The Silver Butterfly Page 19

  CHAPTER XIX

  Hayden's feeling of intense relief at Penfield's departure was succeededby an almost numb dejection. The revelations of Horace in regard toMarcia and the photographs had, to his own horror, occasioned no surprisein him, and the rest of Penfield's news had sunk into insignificancebeside this confirmation of his suspicions which lay like lead on hisheart and which he had refused to confess even to himself. He seemed tohave known it all the time, to have known it from the moment thephotographs had disappeared. He had no feeling of anger toward her, noblame for her, it went too deep for that.

  It was a gray afternoon, and as it wore on toward evening now and again aflurry of snow blew whitely from the sullen skies, and the leaping flameof the fire which had put to rout any lurking shadows was now in turndefied by them.

  "A lady to see you, sir." Tatsu stood at Hayden's elbow.

  "A lady to see me? Here?" Hayden roused from his apathy to exclaim.

  "Yes, sir."

  But before he could make further explanation, or Hayden could give orderseither to ask the lady to enter or to beg that she excuse him, there wasa soft, hesitant footfall, the delicate feminine rustle of trailingskirts, the faint delicious fragrance of violets, and he sprang to hisfeet, his heart pounding. In some mysterious uncannily skilful manner,Tatsu vanished.

  Marcia was very white, her long, dark gown fell about her, her facegleamed pale as a lily, wistful as regret, from the shadow of her largeblack hat.

  "Mr. Hayden, Bobby." She made a step toward him. "Why, how tired youlook! You are ill!" she broke off to cry, deep notes of tenderness andsolicitude in her voice.

  "I am a little tired," he said, with an effort. "But you, too, look pale.Do not stand. Come near the fire. Lay aside your furs. I will have somehot tea brought."

  She allowed him to lead her to a chair, her eyes fixed still upon hisface. "Something has worried you, is bothering you still. Isn't it so?"

  He dismissed the question. "You must believe me," he said, "when I assureyou that I am quite well, and that everything is all right."

  She was still standing, and now she turned to him and laid her hand uponhis sleeve. There was an intensity, almost a wildness in her expression."Ah," she cried, "you have missed the photographs. I was afraid of that,but I couldn't get here sooner. I telephoned twice, but I could not reachyou. You know that I could not have dreamed of coming here, here to yourapartment except for the most urgent of reasons. Bobby"--she burst intotears and clung to his arm--"it was I--I who stole your papers andphotographs."

  "My dear," bending above her, "do not say such things." His voicetrembled. "If you borrowed my photographs you did it for some goodreason, for cause which seemed right and proper to you. That is enoughfor me."

  "Oh, Robert, Robert!" She was weeping now, her whole figure shaken withsobs. "Your goodness, your sweetness overwhelms me. It is more than I canbear. But, Bobby, you mustn't believe the worst things of me. I didn'ttake them from the motives you may attribute to me."

  "Dear Marcia," he said soothingly, "do not talk of motives. Whatever yourmotives were, they were right. But you are going to tell me no more now.You are going to sit down here and have a cup of tea, and rest quietly afew moments before you attempt to tell me anything more. Here, you mustlay aside those heavy wraps."

  He took her furs, he begged her to remove her hat, then occupied himselffor a moment in fussing over the fire and giving orders for hot tea, andwas rewarded presently by seeing that the color had returned to her lipsand cheeks, and that the frightened, strained expression had faded fromher eyes.

  "There," he said, after Tatsu had brought in the tea things, and he hadpoured some for her. "Two lumps of sugar, one slice of lemon. You see, Iremember your tastes."

  She smiled gratefully at him. "Please, may I tell you all about it now?"she asked.

  His face fell again into the lines of dejection. In spite of thecheerfulness he had forced himself to assume, and in spite of thecompassion he felt for her weakness, he would have postponed for everthis confession which must condemn her.

  "Why," he asked, "why not bury the incident in a wise oblivion, and nevermention it again? Indeed, indeed, it is better so. One of the bestmottoes in the world is, 'Never explain.'"

  His lips smiled, but his eyes pleaded, and his heart passionatelyprotested:

  Must we lose our Eden, Eve and I?

  Her languor and weariness disappeared in a moment; she drew herself upnow, the pose of her head haughty, her eyes chill. "Never explain?" sherepeated. "It is, as you say, an excellent motto--for those who are bestassisted by a wise silence. But I assure you I am not trying to gain yourpity, or tolerance or forgiveness. I took your photographs and mapsyesterday evening and acted probably on incorrect reasoning and mistakenimpulse, but I should do exactly the same thing again under the samecircumstances; and now, I insist upon your listening to thosecircumstances."

  She laid aside her cup and with the scarlet still glowing on her cheekbegan:

  "Yesterday morning I received word from Mr. Carrothers that a man who hadall the charts and photographs of The Veiled Mariposa had beendiscovered, and that that man was you. You may imagine my sensations. Atfirst, I could not grasp it, it seemed too inconceivable and incredibleto be true, and then, as the facts of the case were given me and I wasable to realize it, to take it in, why--I was overcome with joy. Ah,B---- Mr. Hayden, no one was ever so happy as I yesterday morning. Yourwords of a week ago, the afternoon that we had walked in the Park, cameback to me. Your mysterious allusions to the good fortune which wasalmost within your grasp--and this was it! And to think that I--I shouldbe one of the owners of the property! Why, it was like a fairy-story."

  "And are you really one of the owners?" he interrupted her to cry.

  "Indeed, yes. But let me go on. I was also told that your informationwould be in our hands within twenty-four hours, and then, I learned thatYdo was conducting the negotiations. That was the rift within the lute. Iimmediately became frightened. I did not know what it meant. What I didknow was that Ydo stops at nothing to gain her ends. And of course, she,being interested, too--"

  "How is she interested?" he interrupted again. "I have not discoveredthat."

  "I will explain later. I want to go on with this part of my story now.But, as I say, knowing Ydo, her daring, her indifference to anything buther own game, her powers of resource--"

  "Oh, come, you are unjust to her," he exclaimed, forgetful of his ownbase suspicions.

  "Oh, I know it, but believe me, I am not"--again her head was haughtilylifted--"I am not trying to gain your sympathy by criticizing her; I ammerely trying to make you understand the case as it appeared to me. As Isay, I was frightened. It was all my own superstition. Indeed, I knowthat it was; but I got in a panic, and could not reason clearly. No," ashe strove to take her hand, "please wait. And then, last night whenHorace Penfield asked you to show the photographs I saw a confirmation ofmy fears, and when Ydo entered I was still more frightened. I suspectedan arrangement, a plot between them. There were the photographs and mapson that little table where you had carelessly thrown them; any one couldtake them; and then when Ydo was going through her nonsense over thatglass ball and had every one's attention fixed on her Horace crept aroundand stood so near the table that I was sure he was going to seize them,so I took them myself. I twisted the gauze scarf which was about my neckaround them and carried them out that way. No one noticed. And here theyare." She lifted the package from her muff, still wrapped in the scarf,and held it out to him. "No one has even glanced at them; not evenmyself."

  "And you did this to save me! Oh, Marcia, Marcia!" He was more moved thanhe could express.

  "Wait!" She lifted her hand imperatively. "I haven't finished. There arelots of things to tell you yet."

  "Postpone them!" he cried ardently. "Forget them until to-morrow! Ah,dearest, you are tired. You have borne too much strain already."

  "No, no!" she cried. "It grows late, and I must, must tell you thesethings before
I leave you."

  "Leave me!" he cried. "Try it. When you go I go with you."

  They both laughed. "But listen, Bobby," she pleaded; and at that "Bobby"his heart glowed, he was surely forgiven. "Don't you want to know how Ihappened to be the largest owner of the vast Mariposa estate?"

  "Oh, indeed I do!" he said. "Are you the largest owner?"

  "Yes," she nodded. "You see, at the height of his prosperity, my fatherbought it from a Mr. Willoughby, whose wife inherited it. No one knew it,but even at that time my father's mind was affected, and before long hisdisease, a softening of the brain, had fully manifested itself. Hisgreatest interest in life had always been business, and after this changecame upon him he got all kinds of strange ideas in his head, among them aperfect mania for destroying papers. It is principally for that reason,"with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "that we were left almostpenniless. But he had a head clerk, a Mr. Carrothers, Ydo's father, bythe way, who saw how things were going, and who, by various ruses,succeeded in saving some of the papers, among them those relating to theMariposa estate. These were intact.

  "After my father's death, as you have probably heard, there waspractically nothing left, nothing for my mother and myself to live on. SoI decided to go into business. I am," with a little smile, "both adesigner and manufacturer of quaint jewelry, ornaments and things; butthere wasn't any money. But Mr. Carrothers, who had more or less, wascrazy about the Mariposa property. He had looked up the history of theWilloughbys and found that everything that Mr. Willoughby claimed wastrue, and he wanted an interest in the estate, so he offered to financemy little venture if I would give him a third interest in the property.

  "I was glad enough to do so, and he and I went into partnership. It hasbeen a success. We have made money, but it left little time for anythingelse. Nevertheless, Mr. Carrothers has never lost his enthusiasm inregard to The Veiled Mariposa, and that has kept up my flagging interest.We have not been idle about it either; but have kept prospectors downthere almost all the time. Ydo went over the ground two or three yearsago. But this year, we had decided to make a special effort. We were tosend down some great expert and a seasoned old prospector or two whocould positively smell ore on the rocks.

  "I sent out my little messages in the shape of the jeweled butterflies,and Ydo, who had not been in this country for several years, decided totell fortunes under the name of The Veiled Mariposa, and to carry out theidea in her disguise. It was a clever idea because she could advertise,and any one who had anything to communicate about the mine wouldnaturally connect her with it and seek her out. And sure enough, this hasproved our lucky year, for you, you discovered it--The Veiled Mariposa."She smiled happily at him.

  "To lay it at your feet." He caught her hands and drew her up from herchair. "Ah, Queen of Eldorado, will you take it with my poor heart?"

  They were both laughing; but it was laughter that trembled on the vergeof tears. "Sweetheart," she murmured, her arms about his neck, her facehidden on his shoulder, "my mine, my butterflies and my heart are yoursfor ever."

  "Ah!" He held her so closely that the violets, crushed upon her breast,protested in wafts of fragrance.

  "There are more things I want to tell you," she murmured.

  "You will do nothing of the kind, O Scheherazade! Not, at least, untilyou have had something to eat. Ah, we will go to the Gildersleeve, wherewe first met, or at least first talked. Come, your hat and wraps, nodelay."

  He assisted her into her long cloak, and laid her furs about hershoulders.

  "How can I pin on my hat," she asked desperately, "when you--"

  "Yes? When I?" he said encouragingly. "Why are you blushing?"

  "Nobody can properly pin on a hat when some one is kissing her," sheprotested.

  "I am from Missouri," he replied. "You must show me. In other words, Idoubt the assertion. Now, to prove it, you try to pin on your hat and Iwill endeavor to kiss you at the same time."

  "You will do nothing of the kind," she insisted. "You will go and standon the other side of the room. Ah--"

  There was no room for further argument, the door was thrown open and Ydo,brilliant, laughing, gorgeous as a tropical flower, entered. Behind herloomed Wilfred Ames with all the radiance it was possible for hisstolidity to express.

  "Here!" cried Ydo, the music of her laughter filling the room as her eyesfell on Marcia. "Ah, I knew it! What did I tell you?" turning to Hayden.

  "What do you mean?" cried Marcia, startled, flushing.

  "I mean this," laughed Ydo. "That he," pointing to Hayden, "came to meabout noon, frantic over the disappearance of his claims on Eldorado.After he had explained the circumstances to me I knew in a minute thatthou wert the woman. I didn't have to gaze into my crystal or run thecards to see that. But why, why? I knew that you didn't take themfor--well, reasons that others might have taken them for; but why takethem at all?"

  There was no gainsaying Ydo. "Because I thought some one else would takethem if I didn't," faltered Marcia.

  "Meaning me!" Ydo's laughter seemed merciless to Marcia's shrinking ears."I don't mind the implication. But Wilfred, Bobby, to fancy I would doanything so clumsy! Who says that women are not cruel to women?"

  "Ydo, forgive me," pleaded Marcia, "I am humiliated, ashamed." Her voicetrembled.

  Ydo's green eyes twinkled upon her. "Oh, la! la!" with a friendly,careless little push. "Sweet, dainty lady of the butterflies, I havenothing to forgive. I comprehend you, and he who understands all forgivesall. It is simply that you do not understand me. Shall the violetunderstand the orchid? It is not a thing to think of again, so forget itfor ever.

  "And speaking of orchids, Mr. Hayden, may I have a few to wear to-nightfrom that vase yonder? They will just suit my gown."

  She moved with him across the room, leaving Marcia and Ames standingtogether; but she did not stretch out her hand to take the orchids heoffered, but stood looking at him with her dazzling smile, sweetened,softened with some touch of feeling so deep and yet so evanescent that hecould not fathom it.

  "Little brother of the wilds, now that you have won Cinderella andEldorado, as I predicted, I wish you a divine unrest. It is the best ICan hope for you. Eldorado and domesticity mean the fishy eye, the heavyjowl, and the expanded waistcoat; and remember that although the red godsmay be silent so long that you will forget them, yet there will come aday when they will call and you will hear nothing else. Then, as youwould keep your happiness, get up and follow--follow 'to the camp ofproved desire and known delight.'"

  "Advice from one about to settle down--don't settle." He strove to speaklightly, but failed.

  "I settle! Don't harbor any such vagaries. We may meet again, oh, I don'tmean in this sort of a way, I mean where the open road winds on like agreat river, and the pines go marching up and down hill, and the bluesmoke of the tent-fires curls up to the morning skies. We may meet again,Bobby, on the outward trail that leads from Eldorado to Arcady."

  She swept across the room, pausing to kiss Marcia lightly on the cheek asshe passed her. "Come, Wilfred," she cried. "We are _de trop_. Let us seehow quickly we can vanish."

  The door closed behind them, but the room still held the faint echo ofher laughter, the lingering breath of evasive and enchanting perfume.

  Marcia had thrown her furs about her shoulders and now she picked up hermuff. It fell to the floor, unheeded, as Hayden caught her hands in his.

  "What was Ydo saying to you?" she asked.

  "She was giving me some geographical information about the relativesituations of Eldorado and Arcady, and condemning the former as a healthresort."

  "Bobby! You're fooling! I can tell by your eyes."

  "But her knowledge is incorrect," he announced triumphantly. "Forinstance, she is not even aware that the towers and treasures of Eldoradolie in the very heart of Arcady, and that we will dwell there for everand a day, my adored lady of the Silver Butterfly."

  THE END

 
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