would be silenced and his suspicious eyes
shut forever. And yet I would not wish you to do that."
"Nor I," I said with deep conviction.
The gray in the east soon grew, and the world slid into the daylight. I
looked at my comrades, and they were all haggard, their features drawn
and great black streaks showing under their eyes. I shoved my gold into
my pockets and said that we must go.
"And all the rest of us, too," said Moore. "Heavens! suppose that Sir
William should have some active duty for us to-day! What would he think
that we had been doing?"
His query was certainly pertinent, and the little gathering hastily
dissolved, Marcel bidding his new-found cousin an affectionate
good-night or rather good-morning.
As Marcel and I were about to pass out of the room, Waters appeared
before us with a hot glass of mixed spirits in either hand.
"Better drink these before you go," he said. "They will freshen you."
The presence of this man with his evil eyes and significant glance
coming upon us like an apparition was startling and decidedly
unpleasant. I disliked him almost as much as I did Belfort, and in my
soul I feared him more. I saw that self-same look of smirking
satisfaction on his face, and I trembled not only with anger, but
because I feared that the man possessed our secret and was playing with
us for his own malicious sport. However we accepted his invitation and
drank.
"When do you fight Lieutenant Belfort?" he asked, looking me straight in
the eye as I handed back to him the empty glass.
"Is it any business of yours?" I said, flushing with anger.
"No, but I wondered why you and Lieutenant Belfort were so eager to
quarrel," he replied, his eyes showing no fear of me.
"What damned impertinence is this!" broke out Marcel. "How dare you, a
servant, speak in such a manner?"
"I beg your pardon, sir, I spoke hastily, I meant no harm," said the
man, suddenly becoming humble, as if frightened by Marcel's heat.
"Then see that hereafter your actions conform better with your
intentions," continued Marcel, as we passed out.
"That man is more to be feared than Belfort," I said a little later,
speaking the thought that was in my mind.
"Yes, I think so, too," replied Marcel. "Confound him! Those eyes of his
look me through, and I have the fancy that he is all the time laughing
at us."
But Marcel's ill humor and suspicion lasted less than half a hour, and
he was cheerfully humming a love song when he finally jumped into bed.