第30章

"Prices gone up?"he inquired pleasantly."Who's bulling the stock?""Never you mind,so long as his name isn't Ramsay.""But why shouldn't his name be Ramsay?"he cooed.

"Just because it isn't.I'm expecting a friend.Hadn't you better go home to Mrs.Dowager Diamonds?""Bully!Is that what you call her?No,I'll stay and meet your friend.""Better not."

"Oh,I'm not afraid.Does he know as much about you as I do?""More."

"About your weakness for other girls'coats?""Yes."

You do know it all,don't you?And yet you care for me,Maggie Monahan!

I retreated before him into the dining-room.What in the world to do to get rid of him!

"I think you'd better go home,Mr.Ramsay,"I said again,decidedly."If you don't,I'll have to call the janitor to put you out.""Call,sweetheart.He'll put you out with me;for I'll tell him a thing or two about you,and we'll go and find a better place than this.Stock can't be quoted so high,after all,if this is the best prospectus your friend can put up.Why don't you call?"I looked at him.I was thinking.

"Well?"he demanded.

"I've changed my mind."

Oh,Mag,Mag,did you ever see the man--ugly as a cannibal he may be and old as the cannibal's great-grandfather--that couldn't be persuaded he was a lady-killer?

His manner changed altogether.He plumped down on the lounge and patted the place beside him invitingly,giving me a wink that was deadly.

"But,Mrs.Dowager!"I exclaimed coquettishly.

"Oh,that's all right,little one!She hasn't even missed me yet.When she's playing Bridge she forgets even to be jealous.""Playing Bridge,"I murmured sweetly,"'way off in Philadelphia,while you,you naughty man--"Oh,he loved that!

"Not so naughty as--as I'd like to be,"he belllowed,heavily witty."And she isn't 'way off in Philadelphia either.She's just round the corner at Mrs.Gates',and--what's the matter?""Nothing--nothing.Did she recognize me?"

"Oh,that's what scared you,is it?She didn't recognize you.

Neither did I,till I got that second glimpse of you with your hat and jacket on.But even if she had--ho!ho!ho!I say;do you know,you couldn't convince the Bishop and Henrietta,if you'd talk till doomsday,that that red coat and hat we advertised weren't taken by a little girl that was daffy.Fact;I swear it!

They admit you took the coat,you little witch,but it was when you were out of your mind--of course--of course!`The very fact that she left the coat behind her and took nothing else from the house shows a mind diseased,'insisted Henrietta.Of course--of course!`And her coming for no reason at all to your house,'adds the Bishop.Say,what was the reason?"Maggie,I'll tell you a hard thing:it isn't when people think worse of you than you are,but better,that you feel most uncomfortable.I got pale and sick inside of me at the thought of my poor little Bishop.I loved him for believing me straight and--"I've been dying of curiosity to know what was in your wise little head that day,"he went on."Oh,it was wise all right;that wink you gave me was perfectly sane;there was method in that madness of yours.""I will tell you,Mr.Ramsay,"I said sweetly,"at supper.""Supper!"

"Yes,the supper you're going to get for me."His bellowing laughter filled the place.Maggie,our little flat and our few things don't go well with sounds like that.

"Oh,you're all alike,you women!"he roared."All right,supper it is.Where shall we go--Rector's?"I pouted.

"It's so much more cozy right here,"I said."I'll telephone.

There's Brophy's,just round the corner,and they send in the loveliest things.""Oh,they do!Well,tell 'em to begin sending."I thought he'd follow me out in the hall to the 'phone,but he was having some trouble in pulling out his purse--to count out his money,I suppose.I got Central and asked for the number.Oh,yes,I knew it all right;I had called up that same number once,already,to-day.Brophy's?Why,Maggie Monahan,you ought to know there's no Brophy's.At least none that I ever heard about.

With my hand over the mouthpiece,so that nobody heard but Edward,I ordered a supper fit for a king--or a chorus girl!What didn't I order!Champagne,broiled lobster,crab meat,stuffed pimentoes,kirschkaffee--everything I'd ever heard Beryl Blackburn tell about.

"Say,say,"interrupted Edward,coming out after me."That's enough of that stuff.Tell him to send in a Scotch and soda and--what--"For at that moment the connection was made and I cut in sweetly with:

"Mrs.Edward Ramsay?--just a minute."

Mag,you should have seen the man's face!It was red,it was white;it was furious,it was frightened.

I put my hand a moment over the mouthpiece and turned on him then."I've got her on the 'phone at Mrs.Gates'house.Shall Itell your wife where you are,Edward?.Just a moment,Mrs.

Ramsay,hold the wire;some one wants to speak with you.""You little devil!"His voice was thick with rage.

"Yes,you called me that some time ago,but not in that tone.

Quick,now--the door or .Waiting,Mrs.Ramsay?"He moved toward the door.

"How'll I know you won't tell her when I'm gone?"he growled.

"Merely by my saying that I won't,"I answered curtly."You're in no position to dictate terms;I am."But I could,without leaving the 'phone,latch the chain on the door behind him,leaving it half open.So he must have heard the rest.

"Yes,Mrs.Ramsay,waiting?"I croaked like the driest kind of hello-girl."I was mistaken.It was a message left to be delivered to you--not some one wanting to speak with you.Who am I?Why,this is Central.Here is the message:`Will be with you in half an hour.'Signed `Edward.'.

Yes,that's right.Thank you.Good night."

I hung up,gave the door a touch that shut it in his face and went back into the dining-room to throw open the windows.The place smelled of alcohol;the moral atmosphere left behind by that bad old man sickened me.

I leaned out and looked at the stars and tried to think of something sweet and wholesome and strengthening.