Part 34 (1/2)
”No--but he had to take payment if it came when the mortgage matured.”
”It is n't due for six weeks yet.”
”He did n't mind being paid sooner, when he found all hope of the chance of foreclosing was gone.”
”He would n't sell for the face of it?”
”I 'm not familiar with business terms,” urged s.h.i.+rley.
”Not? A girl who holds a position with Townsend & Company! Tell me, s.h.i.+rley--you did n't get that mortgage six weeks before it was due, for the face value of it?”
”Not quite.”
”How much did you pay?”
”Not more than it was worth.”
”Please tell me _how much more_ you paid.”
”I think that's my affair,” said s.h.i.+rley, with her head up. But her eyes were down.
There was a silence. Peter put his hand to his mouth with intent to cover a sudden urgent and unwonted necessity to steady his lips. He encountered the beard, tore it off, and cast the wig beside it upon the floor. A young man with a face of mingled light and shadow emerged from the disguise of the elderly one.
”If I didn't know that, with this farm as security, you 'd made a safe investment, I could n't stand this.” he said, in a low tone. ”But I know that making a safe investment was the last thing you cared about.
You wanted to stand by in a time of need--and you 've done it.”
”You mustn't think,” said s.h.i.+rley, looking up eagerly, ”that you 're under the least obligation to me. It's just as you say. The farm itself is more than security. It's merely a matter of business. You know, I 'm learning to manage my little affairs. Father thought it would be good for me. And a change of investment like this is great fun.”
Peter looked at her steadily. ”Oh, no, we 're not under the least obligation to you!” he answered. ”It's very easy to find people to take a mortgage at terms that will induce a man to sell it who 's looking for a chance to foreclose--that's why I have n't done any worrying about the matter! s.h.i.+rley--you 're----” he seized her hand. ”You're----”
”It 's all right,” said s.h.i.+rley, turning her head away with a sudden access of shyness. There was no knowing what terms Peter might be going to use, when his voice dropped to that vibrating note.
But she did not escape. Peter was ordinarily a self-controlled young man, with a cool head not likely to be carried away by sudden emotion.
But he had a warm heart, none the less, and the girl's friendly act had touched him deeply. Besides, he was, as has been admitted before, entirely human, and s.h.i.+rley, in her gray and scarlet, with her brilliant cheeks and drooping eyes, was a very captivating figure. Tightening his grasp upon her hand he ended his impulsive speech half under his breath with--”You 're the--dearest--girl in the world!”
What he would have said--or done--next can only be conjectured, for upon this unexpected and most disconcerting demonstration s.h.i.+rley pulled her hand away and ran--somewhere--anywhere--she did not just know where. In this indefinite region she remained for fully half an hour. In the end she had to come back to the living-room, but when she did it was not to look at Peter.
As for Peter himself, when he had got rid of his Santa Claus costume and put himself in order again, he also came back to the living-room. His face had been put in order as well as his dress, and n.o.body noticed anything odd about him. But there _was_ something odd about him--very odd. He felt like a railway locomotive off the track, obliged to convey to the beholders, by its steadiness of gait, the impression that it was still on!
CHAPTER IX
A RED GLARE
”By all that's astonis.h.i.+ng, are you actually idling? And may I come and idle, too?”
s.h.i.+rley looked up from the depths of one of the capacious willow chairs, which, well stocked with cus.h.i.+ons, were favourite lounging-places upon the great side porch of the Townsend house, and from which one could look out over a long and charming stretch of lawn toward the tennis-court.