Part 14 (1/2)
She looked at him dubiously. No, there was no laughter in his eyes; he was perfectly serious.
They walked the horses over a small hill, then mounted. It was a very pleasant morning for Warrington. It had been years since he had talked to a young woman who was witty and unworldly. He had to readjust himself. He had written down that all witty women were worldly, but that all worldly women were not witty. But to be witty and unsophisticated was altogether out of his calculations.
At the Country Club they stabled the horses and wandered about the golf links. Luncheon was served on the veranda; and presently Warrington found himself confiding in this young girl as if he had known her intimately all his life. The girl felt a thrill of exultation. It flattered her young vanity to hear this celebrity telling her about his ambitions.
”Everything becomes monotonous after a while,” he said. ”And I have just begun to grow weary of living alone. Day after day, the same faces, the same places, the same arguments, the same work. I've grown tired. I want to live like other human beings. Monotony leads very quickly into folly, and I confess to many acts of folly. And no folly is absolutely harmless.” He stirred his tea and stared into the cup.
”Why, I should think you ought to be the most contented of men,” she cried. ”You are famous, wealthy, courted. And when you return to Herculaneum, every girl in town will set her cap for you. I warn you of this, because I've taken a friendly interest in you.”
”It is very good of you. Come,” he said, draining his cup; ”surely you tell fortunes in tea-cups; tell mine.”
”Four-leaf clovers and tea-grounds,” she mused. ”You strike me as being a very superst.i.tious young man.”
”I am.”
She pa.s.sed the cup back to him. ”Pour a little fresh tea in, spill it gently, turn the cup against the saucer and twirl it three times.
That's the incantation.”
He followed the directions carefully, and she extended her hand for the cup.
”There is always a woman in a man's tea-cup,” she began. ”There are two in this one.”
”Good gracious!”
”Yes. Do you see that?” pointing to a cl.u.s.ter of leaves.
”Looks like a camel. Am I going to be thirsty?”
”That always indicates scandal,” she declared soberly.
”Scandal?” He smiled skeptically.
”Scandal and disappointment. But happily these do not appear as having permanency.”
”Thanks,” piously. ”Disappointment? I can readily believe that.
Disappointment has always been my portion. But scandal has never lifted her ugly head.”
”We are all far-sighted when scandal is in our immediate vicinity.
This cup says scandal. There is plenty of money about you. See that?
That means an enemy, strong, implacable. Disappointment and scandal are in his zone, which means he will probably be the cause of all your trouble. Have you an enemy?”
”None that I know of, save myself. But don't you think something is the matter with the tea? It seems impossible that those harmless grounds ... Why, I shan't sleep o' nights after this.”
”You are laughing. Yet, this man is there. And here is a lie, too.
It's a very bad cup, Mr. Warrington. I'm sorry.”
”So am I,” gaily. ”By the way, when do you and your mother start for New York?”
”We leave to-night.”