Part 23 (1/2)

At the train, the party split into three sections.

Coleman and his man had one compartment, Nora Black and her squad had another, and the Wainwrights and students occupied two more.

The little officer was still in tow of Nora Black.

He was very enthusiastic. In French she directed him to remain silent, but he did not appear to understand.

” You tell him,” she then said to her dragoman, ” to sit in a corner and not to speak until I tell him to, or I won't have him in here.” She seemed anxious to unburden herself to the old lady companion.

” Do you know,” she said, ” that girl has a nerve like steel. I tried to break it there in that inn, but I couldn't budge her. If I am going to have her beaten I must prove myself to be a very, very artful person.”

” Why did you try to break her nerve ? ” asked the old lady, yawning. ”Why do you want to have her beaten ? ”

” Because I do, old stupid,” answered Nora. ” You should have heard the things I said to her.”

”About what?”

” About Coleman. Can't you understand anything at all?”

” And why should you say anything about Coleman to her?” queried the old lady, still hopelessly befogged.

” Because,” cried Nora, darting a look of wrath at her companion, ” I want to prevent that marriage.”

She had been betrayed into this avowal by the singularly opaque mind of the old lady. The latter at once sat erect. - ” Oh, ho,” she said, as if a ray of light had been let into her head. ” Oh, ho. So that's it, is it ? ”

”Yes, that's it, rejoined Nora, shortly.

The old lady was amazed into a long period of meditation. At last she spoke depressingly. ” Well, how are you going to prevent it? Those things can't be done in these days at all. If they care for each other-”

Nora burst out furiously. ”Don't venture opinions until you know what you are talking about, please.

They don't care for each other, do you see? She cares for him, but he don't give a snap of his fingers for her.”

” But,” cried the bewildered lady, ” if he don't care for her, there will be nothing to prevent. If he don't care for her, he won't ask her to marry him, and so there won't be anything to prevent.”

Nora made a broad gesture of impatience. ” Oh, can't you get anything through your head ? Haven't you seen that the girl has been the only young woman in that whole party lost up there in the mountains, and that naturally more than half of the men still think they are in love with her? That's what it is. Can't you see ? It always happens that way.

Then Coleman comes along and makes a fool of himself with the others.”

The old lady spoke up brightly as if at last feeling able to contribute something intelligent to the talk.

” Oh, then, he does care for her.”

Nora's eyes looked as if their glance might shrivel the old lady's hair. ”Don't I keep telling you that it is no such thing ? Can't you understand? It is all glamour! Fascination! Way up there in the wilderness! Only one even pa.s.sable woman in sight.”

” I don't say that I am so very keen,” said the old lady, somewhat offended, ”but I fail to see where I could improve when first you tell me he don't care for her, and then you tell me that he does care for her.”

” Glamour,' ' Fascination,'” quoted Nora. ” Don't you understand the meaning of the words ? ”

” Well,” asked the other, didn't he know her, then, before he came over here ?”

Nora was silent for a time, while a gloom upon her face deepened. It had struck her that the theories for which she protested so energetically might not be of such great value. Spoken aloud, they had a sudden new flimsiness. Perhaps she had reiterated to herself that Coleman was the victim of glamour only because she wished it to be true. One theory, however, re- mained unshaken. Marjory was an artful rninx, with no truth in her.

She presently felt the necessity of replying to the question of her companion. ” Oh,” she said, care- lessly, ” I suppose they were acquainted-in a way.”

The old lady was giving the best of her mind to the subject. ” If that's the case-” she observed, musingly, ” if that's the case, you can't tell what is between 'em.”

The talk had so slackened that Nora's unfortunate Greek admirer felt that here was a good opportunity to present himself again to the notice of the actress.