Carolina Lee

by Lilian Bell

  CHAPTER VI.

  THE STRANGER

  But when Carolina was comfortably established in the suite of roomswhich Kate had joyfully placed at her disposal, she found that she couldneither fix her attention on the new decorations of which Kate was soinordinately proud, nor could she wrench her mind from the subject ofGuildford.

  She had been so stunned by the knowledge, not that the estate wasmortgaged, but that it had been parted with so lightly, with littlethought and less regret, that she had not been able, nor had she wishedto express to Sherman her intense feeling in the matter. The more shethought, the more she believed that some turn of the wheel would bringGuildford back. If it were only mortgaged and not sold, she felt thather yearning was so strong she even dared to think of assuming theindebtedness and taking years, if need be, to free the place and restorethe home of her fathers.

  Her intimacy with her father had steeped her in the traditions ofGuildford. The mere fact of their having lived abroad seemed to haveaccentuated in Captain Lee's mind his love for his native State, and nohistorian knew better the history of South Carolina than did this littleexpatriated American girl, Carolina Lee. By the hour these two wouldpace the long drawing-rooms and discuss this and that famous act orchivalric deed, Carolina's inflammable patriotism readily bursting intoan ardent flame from a spark from her father's scintillant descriptions.She fluently translated everything into French for her governess, and tothis day, Mademoiselle Beaupre thinks that every large city in the Unionis situated in South Carolina, that the President lives in Charleston,and that Fort Sumter protects everything in America except the PacificCoast.

  Carolina knew and named over all the great names in the State's history.She could roll them out in her pretty little half-foreign English,--theRutledges, the Pinckneys, the Gadsdens, the Heywards, the Allstons, theHugers, the Legares, the Lowndes, the Guerards, the Moultries, theManigaults, the Dessesseurs, the Rhetts, the Mazycks, the Barnwells, theElliotts, the Harlestons, the Pringles, the Landgravesmiths, theCalhouns, the Ravenels,--she knew them all. The Lees were related tomany of them. She knew the deeds of Marion's men as well as most menknow of battles in which they have fought. She knew of the treatieswith the Indians, those which were broken and those which were kept.She had been told of some of the great families which even boastedIndian blood, and were proud to admit that in their veins flowed theblood of men who once were chiefs of tribes of savage red men. Shefound this difficult to believe from a purely physical prejudice, buther father had assured her that it was true.

  In vain she tried to interest herself in Kate's plans for her amusement.In vain she attempted to fix her attention on the white and silverdecorations of her boudoir, all done in scenes from "Lohengrin."Instead she found herself dreaming of the ruins of an old home; of thechimneys, perhaps, being partially left; of a double avenue oflive-oaks, which led from the gate to the door and circled the house onall sides; of fallow fields, grown up in rank shrubbery; of palmetto andmagnolia trees, interspersed with neglected bushes of crepe myrtle,opopinax, sweet olives, and azaleas; of the mocking-birds, thenonpareils, and bluebirds making the air tremulous with sound; of brokenhedges of Cherokee roses twisting in and out of the embrace of thehoneysuckle and yellow jessamine. Beyond, she could picture to herselfhow the pine-trees, left to themselves for forty years, had grown intogreat forests of impenetrable gloom, and she longed for their perfumedbreath with a great and mighty longing. She felt, rather than knew, howthe cedar hedges had grown out of all their symmetry, and how raggedlythey rose against the sky-line. She knew where the ground fell away onone side into the marshes which hid the river--the river, salt as theocean, and with the tide of the great Atlantic to give it dignity aboveits inland fellows. She knew of the deer, the bear even, whichfurnished hunters with an opportunity to test their nerve in thewildness beyond, and of the wild turkeys, quail, terrapin, and oystersto be found so near that one might also say they grew on the place. Inher imagination the rows upon rows of negro cabins were rebuilt andwhitewashed anew. The smoke even curled lazily from the chimneys of thegreat house, as she dreamed it. Dogs lay upon the wide verandas; songsand laughter resounded from among the trimmed shrubbery, and once morethe great estate of Guildford was owned and lived upon by the Lees.

  Filled so full of these ideas that she could think of nothing else, shesprang to her feet and decided to see Sherman without losing anotherday. She would put ruthless questions to him and see if any power underHeaven could bring Guildford within her eager grasp. What a life workwould lie before her, if it could be accomplished! Europe, with all itshistory and glamour, faded into a thin and hazy memory before theliving, vital enthusiasm which filled her heart almost to the point ofbursting.

  It was, indeed, the intense longing of her ardent soul for a home. Allher life had been spent in a country not her own, upon which her eagerlove could not expend itself. It was as if she had been called upon tolove a stepmother, while her own mother, divorced, yet beloved, livedand yearned for her in a foreign land.

  It was four o'clock on a crisp January day when Carolina found herselfin the throng on Fifth Avenue. It was the first pleasant day after aweek of wretched weather, and the whole world seemed to have welcomedit.

  Carolina was all in gray, with a gray chinchilla muff. Her colourglowed, her eyes flashed, as she walked along with her chin tiltedupward so that many who saw her carried in their minds for the rest ofthe day the recollection of the girl who had formed so attractive apicture.

  Suddenly and directly in front of her, Carolina saw a young woman, armin arm with a tall man, whose broad-brimmed, soft felt hat, added to acertain nameless quality in his clothes and type of face, proclaimed himto be a Southerner. They were laughing and chatting with the blithenessof two children, frankly staring at the panorama of Fifth Avenue on abright day. If the whim seized them to stop and gaze into shop windows,they did it with the same disregard of appearances which induced them tolink arms and not to notice the attention they attracted. No one couldpossibly mistake them for anything but what they were--bride and groom.

  Having reached her brother's house, Carolina paused for a moment in anunpremeditated rush of interest in the young couple. Something in theman's appearance stirred some vague memory, but even as she searched inher mind for the clue, she saw an expression of abject terror spreadover the young bride's face, and pulling her husband madly after her bythe arm to which she still clung, she darted across the walk and into awaiting cab. Her husband, after a hasty glance in the direction she hadindicated, plunged after her, and the wise cabby, scenting haste, if notdanger, without waiting for orders, lashed his horse, the cab lurchedforward and was quickly swallowed up in the line of moving vehicles.

  This had necessarily created a small commotion in the avenue, and a tallman who had also been walking south behind Carolina and who would soonhave met the young couple face to face, chanced to raise his head at thecrack of the cabman's whip, and thus caught a glimpse of the bride'sface out of the window of the cab.

  Instantly, with an exclamation, he looked wildly for another cab. Nonewas at hand, but Sherman Lee's dog-cart stood at the curb, and Carolinahad paused on the lowest step of the house and was looking at him.There was desperate anxiety in his face.

  "May I use your carriage, madam? I promise not to injure the horse!"

  It was the strange young man who had stood in the balcony all during theopera of "Faust."

  Carolina never knew why she did it, but something told her that thisyoung man's cause was just. In spite of the pleading beauty of theyoung couple, she arrayed herself instinctively on their pursuer's side.

  "Yes, yes!" she cried. "Follow them!"

  He sprang in, and the groom loosed the horse's head and climbed nimblyto his place. A moment more and the dog-cart was lost to view.

  Most of the good which is done in this world is the result of impulse,yet so false is our training, that the first th
ing we do after havingbeen betrayed into a perfectly natural action is to regret it.

  The moment Carolina came to herself and realized what she had done, agreat uneasiness took possession of her. She had no excuse to offereven to herself. She felt that she had done an immeasurably foolishthing and that she deserved to take the consequences, no matter whatthey might be. If the stranger injured Sherman's favourite horse, thatwould be bad enough, but the worst result was the mortification her rashact had left in her own mind. It is hard for the most humble-minded toadmit that one has been a fool, and to the proud it is well-nighimpossible.

  But Carolina admitted it with secret viciousness, directed, let it besaid, entirely against herself. In her innermost heart she realizedthat she had yielded, without even the decent struggle prompted byself-respect, to the compelling influence of a strong personality. Thisunknown man had wrested her consent from her by a power she never hadfelt before.

  At first she decided that it was her duty to tell her brother at oncewhat she had done. Then she realized that, in that case, they must bothwait some little time before the dog-cart could possibly be expected toreturn, and Sherman would no doubt exhaust himself in an anxiety which,if the horse returned in safety, could be avoided. She thereforecompromised on a bold expedient.

  "Sherman," she said, when she found her brother, "I saw the dog-cart atthe door; were you going out?"

  "I was, but since I came in, I have decided differently. Ring, that's agood girl, and tell Powell to see that the horse is well exercised andput him up."

  "I saw Marie in the hall. I'll just send her with the message toPowell," said Carolina. "There is no doubt in my mind," she murmured,as she went out, "that the horse will be well exercised."

  She sent word by Marie that when Powell returned he was to be told tosee to the condition of the horse himself by Miss Carol's expressorders, and then to report to Miss Carol herself privately.

  But these precautions were taken in vain, for not ten minutes hadelapsed before Sherman was summoned to the drawing-room, there to meetthe stranger, who introduced himself, told a most manly andstraightforward story, and, having produced an excellent impression ofsincerity on his host, left with profuse apologies.

  Sherman returned to his sister with a quizzical smile on his face.

  "Carol," he said, "what have you been doing?"

  Carolina's reply was prompt and to the point.

  "I own to being reckless, of trying to conceal my recklessness, under amistaken sense that I was clever enough to cover my tracks. I vainlyendeavoured to spare you an hour's anxiety, and I feel that I am a foolfor my pains."

  Her brother laughed.

  "The man is unmistakably a gentleman. He is in deep trouble over ayoung woman, not his sister, who has run away, presumably with a man.He tried to trace them and failed."

  "Failed?"

  "Failed. If she is his wife, may God help her when he catches her, forthere was danger in that man's eye. But his pride forbade him to giveme more than the bare facts necessary to explain his extraordinaryaction in surprising you into lending him my horse."

  "Was that the way he put it?" asked Carolina.

  "It was."

  "He is a gentleman!"

  She waited a moment, hesitated, and then said:

  "Did he say anything else, anything about--"

  "About the woman in the case? Not a word about anything more than Ihave told you. He seemed to take it for granted, however, that you weremy wife."

  "And didn't you deny it?" demanded Carolina, with such spirit that shesurprised herself. She felt her cheeks grow hot.

  "He didn't give me time."

  "And you let him go, still thinking it?"

  "I didn't let him do anything. He mastered the situation, and carriedit off with such ease that I almost felt grateful to him for borrowingthe dogcart."

  Carolina opened her lips to say something, then changed her mind.

  "It is of no importance," she said lightly. But there was an oddsinking at her heart which belied her words. She had never believed inlove at first sight, yet she had watched this stranger at a distance allone evening, and at their first meeting in the throng leaving the opera,she had not been mistaken in the look of--well, of welcome, she hadfelt. Their second meeting had been equally striking, and Carolinacalmly said to herself that she would meet this man again, and the thirdtime it would be even more strange. She was so sure of this that shewould not allow her mind to be disturbed by the two blunderingconclusions Sherman had forced--one that the man was in pursuit of arunaway wife or love and the other that she was the wife of the masterof the horse. She was so sure of her own premises that she overlookedthe possibility that the stranger might have put the suppositiontentatively to Sherman and had been misled by her brother's lack ofdenial.

  In fact, Carolina at this time was a very self-centred young woman. Itwas so of necessity. She had never been taught self-denial, norpermitted to be unselfish. Her father and mother, in yielding to everywhim, had quite overlooked the fact that the pretty child's characterneeded discipline, so that Carolina was selfish without knowing it.Quite unconsciously she placed her own wishes before those of any other,and regarded the carrying of her point as the proper end to strive for.No one had ever taught her differently. Cousin Lois had pampered hereven more than her parents had done, and when she became dissatisfiedwith life, offered, as a remedy, change of scene.

  Now the girl possessed an inherently unselfish nature, and for thisreason--that she never had been called upon to sacrifice her ownwill--she was not happy. Although she possessed much that young girlsenvied in wealth and the freedom to travel, the two things which wouldhave made her happiest, a permanent home and some one--father or motheror lover--upon whom to lavish her heart's best love, were lacking. Notbeing of an analytical turn of mind, she had never realized her lack,until suddenly she had been given a glimpse of both, and then both hadbeen snatched away.

  Opposition always made the girl more spirited. Guildford lost was moreto be desired than Guildford idle and only waiting for her to reclaimand restore it. This dominant stranger interested in anotherwoman--Carolina lifted her chin. It was her way.

  Her brother saw it and smiled. It was a pretty trick she had inheritedfrom the Lees. It was a gage of battle. It betokened unusual interest.It meant that their blood was fired and their pride roused. He mistookthe cause, that was all. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts and sopleased by his efforts to gain something which his sister actuallydesired, that he had forgotten the episode of the strange visitor. Sothat when he said:

  "So that is the way you feel, is it?" Carolina started violently andblushed. She was diplomatic enough to make no reply, so that Sherman'snext remark saved her from further embarrassment.

  "Do you really care for Guildford so much?"

  "How do you know I am thinking of Guildford?" asked Carolina, quickly."I have not spoken of it."

  "Ah," said her brother, lifting his hand, "I can read your thoughts. Inotice that you only have that look on your face when you are thinkingof something you love. But I wouldn't waste such a blush on a measureof cold earth, even if they are your ancestral acres."

  "My ancestral acres!" repeated Carolina, softly. "How beautiful thatsounds! Oh, Sherman, tell me if we can save them!"

  Sherman hesitated a moment and knit his brow. Then he lifted his headand looked Carolina in the eyes.

  "I will do what I can," he said. "You may be sure of that."

  Carolina had all a strong woman's belief in the power of a man to doanything he chose. His words were not particularly reassuring, but hismanner, as she afterwards thought it over, was vaguely comforting.

  It was the more comforting, because, deep down in her heart, sheintended to supplement his efforts, weak or strong, and win victory evenfrom defeat.

  Guildford?

  She _would_ have it!