[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Barney's eyes were ardent. "There are plenty of answers to that. One of them is--look in
the mirror. That's not the right one. It's just--you. The way you were in that store in Mayville.
The way you took me to look for building sites. The more I say the sillier it will sound. Why do I
love you? Because I think you're swell. Because you set me thinking of what life married to you
would be--and you're the one girl who has started that particular train of thought in my mind. For
all the conventional reasons and for a number of reasons of my own. Because--"
Janet was content with his answer and his attitude. But she did not show her contentment.
There was not the slightest suggestion of inward satisfaction in her terse interruption:
"You're sure it's not at all because I am the Leigh heiress?"
Barney never forgot that simple sentence. No words he had ever heard in his life had
given him a more sudden or profound shock. His physical manifestations were slight. He may
have flinched a little. But human beings react a hundred times more violently to the prick of a
pin than they would to the august crack of doom. When he spoke, softly, vehemently, he said
only, "No, dear."
He could not have chosen a better answer. It undamned all her pent-up jubilance. They
were in each other's arms before they stopped to wonder or explain. It was after a long interval
that in small and careful voices they explored devious reasons and motives.
"Muriel told me that," she said.
And--"I had to promise Chloe not to let you know in order to see you at all."
"Why didn't you tell me in Mayville?"
"Because father forbade it." Barney explained the strange will. He described his errand in
detail. Janet laughed.
"You mean, you went back and hunted around in the mud for my footprint?"
"That's just what I did. And then I was just able to wash in time to take you to church."
"I'd have dropped dead if I had known what you were doing--and why."
"You can imagine how I felt. I was in love with you before I had even settled down to the
business of identifying you."
"Honestly?"
"Absolutely. And then it dawned on me that I looked more like a fortune hunter than
Captain Kidd. Lord, I've been miserable."
"I'll make it up."
"You've already made it up."
Kisses. Silences. During one of the rhapsodic stillnesses Severance opened the front door
and escorted Rupert to Muriel's suite. They scarcely noticed that someone had entered the house.
Later on their mood changed slowly. Barney's conscience began to function.
"What are we going to do about it?"
Janet smiled at him. "You've got to figure that out."
He shook his head. "No one can. Father can't. Everything is in a perfectly insane state."
"I know. That is, I'm beginning to know."
"We can't help you very much. I guess--I've spoiled your case."
"How?"
"By loving you. Even if you don't believe I was trying to get your money--everyone else
will."
"But why don't we just let the case drop?"
"That's what I've wondered."
Janet shook her head. "I have a feeling we won't be able to do it. Muriel won't let us."
"Muriel?"
"She has only one idea--to drag down Miss Laforge-Leigh."
"And herself," he said grimly.
"She's not thinking about herself any more--not directly. She has a terrible courage. I
think she's grand."
"You don't know her as well as I do. You don't know as much about her--"
"I think," Janet said, "that I probably know her a great deal better than you do."
Barney stood and took a cigarette from his pocket. He had a habit of producing a single
cigarette as if he kept them loose in his clothes. When he was excited, they emerged in a
continual stream. "Maybe you do," he said. "But that's not the point. Our troubles--yours and
mine--haven't really started."
"I thought that they were all over."
Barney laughed. Sheer reaction to the acute suffering he had undergone unstrung his
nerves. "That's our trouble. We're like children. We're avoiding every main issue. Your money--"
"My money! I can't think of it as my money. All of a sudden--before dinner--it dawned
on me that all these things belonged to me. This house. The servants. The food that was eaten
here--at least in theory it was mine. If I hadn't been so worried about you I would have died from
fright or laughter, I don't know which."
"I know it. And I know I'm cross and crazy. Don't mind it, will you? If we could only just
barge out and get married--"
"Well--?"
"We can't. I haven't the right. Father made that perfectly clear to me today."
"I suppose," Janet said thoughtfully, "that men are always thinking about duty--"
"Well? It involves everybody--"
"--and I presume they're right. But thinking about it only complicates it."
"Good Lord," he exclaimed, "we can't avoid the complications. It's the worst tangle I've
ever heard of."
"I think it's quite simple."
Barney sighed. "Oh, my God! Well--never mind."
"You ought to go home and go to bed." "Sure," he said, "and leave everything to the good
fairies."
"Are we quarreling, Barney?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Barney's eyes were ardent. "There are plenty of answers to that. One of them is--look in
the mirror. That's not the right one. It's just--you. The way you were in that store in Mayville.
The way you took me to look for building sites. The more I say the sillier it will sound. Why do I
love you? Because I think you're swell. Because you set me thinking of what life married to you
would be--and you're the one girl who has started that particular train of thought in my mind. For
all the conventional reasons and for a number of reasons of my own. Because--"
Janet was content with his answer and his attitude. But she did not show her contentment.
There was not the slightest suggestion of inward satisfaction in her terse interruption:
"You're sure it's not at all because I am the Leigh heiress?"
Barney never forgot that simple sentence. No words he had ever heard in his life had
given him a more sudden or profound shock. His physical manifestations were slight. He may
have flinched a little. But human beings react a hundred times more violently to the prick of a
pin than they would to the august crack of doom. When he spoke, softly, vehemently, he said
only, "No, dear."
He could not have chosen a better answer. It undamned all her pent-up jubilance. They
were in each other's arms before they stopped to wonder or explain. It was after a long interval
that in small and careful voices they explored devious reasons and motives.
"Muriel told me that," she said.
And--"I had to promise Chloe not to let you know in order to see you at all."
"Why didn't you tell me in Mayville?"
"Because father forbade it." Barney explained the strange will. He described his errand in
detail. Janet laughed.
"You mean, you went back and hunted around in the mud for my footprint?"
"That's just what I did. And then I was just able to wash in time to take you to church."
"I'd have dropped dead if I had known what you were doing--and why."
"You can imagine how I felt. I was in love with you before I had even settled down to the
business of identifying you."
"Honestly?"
"Absolutely. And then it dawned on me that I looked more like a fortune hunter than
Captain Kidd. Lord, I've been miserable."
"I'll make it up."
"You've already made it up."
Kisses. Silences. During one of the rhapsodic stillnesses Severance opened the front door
and escorted Rupert to Muriel's suite. They scarcely noticed that someone had entered the house.
Later on their mood changed slowly. Barney's conscience began to function.
"What are we going to do about it?"
Janet smiled at him. "You've got to figure that out."
He shook his head. "No one can. Father can't. Everything is in a perfectly insane state."
"I know. That is, I'm beginning to know."
"We can't help you very much. I guess--I've spoiled your case."
"How?"
"By loving you. Even if you don't believe I was trying to get your money--everyone else
will."
"But why don't we just let the case drop?"
"That's what I've wondered."
Janet shook her head. "I have a feeling we won't be able to do it. Muriel won't let us."
"Muriel?"
"She has only one idea--to drag down Miss Laforge-Leigh."
"And herself," he said grimly.
"She's not thinking about herself any more--not directly. She has a terrible courage. I
think she's grand."
"You don't know her as well as I do. You don't know as much about her--"
"I think," Janet said, "that I probably know her a great deal better than you do."
Barney stood and took a cigarette from his pocket. He had a habit of producing a single
cigarette as if he kept them loose in his clothes. When he was excited, they emerged in a
continual stream. "Maybe you do," he said. "But that's not the point. Our troubles--yours and
mine--haven't really started."
"I thought that they were all over."
Barney laughed. Sheer reaction to the acute suffering he had undergone unstrung his
nerves. "That's our trouble. We're like children. We're avoiding every main issue. Your money--"
"My money! I can't think of it as my money. All of a sudden--before dinner--it dawned
on me that all these things belonged to me. This house. The servants. The food that was eaten
here--at least in theory it was mine. If I hadn't been so worried about you I would have died from
fright or laughter, I don't know which."
"I know it. And I know I'm cross and crazy. Don't mind it, will you? If we could only just
barge out and get married--"
"Well--?"
"We can't. I haven't the right. Father made that perfectly clear to me today."
"I suppose," Janet said thoughtfully, "that men are always thinking about duty--"
"Well? It involves everybody--"
"--and I presume they're right. But thinking about it only complicates it."
"Good Lord," he exclaimed, "we can't avoid the complications. It's the worst tangle I've
ever heard of."
"I think it's quite simple."
Barney sighed. "Oh, my God! Well--never mind."
"You ought to go home and go to bed." "Sure," he said, "and leave everything to the good
fairies."
"Are we quarreling, Barney?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]