Part 72 (1/2)

Edgec.u.mbe was ”so sorry. There would be hardly any Americans there, then, except the old faithful Amba.s.sador and Captain Forbes.”

Persis' heart warmed instantly, but she said she was afraid that she had some other engagement booked; in any case, they might drop in for a minute. She s.h.i.+vered with exultance and blamed it on the chill.

When five o'clock came round Persis carelessly remembered the half-promise to Mrs. Mather Edgec.u.mbe. Willie was out of humor. Persis angelically urged him to stay in his room and nurse his cold. Her unusual thought for his welfare startled him. It delighted him. He decided to stay by her and get more of the tenderness she was lavis.h.i.+ng to-day. She could not shake him loose.

The _the dansant_ was a failure in Mrs. Mather Edgec.u.mbe's mind, and in her sister Winifred's heart, for the storm kept most of the Parisians away, and the Amba.s.sador sent word by Forbes that he would be tardy if he came at all. He pleaded motives of state. But he sent Forbes with his apologies.

Forbes, having been on a visit in his official capacity, was again in uniform. His eyes and cheeks were aglow from the cold, and Persis watched him with adoration as he came nearer and nearer.

He did not see her, even when he paused to talk to Mrs. Edgec.u.mbe, so close to Persis that she could have touched him. And when she could not endure the delay any longer, she thrust her hand beneath his eyes, and murmured: ”Captain Forbes doesn't remember me, but I met him in New York ages ago.”

Her voice, suddenly leaping out of the grave of memory, terrified him.

He whirled so quickly that his sword caught in her gown. He knelt to disengage it, and there was laughter over the confusion, and then Mrs.

Edgec.u.mbe was called away by a new-comer, and they were left together.

Persis beamed upon the complete disarray of all his faculties, and spoke with affected raillery, though her own mind was in a seethe.

”At last we meet again! And how magnificent we are in our gorgeous uniform! It's only the second time I've seen you in it. And I believe we are no longer plain Mr. Forbes--but Captain! Captain Harvey Forbes, U.

S. A.! And they say we are rich now. What a pity I didn't wait a little!”

Forbes was hurt at her flippancy. He smiled dismally, and she purred on: ”I a.s.sure you your t.i.tle and your wealth are vastly becoming; almost as becoming as all these b.u.t.tons and epaulettes and things.” She walked around him, looking him over like an inspecting officer. ”Um-m! How very nice! Magnificent!”

”Oh, I beg of you--” Forbes protested, tortured with chagrin.

But she went on, ”And a sword, too!” She ventured even to pull the blade a little way from its scabbard. He would have killed a man for doing that, and he almost wanted to kill Persis as she tantalized him with a strange mixture of ridicule and idolatry. ”I've no doubt the boulevards are strewn with the broken hearts of Frenchwomen. Who could resist you?

I'm sure my own heart isn't anywhere near healed. It was very cruel of you, Harvey, to throw me over and run away after you had stolen my poor young affections.”

Forbes was distraught; he groaned, ”I see you've not forgotten how to make fun of me.”

But Persis went on in mock petulance: ”It wasn't at all nice of you to cast me off just because I married Willie.”

This gave Forbes a chance to return her ridicule and he asked, ”By the way, how is your excellent husband?”

”You can see for yourself. There he is, still unable to learn the tango and trying to teach it to a fat Marquise.”

Forbes attempted that most uncivil of tones to a woman, the ironical: ”I hear that you and Mr. Enslee are the most devoted of couples.”

”Oh, it's a silly custom that married people should pretend to be congenial during their honeymoon,” Persis said. ”Thank heaven, my initiation is almost over.”

Forbes was genuinely horrified at such dealing with a subject so sacred as marriage; he forsook irony for his usual forthright utterance:

”Surely your--your husband doesn't neglect you?”

There was a touch of quick anxiety in Forbes' tone that showed how deeply he still cherished her.

”Neglect me?” Persis quoted. ”If he only would! Willie does tag after me even more than I could wish; but he is growing restless. I can usually escape him by staying at home. He's doing the music-halls very thoroughly. If I can only suggest some very shocking _revue_ I am a.s.sured of an evening alone. He is going to one over on Montmartre to-morrow night. I shall be quite deserted. We are stopping at the Hotel Meurice.”

There was so dire a meaning in her hint and so much danger in playing again with the fire whose scar he still bore that Forbes ceased fencing and slashed: ”Why do you torment me? You refused my love once.”