Part 43 (1/2)

There was wistfulness in this voice, ”I haven't any mother. She died when I was eight.”

”Oh.” Emma's sympathy was immediate and sincere. ”I'm sorry! Do you remember very much about her.”

He said simply, ”I'll never forget her. We lived in Baltimore.”

”Was it nice there?”

His voice was dreamy. ”While my mother was alive, we had a big house and there was always fun. But she went, and then my father died when I was twelve and--”

He paused suddenly and turned to look shrewdly at her. ”Any more questions, Mrs. Tower?”

In the darkness, Emma blushed. But she carried on determinedly. ”You've expressed a desire to marry Barbara,” she said frankly, ”and you want to take her on an overnight trip to Laramie. Naturally, I intend to find out a great deal more about you, Ellis.”

”Very well!” he said, angry now. ”Here are some facts.” He began speaking rapidly and distinctly, shooting out the facts as though he were making a legal report. ”When my father died my Uncle George was the executor. There was always enough money, but Uncle George and I didn't get along. He wanted me to go into his bank. I didn't care for that. For a year I went to Columbian College--that's in Was.h.i.+ngton, Mrs. Tower, and then....”

He broke off sharply, and there was a long moment of silence. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and ashamed. ”Forgive me, Mrs. Tower.

You've a right to know everything about me that you want to know. You've already found out one bad thing about me--I have a quick temper and an unpleasant one. I want to apologize.”

”That's all right, Ellis,” Emma said serenely. ”Let's go on from here.

You were at college in Was.h.i.+ngton, you say?”

”Yes, ma'am,” he said humbly. ”I met a girl in Was.h.i.+ngton, Mary Harkness. I was in love with her. When Mary's folks decided to come west, there seemed to be nothing left for me in the east. I came along.

It seemed the right thing to do. I had enough money to buy a horse and everything else I needed.”

”What happened, Ellis?” Emma whispered.

”When we got to Laramie, Mary married a man named Jeremy Blake. They went on together.”

Emma's voice was very gentle. ”Did it hurt?”

”I wished I could die.”

Emma said, ”You must understand that not all women are good, Ellis, any more than all men are. After enticing you to come along, and then marrying someone else--”

”I haven't made myself clear, Mrs. Tower. She did not entice me to come along; I came of my own free will and entirely because I wanted to. Nor was Mary in any sense of the word bad or deceitful. She is fine, loyal, and good. She simply didn't want me.”

Emma's heart beat happily. Ellis had chased a woman all the way from Maryland, Jim Snedeker had said. Now Emma knew the story. She asked,

”What did you do then, Ellis?”

There was a faint trace of remembered bitterness in his voice. ”I went to work for Jim. I knew there would be nothing for me at his post, but the way I felt then there seemed to be nothing for me anywhere. I just worked along, without much hope or any plan at all. Then you brought Barbara.”

”And she means much to you?”

He said firmly, ”I'm grateful Mary made the choice she did.”

She took his arm. ”Come along, I must get my sugar.” She stopped at the entrance to the store. ”Oh, Ellis. One more thing. About that New Year's dance at Fort Laramie. I want you to know that I think it's a splendid idea.”

”You do!”

”Certainly. Young people should enjoy themselves, and Barbara will be perfectly all right with Ynez Driscoll.” She was rewarded with a smile of the purest grat.i.tude and delight.