Part 8 (1/2)
Her interest was flattering, and he added:
”In both respects, the Clermont product is promising.”
After that he did not remember what they talked about; but the time pa.s.sed rapidly and he was surprised when Mrs. Nairn rose and the company drifted away by twos and threes toward the veranda. Left by himself a moment, he came upon Carroll sauntering down a corridor.
”I've had a chat with Horsfield,” Carroll remarked.
”Well?”
”He may merely have meant to make himself agreeable, and he may have wished to extract information about you: If the latter was his object, he was not successful.”
”Ah! Nairn's straight, anyway, and to be relied on. I like him and his wife.”
”So do I, though they differ from some of the others. There's not much gilding on either of them.”
”It's not needed; they're sterling metal.”
”That's my own idea.”
Carroll moved away and Vane strolled out onto the veranda, where Horsfield joined him a few minutes later.
”I don't know whether it's a very suitable time to mention it; but may I ask whether you are any nearer a decision about that smelter? Candidly, I'd like the contract.”
”I am not,” Vane answered. ”I can't make up my mind, and I may postpone the matter indefinitely. It might prove more profitable to s.h.i.+p the ore out for reduction.”
Horsfield examined his cigar.
”Of course, I can't press you; but I may, perhaps, suggest that, as we'll have to work together in other matters, I might be able to give you a quid pro quo.”
”That occurred to me. On the other hand, I don't know how much importance I ought to attach to the consideration.”
His companion laughed with apparent good-humor.
”Oh, well; I must wait until you're ready.”
He strolled away, and presently joined his sister.
”How does Vane strike you?” he asked. ”You seem to get on with him.”
”I've an idea that you won't find him easy to influence,” answered the girl, looking at her brother pointedly.
”I'm inclined to agree with you. In spite of that, he's a man whose acquaintance is worth cultivating.”
He pa.s.sed on to speak to Nairn; and shortly afterward Vane sat down beside Jessy in a corner of a big room. Looking out across the veranda, he could see far-off snowy heights tower in cold silver tracery against the green of the evening sky. Voices and laughter reached him, and now and then some of the guests strolled through the room. It was pleasant to lounge there and feel that Miss Horsfield had taken him under her wing, which seemed to describe her att.i.tude toward him. She was handsome, and he noticed how finely the soft, neutral tinting of her attire, which was neither blue nor altogether gray, matched the azure of her eyes and emphasized the dead-gold coloring of her hair.
”As Mrs. Nairn tells me you are going to England, I suppose we shall not see you in Vancouver for some months,” she said presently. ”This city really isn't a bad place to live in.”
Vane felt gratified. She had implied that he would be an acquisition and had included him among the number of her acquaintances.
”I fancy that I shall find it a particularly pleasant place,” he responded. ”Indeed, I'm inclined to be sorry that I've made arrangements to leave it very shortly.”