第91章 CHAPTER XIX(2)
Because I could not bear it,I planned to go into exile of any sort to escape that.I have changed my mind.I have come back to haunt you until the ceremony is over.Then I go,not before.I was insane!"The girl laughed merrily."Not half so insane as you are now,Hart!"she cried gaily."You know that Philip Ammon has been devoted to me all my life.Now I'll tell you something else,because this looks serious for you.
I love him with all my heart.Not while he lives shall he know it,and I will laugh at him if you tell him,but the fact remains:I intend to marry him,but no doubt I shall tease him constantly.It's good for a man to be uncertain.
If you could see Philip's face at the quarterly return of his ring,you would understand the fun of it.You had better have taken your boat.""Possibly,"said Henderson calmly."But you are the only woman in the world for me,and while you are free,as I now see my light,I remain near you.You know the old adage.""But I'm not `free!'"cried Edith Carr."I'm telling you I am not.This night is my public acknowledgment that Phil and I are promised,as our world has surmised since we were children.That promise is an actual fact,because of what I just have told you.My little fits of temper don't count with Phil.He's been reared on them.
In fact,I often invent one in a perfect calm to see him perform.He is the most amusing spectacle.But,please,please,do understand that I love him,and always shall,and that we shall be married.""Just the same,I'll wait and see it an accomplished fact,"said Henderson."And Edith,because I love you,with the sort of love it is worth a woman's while to inspire,I want your happiness before my own.So Iam going to say this to you,for I never dreamed you were capable of the feeling you have displayed for Phil.
If you do love him,and have loved him always,a disappointment would cut you deeper than you know.
Go careful from now on!Don't strain that patched engagement of yours any further.I've known Philip all my life.I've known him through boyhood,in college,and since.All men respect him.Where the rest of us confess our sins,he stands clean.You can go to his arms with nothing to forgive.Mark this thing!I have heard him say,`Edith is my slogan,'and I have seen him march home strong in the strength of his love for you,in the face of temptations before which every other man of us fell.
Before the gods!that ought to be worth something to a girl,if she really is the delicate,sensitive,refined thing she would have man believe.It would take a woman with the organism of an ostrich to endure some of the men here to-night,if she knew them as I do;but Phil is sound to the core.So this is what I would say to you:first,your instincts are right in loving him,why not let him feel it in the ways a woman knows?
Second,don't break your engagement again.As men know the man,any of us would be afraid to the soul.
He loves you,yes!He is long-suffering for you,yes!
But men know he has a limit.When the limit is reached,he will stand fast,and all the powers can't move him.You don't seem to think it,but you can go too far!""Is that all?"laughed Edith Carr sarcastically.
"No,there is one thing more,"said Henderson."Here or here-after,now and so long as I breathe,I am your slave.
You can do anything you choose and know that I will kneel before you again.So carry this in the depths of your heart;now or at any time,in any place or condition,merely lift your hand,and I will come.Anything you want of me,that thing will I do.I am going to wait;if you need me,it is not necessary to speak;only give me the faintest sign.All your life I will be somewhere near you waiting for it.""Idjit!You rave!"laughed Edith Carr."How you would frighten me!What a bugbear you would raise!
Be sensible and go find what keeps Phil.I was waiting patiently,but my patience is going.I won't look nearly so well as I do now when it is gone."At that instant Philip Ammon entered.He was in full evening dress and exceptionally handsome.
"Everything is ready,"he said;"they are waiting for us to lead the march.It is formed."Edith Carr smiled entrancingly."Do you think I am ready?"Philip looked what he thought,and offered his arm.
Edith Carr nodded carelessly to Hart Henderson,and moved away.Attendants parted the curtains and the Yellow Empress bowing right and left,swept the length of the ballroom and took her place at the head of the formed procession.The large open dancing pavilion was draped with yellow silk caught up with lilac flowers.
Every corner was filled with bloom of those colours.
The music was played by harpers dressed in yellow and violet,so the ball opened.
The midnight supper was served with the same colours and the last half of the programme was being danced.
Never had girl been more complimented and petted in the same length of time than Edith Carr.Every minute she seemed to grow more worthy of praise.A partners'dance was called and the floor was filled with couples waiting for the music.Philip stood whispering delightful things to Edith facing him.From out of the night,in at the wide front entrance to the pavilion,there swept in slow wavering flight a large yellow moth and fluttered toward the centre cluster of glaring electric lights.
Philip Ammon and Edith Carr saw it at the same instant.
"Why,isn't that----?"she began excitedly.
"It's a Yellow Emperor!This is fate!"cried Philip.
"The last one Elnora needs for her collection.I must have it!Excuse me!"He ran toward the light."Hats!Handkerchiefs!Fans!
Anything!"he panted."Every one hold up something and stop that!It's a moth;I've got to catch it!""It's yellow!He wants it for Edith!"ran in a murmur around the hall.The girl's face flushed,while she bit her lips in vexation.
Instantly every one began holding up something to keep the moth from flying back into the night.One fan held straight before it served,and the moth gently settled on it.