CHAPTER XXIX
THE PEDIGREE OF PEARLS
"Where is Larry?" asked Doctor Holiday a few days later coming into thedining room at supper time. "I haven't seen him all the afternoon."
Margery dropped into her chair with a tired little sigh.
"There is a note from him at your place. I think he has gone out of town.John told me he took him to the three ten train."
"H--m!" mused the doctor. "Where is Ruth?" he looked up to ask.
"Ruth went to Boston at noon. At least so Bertha tells me." Berthawas the maid. "She did not say good-by to me. I thought possibly shehad to you!"
Her husband shook his head, perplexed and troubled.
"Dear Uncle Phil," ran Larry's message.
"Ruth has gone to Boston. She left a letter for me saying good-by andasking me to say good-by to the rest of you for her. Said she would writeas soon as she had an address and that no one was to worry about her. Shewould be quite all right and thought it was best not to bother us bytelling us about her plans until she was settled."
"Of course I am going after her. I don't know where she is but I'll findher. I've got to, especially as I was the one who drove her away. I brokemy promise to you. I did make love to her and asked her to marry me thenight Granny died. She said she would and then of course I said shecouldn't and we've not seen each other alone since so I don't know whatshe thinks now. I don't know anything except that I'm half crazy."
"I know it is horribly selfish to go off and leave you like this when youneed me especially. Please forgive me. I'll be back as soon as I can orsend Ruth or we'll both come. And don't worry. I'm not going to doanything rash or wrong or anything that will hurt you or Ruth. I am sorryabout the other night. I didn't mean to smash up like that."
The doctor handed the letter over to his wife.
"Why didn't he wait until he had her address? How can he possibly findher in a city like Boston with not the slightest thing to go on?"
Doctor Holiday smiled wearily.
"Wait! Do you see Larry waiting when Ruth is out of his sight? My dear,don't you know Larry is the maddest of the three when he gets under way?"
"The maddest and the finest. Don't worry, Phil. He is all right. He won'tdo anything rash just as he tells you."
"You can't trust a man in love, especially a young idiot who waited afull quarter century to get the disease for the first time. But you areright. I'd trust him anywhere, more rather than less because of thatconfession of his. I've wondered that he didn't break his promise longbefore this. He is only human and his restraint has been pretty nearlysuper-human. I don't believe he would have smashed up now as he calls itif his nerves hadn't been strained about to the limit by taking all theresponsibility for Granny at the end. It was terrible for the poor lad."
"It was terrible for you too, Phil. Larry isn't the only one who hassuffered. I do wish those foolish youngsters could have waited a littleand not thrown a new anxiety on you just now. But I suppose we can'tblame them under the circumstances. Isn't it strange, dear? Except forthe children sleeping up in the nursery you and I are absolutely alonefor the first time since I came to the House on the Hill."
He nodded a little sadly. His father was gone long since and now Grannytoo. And Ned's children were all grown up, would perhaps none of themever come again in the old way. Their wings were strong enough now tomake strange flights.
"We've filled your life rather full, Margery mine," he said. "I hopethere are easier days ahead."
"I don't want any happier ones," said Margery as she slipped herhand into his.
The next few days were a perfect nightmare to Larry. Naturally he foundno trace of Ruth, did not know indeed under what name she had chosen togo. The city had swallowed her up and the saddest part of it was she hadwanted to be swallowed, to get away from himself. She had gone for hissake he knew, because he had told her he could endure things no longer.She had taken him at his word and vanished utterly. For all hergentleness and docility Ruth had tremendous fortitude. She had taken thishard, rash step alone in the dark for love's sake, just as she was readythat unforgettable night to take that rasher step with him to marriage orsomething less than marriage had he permitted it. She would havepreferred to marry him, not to bother with abstractions of right andwrong, to take happiness as it offered but since he would not have it soshe had lost herself.
Despair, remorse, anxiety, loneliness held him-in thrall while he roamedthe streets of the old city, almost hopeless now of finding her but stilldoggedly persistent in his search. Another man under such a strain ofmind and body would have gone on a stupendous thought drowning carouse.Larry Holiday had no such refuge in his misery. He took it straightwithout recourse to anaesthetic of any sort. And on the fourth day whenhe had been about to give up in defeat and go home to the Hill to waitfor word of Ruth a crack of light dawned.
Chancing to be strolling absent mindedly across the Gardens he ran into acollege classmate of his, one Gary Eldridge, who shook his hand withcrushing grip and announced that it was a funny thing Larry's bobbing uplike that because he had been hearing the latter's name prettyconsecutively all the previous afternoon on the lips of the daintiestlittle blonde beauty it had been his luck to behold in many a moon, aregular Greuze girl in fact, eyes and all.
Naturally there was no escape for Eldridge after that. Larry Holidaygrabbed him firmly and demanded to know if he had seen Ruth Annersley andif he had and knew where she was to tell him everything quick. It wasimportant.
Considering Larry Holiday's haggard face and tense voice Eldridgeadmitted the importance and spun his yarn. No, he did not know where RuthAnnersley was nor if the Greuze girl was Ruth Annersley at all. He didknow the person he meant was in the possession of the famous Farringdonpearls, a fact immensely interesting to Fitch and Larrabee, the jewelersin whose employ he was.
"Your Ruth Annersley or Farringdon or whoever she is brought the pearlsin to our place yesterday to have them appraised. You can bet we sat upand took notice. We didn't know they had left Australia but here theywere right under our noses absolutely unmistakable, one of the finestsets of matched pearls in the world. You Holidays are so hanged smart. Iwonder it didn't occur to you to bring 'em to us anyway. We're the boysthat can tell you who's who in the lapidary world. Pearls have pedigrees,my dear fellow, quite as faithfully recorded as those of prize pigs."
Larry thumped his cranium disgustedly. It did seem ridiculous now thatthe very simple expedient of going to the master jewelers for informationhad not struck any of them. But it hadn't and that was the end of it. Hemade Eldridge sit down in the Gardens then and there however to tell himall he knew about the pearls but first and most important did the otherhave any idea where the owner of the pearls was? He had none. The girlwas coming in again in a few days to hear the result of a cable they hadsent to Australia where the pearls had been the last Larrabee and Fitchknew. She had left no address. Eldridge rather thought she hadn't caredto be found. Larry bit his lip at that and groaned inwardly. He too wasafraid it was only too true, and it was all his fault.
This was the story of the pearls as his friend briefly outlined it forLarry Holiday's benefit. The Farringdon pearls had originally belonged toa Lady Jane Farringdon of Farringdon Court, England. They had been thegift of a rejected lover who had gone to Africa to drown hisdisappointment and had died there after having sent the pearls home tothe woman he had loved fruitlessly and who was by this time the wife ofanother man, her distant cousin Sir James Farringdon. At her death LadyJane had given the pearls to her oldest son for his bride when he shouldhave one. He too had died however before he had attained to the bride.The pearls went to his younger brother Roderick a sheep raiser inAustralia who had amassed a fortune and discarded the title. The sheepraiser married an Australian girl and gave her the pearls. They had twochildren, a girl and a boy. Roderick was since deceased. Possibly hiswife also was dead. They had cabled to find out details. But it looked asif the little blonde lady who possessed the pearls although she
did notknow where she got them was in all probability the daughter of RoderickFarringdon, the granddaughter of the famous beauty, Lady Jane. She wasprobably also a great heiress. The sheep raiser and his father-in-law hadboth been reported to be wallowing in money. "Oh boy!" Eldridge had endedsignificantly.
"But if Ruth is a person of so much importance why did they let hertravel so far alone with those valuable pearls in her possession? Whyhaven't they looked her up? I suppose she told you about the wreckand--the rest of it?"
"She did, sang the praises of the family of Holiday in a thousand keys.Your advertisements were all on the Annersley track you see and theywould all be out on the Farringdon one. The paths didn't happen to crossI suppose."
"You don't know anything about, Geoffrey Annersley do you?" Larry askedanxiously.
"Not a thing. We are jewelers not detectives or clairvoyants. It is onlythe pearls we are up on and we've evidently slipped a cog on them. Weshould have known when they came to the States but we didn't."
"I'll cable the American consul at Australia myself. It's the firstreal clue we have had--the rest has been working in the dark. The firstthing though is to find Ruth." And Larry Holiday looked so verydetermined and capable of doing anything he set out to do that GaryEldridge grinned a little.
"Wonderful what falling in love will do for a chap," he reflected. "Usedto think old Larry was rather a slow poke but he seems to have developedinto some whirlwind. Don't wonder considering what a little peach thegirl is. Hope the good Lord has seen fit to recall Geoffrey Annersley tohis heaven if he really did marry her."
Aloud he promised to telephone Larry the moment the owner of the pearlscrossed the threshold of Larrabee and Fitch and to hold her by main forceif necessary until Larry could get there. In the meantime he suggestedthat she had seemed awfully interested in the Australia part of the storyand it was very possible she had gone to the--
"Library." Larry took the words out of his mouth and bolted without anyformality of farewell into the nearest subway entrance.
His friend gazed after him.
"And this is Larry Holiday who used to flee if a skirt fluttered in hisdirection," he murmured. "Ah well, it takes us differently. But it getsus all sooner or later."
Larry's luck had turned at last. In the reading room of the PublicLibrary he discovered a familiar blonde head bent over a book. He strodeto the secluded corner where she sat "reading up" on Australia.
"Ruth!" Larry tried to speak quietly though he felt like raising theechoes of the sacred scholarly precincts.
The reader looked up startled, wondering. Her face lit with quickdelight.
"Larry, oh Larry, I'm finding myself," she whispered breathlessly.
"I'm glad but I'm gladder that I'm finding--yourself. Come on outsidesweetheart. I want to shout. I can't whisper and I won't. I'll get usboth put out if you won't come peaceably."
"I'll come," said Ruth meekly.
Outside in the corridor she raised blue eyes to gray ones.
"I didn't mean you to find me--yet," she sighed.
"So I should judge. I didn't think a mite of a fairy girl like you couldbe so cruel. Some day I'll exact full penance for all you've made mesuffer but just now we'll waive that and go over to the Plaza and have ahigh tea and talk. But first I'm going to kiss you. I don't care ifpeople are looking. All Boston can look if it likes. I'm going to do it."
But it was only a scrub woman and not all Boston who witnessed that kiss,and she paid no attention to the performance. Even had she seen it ishardly probable that she would have been vastly startled at the sight.She was a very old woman and more than likely she had seen such sightsbefore. Perhaps she had even been kissed by a man herself, once upon atime. We hope so.
The next day Larry and Ruth came home to the Hill, radiantly happy andfull of their strange adventures. Ruth was wearing an immensely becomingnew dark blue velvet suit, squirrel furs and a new hat which to Margery'sshrewd feminine eyes betrayed a cost all out of proportion to itsminuteness. She was looking exquisitely lovely in her new finery. Scantwonder Larry could not keep his eyes off of her. Margery and Philip weresomething in the same state.
"On the strength of my being an heiress maybe Larry thought I mightafford some new clothes," Ruth confessed. "Of course he paid forthem--temporarily," she had added with a charming blush and a side long,deprecating glance at Doctor Holiday, senior. She did not want him todisapprove of her for letting Larry buy her pretty clothes nor blameLarry for doing it.
But he only laughed and remarked that he would have gone shopping withher himself if he had any idea the results would be so satisfactory.
It was only when he was alone with Margery that he shook his head.
"Those crazy children behave as if everything were quite all right and asif they could run right out any minute and get married. She doesn't evenwear her ring any more and they both appear to think the fact itpresumably represents can be disposed of as summarily."
"Let them alone," advised his wife. "They are all right. It won't do thema bit of harm to let themselves go a bit. Larry does his worshiping withhis eyes and maybe with his tongue when they are alone. I don't blamehim. She is a perfect darling. And it is much better for him not topretend he doesn't care when we all know he does tremendously. It wascrushing it all back that made him so miserable and smash up as he wroteyou. I don't believe he smashed very irretrievably anyway. He is too muchof a Holiday."
The doctor smiled a little grimly.
"You honor us, my dear. Even Holidays are men!"
"Thank heaven," said Margery.
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