The City of Masks Part 39

"Oh,--Eric, dearest! How you startled me!" cried Lady Jane a moment later. She gasped the words, for she was almost smothered in the arms of her lover.

"Forgive me," he murmured, without releasing her,--an oversight which she apparently had no immediate intention of resenting.

A little later on, she suddenly drew away from him, with a quick, embarra.s.sed glance around the noisy little shop. He laughed.

"We are quite alone, Jane dear,--unless you count the clocks. They're all looking at us, but they never tell anything more than the time of day. And now, dear, what is this beastly business?"

She closed the door to the stairway, very cautiously, and then came back to him. The frown deepened in his eyes as he listened to the story she told.

"But why should I go into hiding?" he exclaimed, as she stopped to get her breath. "I haven't done anything wrong. What if they have trumped up some rotten charge against me? All the more reason why I should stand out and defend--"

"But, dear, Scotland Yard is such a dreadful place," she cried, blanching. "They--"

"Rubbish! I'm not afraid of Scotland Yard."

"You--you're not?" she gasped, blankly. "But, Eric dear, you _must_ be afraid of Scotland Yard. You don't know what you are saying."

"Oh, yes, I do. And as for this chap they've sent after me,--where is he? In two seconds I can tell him what's what. He'll go humping back to London--"

"I knew you would say something like that," she declared, greatly perturbed. "But I sha'n't let you. Do you hear, Eric? I sha'n't let you.

You _must_ hide. You must go away from New York,--tonight."

"And leave you?" he scoffed. "What can you be thinking of, darling? Am I--Sit down, dear,--here beside me. You are frightened. That infernal brute has scared you almost out of--"

"I _am_ frightened,--terribly frightened. So is the Marchioness,--and Mr. Bramble." She sat beside him on the bench. He took her cold hands in his own and pressed them gently, encouragingly. His eyes were very soft and tender.

"Poor little girl!" For a long time he sat there looking at her white, averted face. A slow smile slowly struggled to the corners of his mouth.

"I can't afford to run away," he said at last. "I've just got to stick by my job. It means a lot to me now, Jane dear."

She looked up quickly, her face clearing.

"I love you, Eric. I know you are innocent of anything they may charge you with. I _know_ it. And I would give all I have in the world to help you in your hour of trouble. Listen, dear. I want you to accept this in the right spirit. Don't let pride stand in the way. It is really something I want to do,--something that will make me--oh, so happy, if you will just let me do it. I am earning five guineas a week. It is more than I need. Now, dear, just for a little while,--until you have found another place in some city far away from New York,--you must let me share my--What is there to laugh at, Eric?" she cried in a hurt voice.

He grew sober at once.

"I'm--I'm sorry," he said. "Thank you,--and G.o.d bless you, Jane. It's fine. You're a brick. But,--but I can't accept it. Please don't say anything more about it, dear. I just _can't_,--that's all."

"Oh, dear," she sighed. "And--and you refuse to go away? You will not escape while there is yet--"

"See here, dear," he began, his jaw setting, "I am not underrating the seriousness of this affair. They may have put up a beast of a job on me.

They fixed it so that I hadn't a chance three years ago. Perhaps they've decided to finish the job and have done with me for ever. I don't put it above them, curse them. Here's the story in a nutsh.e.l.l. I have two cousins in the Army, sons of my mother's sisters. They're a pair of rotters. It was they who hatched up the scheme to disgrace me in the service,--and, by gad, they did it to the queen's taste. I had to get out. There wasn't a chance for me to square myself. I--I sha'n't go into that, dear. You'll understand why. It--it hurts. Cheating at cards.

That's enough, isn't it? Well, they got me. My grandfather and I--he is theirs as well as mine,--we never hit it off very well at best. My mother married Lord Temple. Grandfather was opposed to the match. Her sisters did everything in their power to widen the breach that followed the marriage. It may make it easier for you to understand when I remind you that my grandfather is one of the wealthiest peers in England.

"Odd things happen in life. When my father died, I went to Fenlew Hall with my mother to live. Grandfather's heart had softened a little, you see. I was Lord Eric Temple before I was six years old. My mother died when I was ten. For fifteen years I lived on with Lord Fenlew, and, while we rowed a good deal,--he is a crotchety old tyrant, bless him!--he undoubtedly preferred me to either of my cousins. G.o.d bless him for that! He showed his good sense, if I do say it who shouldn't.

"So they set to work. That's why I am here,--without going into details.

That's why I am out of the Army. And I loved the Army, Jane,--G.o.d bless it! I used to pray for another war, horrible as it may sound, so that I could go out and fight for England as those lads did who went down to the bottom of Africa. I would cry myself to sleep because I was so young then, and so useless. I am not ashamed of the tears you see in my eyes now. You can't understand what it means to me, Jane."

He drew a deep breath, cleared his throat, and then went on.

"Lord Fenlew turned me out,--disowned me. Don't blame the old boy. They made out a good enough case against me. I was given the choice of resigning from the regiment or--well, the other thing. My father was practically penniless when he died. I had nothing of my own. It was up to me to earn an honest living,--or go to the devil. I thought I'd try out the former first. One can always go to the devil, you know. So off into the far places of the earth I wandered,--and I've steered pretty clear of the devil up to date.

"It's easy to earn a living, dear, if you just half try.

"And now for this new complication. For the three years that I have been away from England, not a single word have I sent home. I daresay they know that I am alive, and that I'll turn up some day like the bad penny.

I was named in my grandfather's will. He once told me he intended to leave the bulk of the unentailed property to me,--not because he loved me well but because he loved my two cousins not at all. For all I know, he may never have altered his will. In that case, I still remain the chief legatee and a source of tremendous uneasiness to my precious aunts and their blackguard sons. It is possible, even probable, that they have decided the safest place to have me is behind the bars,--at least until Lord Fenlew has changed his will for the last time and lies securely in the family vault. I can think of no other explanation for the action of Scotland Yard. But, don't worry, dear. I haven't done anything wrong, and they can't stow me away in--"

"The beasts!" cried Jane, furiously.

He stroked her clenched fingers.

"I wouldn't call 'em names, dear," he protested. "They're honest fellows, and simply doing--"

"They are the most despicable wretches on earth."

"You must be referring to my cousins. I thought--"

"Now, Eric," she broke in firmly, "I sha'n't let you give yourself up.

You owe something to me. I love you with all my soul. If they were to take you back to London and--and put you in prison,--I'd--I'd die. I could not endure--" She suddenly broke down and, burying her face on his shoulder, sobbed chokingly.

He was deeply distressed.

"Oh, I say, dearest, don't--don't go under like this. I--I can't stand it. Don't cry, darling. It breaks my heart to see you--"

"I--I can't help it," she sobbed. "Give--give me a little--time. I'll be all right in a--minute."

He whispered consolingly: "That's right. Take your time, dear. I never dreamed you cared so much."

She looked up quickly, her eyes flashing through the tears.

"And do you care less for me, now that you see what a weak, silly--"

"Good Lord, no! I adore you more than ever. I-- Who's there?"

M. Mirabeau, coughing considerately, was rattling the latch of the door that separated the shop from the store-room beyond. A moment later he opened the door slowly and stuck his head through the aperture. Then, satisfied that his warning cough had been properly received, he entered the shop. The lovers were sitting bolt upright and some distance apart.

Lady Jane was arranging a hat that had been somehow forgotten up to that instant.

"A thousand pardons," said the old Frenchman, his voice lowered. "We must act at once. Follow me,--quickly, but as quietly as possible. He is downstairs. I have listened from the top of the steps. Poor old Bramble is doing his best to divert him. I have just this instant heard the villain announce that his watch needs looking into, and from that I draw a conclusion. He will come to my shop in spite of all that Bramble can do. Come! I know the way to safety."

"But I'm not going to hide," began Trotter.

Jane seized his arm and dragged him toward the door.

"Yes, you are," she whispered fiercely. "You belong to me, Eric Temple.

I shall do what I like with you. Don't be mulish, dear. I sha'n't leave you,--not for anything in the world."

"Bravo!" whispered M. Mirabeau.