Part 31 (2/2)
Travers replied thoughtfully. ”Your leaving us was bound to be a loss in any case.”
They were silent for a moment. Mr. Travers still sat at his desk, and Stella stood beside him with the papers in her hand.
”I hope you will not think I took too much upon myself, Miss Waring,”
said Mr. Travers at last, ”in going to see Sir Julian Verny this afternoon. It seemed to me a man's job, if I may say so, and not a woman's. I thought your sister had done enough in letting you know herself how gravely she had misunderstood us all; and if I had notified you of my intention, I feared that you might not have seen your way to ratify it.”
”I am very glad indeed you spared Eurydice,” said Stella; ”I would not have let her go to Julian. I would have gone myself; but I am glad I did not have to do it. You spared us both.”
”That,” said Mr. Travers, ”was what I had intended.”
Stella put the papers on the desk; then she said hesitatingly:
”Mr. Travers, may I ask you something?”
”Yes, Miss Waring; I am always at your disposal,” replied Mr. Travers, clearing his throat. ”You are not an exacting questioner.”
”I hope you will not think me so,” said Stella, gently; ”but are you sure--will you be quite happy with Eurydice?”
Mr. Travers met her eyes. She did not think she had ever seen him look as he looked now; his eyes were off their guard. It was perhaps the only time in his life when Mr. Travers wished any one to know exactly what he felt.
”You will remember, Miss Waring,” he said, ”that I told you once before that I am a lonely man. I have not won affection from people. I think I have obtained your sister's regard, and I am proud to have done so. I suppose, too, that all men have the desire to protect some one. I do not know much about feelings in general, but I should suppose that the desire for protection _is_ a masculine instinct?”
Stella nodded. She wished to give Mr. Travers all the instincts that he wanted, and if he preferred to think them solely masculine, she had not the least objection.
”I see that you agree with me,” said Mr. Travers, with satisfaction, ”and you will therefore be able to understand my point of view. I have a very real regard for Miss Eurydice. Her work is of great, though unequal, value, and I should like to see her happy and comfortable and, if I may say so, safe. I do not think that the life of women who work in public offices, unless they are peculiarly gifted by nature, is safe. I may be old-fas.h.i.+oned, Miss Waring, but I still maintain that woman's sphere is the home.”
”I am glad you feel like that about Eurydice,” said Stella, softly.
She paused for a moment. She wanted to thank him, but she knew that she must thank him only for some little thing. The greater things she must leave entirely alone. He trusted her to do this; he was trusting her with all he had. She must protect him from her grat.i.tude.
”Before I leave the town hall, Mr. Travers,” she said, ”I want to thank you for what I have learned here. That is really one of the reasons I came back to-night. You have been such a help to me as a business woman.
I am not going to give it up. I shall keep all that you have taught me, and take it into my new life with me. It has been an education to work in your office under your rule.”
”I am glad you have felt it to be so, Miss Waring,” said Mr. Travers, with grave satisfaction. ”I have devoted what talents I possess to the running of this town hall, under the auspices of the mayor, of course. I am very much gratified if my methods have been of any service to you.
Our relations.h.i.+p has certainly not been a one-sided benefit. I took occasion to say to Sir Julian this afternoon that I had never had a more efficient secretary.”
”I am so glad you told Julian that,” said Stella, smiling. ”My work with him was only make-believe.”
”There is a leniency about your dealings with people,” Mr. Travers continued, ignoring her reference to Julian, ”which sometimes needs restraint, Miss Waring. The world, I fear, cannot be run upon lenient principles. Nevertheless, in some cases I am not prepared to say that your system has not got merits of its own. I recognize that personal leniency modifies certain problems even of business life. I should be apprehensive of seeing it carried too far; but up to a certain point,”
said Mr. Travers, rising to his feet and holding out his hand to Stella to close the interview, ”I am prepared to accept your theory.”
THE END
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