"Why should you care where I go?" she answered blithely, although her
eyes wavered.
"It's because you are unhappy here and because some one else is there.
I'm not blind, Mrs.--Miss Dering."
"You have no right to talk to me in that manner, Mr. Rollins. Come, we
are to go back to the hotel at once," she said coldly. There was steel in
her eyes.
He met her contemptuous look for a moment and quailed.
"I beg your pardon. I am a fool, but you have made me such," he said
baldly.
"I? I do not understand you," and he could not but admire the clever,
innocent, widespread eyes.
"You will understand me some day," he said, and to his amazement she
flushed and looked away. They continued their walk, but there was a
strange shyness in her manner that puzzled him.
"When is Dudley expected back here?" he asked abruptly.
She started sharply and gave him a quick, searching look. There was a
guilty expression in her eyes, and he muttered something ugly under his
breath.
"I do not know, Mr. Rollins," she answered.
"When did you hear from him last?" he demanded half savagely.
"I do not intend to be catechized by you, sir," she exclaimed, halting
abruptly. "We shall go back. You are very ugly to-day and I am surprised."
"I supposed you had letters from him every day," he went on ruthlessly.
She gave him a look in which he saw pain and the shadow of tears, and then
she turned and walked swiftly toward the hotel. His conscience smote him
and he turned after her. For the next ten minutes he was on his knees,
figuratively, pleading for forgiveness. At last she paused and smiled
sweetly into his face. Then she calmly turned and resumed the journey to
Bald Top, saying demurely:
"We have nearly a quarter of a mile to retrace, all because you were so
hateful."
"And you so obdurate," he added blissfully. He had tried to be severe and
angry with her and had failed.
That very night the expected came to pass. Havens appeared on the scene,
the same handsome, tragic-looking fellow, a trifle care-worn perhaps, but
still--an evil genius. Rossiter ran plump into him in the hallway and was
speechless for a moment. He unconsciously shook hands with the new
arrival, but his ears were ringing so with the thuds of his heart that he
heard but few of the brisk words addressed to him. After the eager actor
had left him standing humbly in the hall he managed to recall part of what
had been said. He had come up on the express from Boston and could stay
but a day or two. Did Mr. Rossiter know whether Miss Dering was in her
room? The barrister also distinctly remembered that he did not ask for his
aunt, which would have been the perfectly natural query.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account