XI
When their week was up, Mr. Langham's guests, Messrs. O'Malley, Alston,and Cox, felt obliged to go where income called them. Renier, however,who had only been at work a year, decided that he did not like his job,and would try for another in the fall. Lee delivered herself of thestern opinion that a rolling stone gathers no moss, and Renier answeredthat his late uncle had been a fair-to-middling moss gatherer, and thatto have more than one such in a given family was a sign of low tastes."I have a little money of my own," he said darkly, "and, what's more, Ihave a little hunch." To his face Lee upbraided him for his lack ofambition and his lack of elegance, but behind his back she smiledsecretly. She was well pleased with herself. It had only taken him threedays to get so that he knew her when he saw her, and for a young man ofaverage intellect and eyesight that was almost a record.
The triplets were not only as like as three lovely vases cast in thesame mould but it amused them to dress alike, without so much as thedifferentiation of a ribbon, and to imitate each other's little tricksof speech and gesture. It was even possible for them to fool their ownbrother at times when he happened to be a little absent-minded.
Every day Renier fished for many hours, and always the guide who handledhis boat and showed him where to throw his flies was Lee.
"They're only children," said Mary, "and I think they're gettingaltogether too chummy."
Arthur did not answer, and for the very good reason that Mary's wordswere not addressed to him, nor were they addressed to Maud or Eve.Indeed, at the moment, these three were sound asleep in their beds. Itwas to that plumper and earlier bird, Mr. Samuel Langham, that Mary hadspoken. The end of a kitchen table, set with blue-and-white dishes andcups that steamed, fragrantly separated them. They had formed a habit ofbreakfasting together in the kitchen, and it had not taken Mary long todiscover that Sam Langham's good judgment was not confined to eatablesand drinkables. She consulted him about all sorts of things. She felt asif she had known him (and trusted him) all her life.
"Renier," he said, "is one of the few really eligible young men I know.That is why I asked him up here. I don't mean that my intention wasmatch-making, but when I saw your picture in the advertisement, I saidto myself: 'The Inn is no place for attractive scalawags. Any man thatgoes there on my invitation must be sound, morally and financially.'Young Renier is as innocent of anything evil as Miss Lee herself. Ifthey take a fancy to each other--of course it's none of my business,but, my dear Miss Darling--why not?"
"Coffee?"
"Thanks."
"An egg?"
"Please."
Mary was very tactful. She never said: "_Some more_ coffee?" She neversaid: "_Another_ egg?"
"Some people," said Mr. Langham, smiling happily, "might say that _we_were getting too chummy."
"Suppose," said Mary, "that somebody did say just that?"
"I should reply," said Mr. Langham thoughtfully, "that of the few reallyeligible men that I know, I myself am, on the whole, the most eligible."
Mary laughed.
"Construe," she said.
"In the first place," he continued, "and naming my qualifications in theorder of their importance, I don't ever remember to have spoken a crossword to anybody; secondly, unless I have paved a primrose path toultimate indigestion and gout, there is nothing in my past life towarrant mention. To be more explicit, I am not in a position to betroubled by--er--'old agitations of myrtle and roses'; third, somethingtells me that in a time of supreme need it would be possible for me togo to work; and, fourth, I have plenty of money--really plenty ofmoney."
Mary smiled almost tenderly.
"I can't help feeling," she said, "that I, too, am a safe proposition. Iam twenty-nine. My wild oats have never sprouted. I think we mayconclude that they were never sown. The Inn was my idea--mostly, thoughI say it that shouldn't. And The Inn is going to be a success. We couldfill every room we've got five times--at our own prices."
"I pronounce your bill of health sound," said Mr. Langham. "Let uscontinue to be chummy."
"Coffee?"
"Thanks."
Whatever chance there may have been for Gay and Pritchard to get "toochummy"--and no one will deny that they had made an excellent start--waspromptly knocked in the head by Arthur. It so happened that, in adesperately unguarded moment, when Arthur happened to be present,Pritchard mentioned that he had spent a whole winter in the city ofPeking. The name startled Arthur as might the apparition of a ghost.
"Which winter?" he asked. "I mean, what year?"
Pritchard said what year, and added, "Why do you ask?"
Arthur had not meant to ask. He began a long blush, seeing which Gayturned swift heels and escaped upon a suddenly ejaculated pretext.
"Why," said Arthur lamely, "I knew some people who were in Peking thatwinter--that's all."
"Then," said Pritchard, "we have mutual friends. I knew every foreignerin Peking. There weren't many."
Although Arthur had gotten the better of his blush, he felt thatPritchard was eying him rather narrowly.
"They," said Arthur, "were a Mr. and Mrs. Waring."
"I hope," said Pritchard, "that _he_ wasn't a friend of yours."
"He was not," said Arthur, "but she was. I was very fond of her."
"Nobody," said Pritchard, "could help being fond of her. But Waring wasan old brute. One hated him. He wouldn't let her call her soul her own.He was always snubbing her. We used to call her the 'girl with the dryeyes.'"
"Why?" asked Arthur.
"It's a Chinese idea," said Pritchard. "Every woman is supposed to havejust so many tears to shed. When these are all gone, why, then, nomatter what sorrows come to her, she has no way of relieving them."
Arthur could not conceal his agitation. And Pritchard looked away. Hewished to escape. He thought that he could be happier with Gay than withher brother. But Arthur, agitation or no agitation, was determined tofind out all that the young Englishman could tell him about the Warings.He began to ask innumerable questions: "What sort of a house did theylive in?" "How do Christians amuse themselves in the Chinese capital?""Did Mrs. Waring ride?" "What were some of her friends like?" etc., etc.There was no escaping him. He fastened himself to Pritchard as adrowning man to a straw. And his appetite for Peking news becameinsatiable. Pritchard surrendered gracefully. He went with Arthur oncanoe trips and mountain climbs; at night he smoked with him in the opencamp. And, in the end, Arthur gave him his whole confidence; so that,much as Pritchard wished to climb mountains and go on canoe trips withGay, he was touched, interested, and gratified, and then all at once hefound himself liking Arthur as much as any man he had ever known.
"There is something wonderfully fine about your brother," he said toGay. "At first I thought he was a queer stick, with his pets and hissecret haunts in the woods, and his unutterable contempt for anythingmean or worldly. We ought to dress him up in proof armor and send himforth upon the quest of some grail or other."
"Grails," said Gay, "and auks are extinct."
"Grails extinct!" exclaimed Pritchard. He was horrified.
"Why, my dear Miss Gay, if ever the world offered opportunities tobelted knights without fear and without reproach, it's now."
"I suppose," said she, "that Arthur has told you all about his--hismix-up."
Pritchard nodded gravely.
"Is that the quest he ought to ride on?"
"No--it won't do for Arthur. He might be accused of self-interest. Thatshould be a matter to be redressed by a brother knight."
"Or a divorce court."
"Miss Gay!"
"I don't think it's nice for one's brother to be in love with a marriedwoman."
"It isn't," said Pritchard gravely, "for him. It's hell."
"_We_," said Gay, "never knew her."
"She's not much older than you," said Pritchard. "If I'd never seen you,I'd say that she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. But she's gentlerand meeker than even you'd be in her boots. She isn't self-reliant andable."
"Yo
u talk as if you'd been in love with her yourself."
"I? I thought I was talking as if I was in love with you."
"Looks like it, don't it?" said she. "Spending all your time with agirl's brother."
"Not doing what you most want to do," said Pritchard, "is sometimesthought knightly."
"Do you know," she said critically, "sometimes I think you really likeme a lot. And sometimes I think that I really like you. The funny thingis that it never seems to happen to both of us at the same time. There'sArthur looking for you. Do me a favor--shake him and come for a trampwith me."
"I can't," said Pritchard simply. "I've promised. But to-morrow----"
"_Certainly not_," said she.
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