The Last Woman Part 8

"What's the next move, Bee? I couldn't induce you to give me another hug, could I? There, now--don't get angry. I liked it, whether you did, or not. You put a lot of ginger into it, too. Oh, yes, I liked it!"

For a moment, it seemed as if she would resent his bantering tone; then she shrugged her shoulders, and smiled.

"I did it to help you--to make Patricia jealous." She laughed lightly, still keeping her face turned away from him. "I saw the curtains part, and recognized Patricia. With the recognition, there came also a revelation as to how I could best help you both. If I had dreamed that you would suppose for a moment I was in earnest, do you think I would have done it? And when I told you that I would come here, to this church, and would marry you like this--good heavens!--did you flatter yourself I meant _that_?"

"Of course, I did."

"Are you in earnest, Roderick Duncan? If I thought your selfishness, your egotism, was as great as that, I--I don't know what I'd do! Have you so little regard for me that you think I would become your wife, in this manner, knowing as I do that you love another--and when that other is my best friend--when I know that Patricia Langdon loves you?

For I do know it. Do you--did you think that of me--did you think that of me?" She was a-tremble with indignation, now.

"By Jove, Bee, I acted like a brute, didn't I? I didn't consider you; I was selfish enough to think of no one but myself. But, all the same, my girl, I was in dead earnest. If you've got the pluck and the spirit to go through with it, now, we'll see the thing out, side by side, just as we started, and I will make you, perhaps, a better husband than if the circ.u.mstances were different. You say that Patricia loves me: I doubt it. I thought so once, but I don't now. It doesn't matter, anyhow. I shall ask you again calmly, with all humility and respect; with all seriousness, too: will you be my wife, and will you marry me, now?"

"I will reply with equal seriousness, Roderick," she retorted, mockingly. "No."

He uttered a sigh, and there was so much satisfied relief in it that she laughed aloud, but without bitterness.

"Then, what shall we do? Sit here in this cab, in front of the Church of the Transfiguration, for the balance of the night? Or shall we go around to Delmonico's and have some supper?" he asked her.

"I think that last suggestion of yours is a very excellent one," she replied, navely. "But we will wait yet a few moments before we start.

We haven't been at the Church of the Transfiguration quite long enough to have been married, and to have come out of it again."

Duncan stared at her. Then, slowly, a smile lighted up his eyes and relaxed the lines of his face, so that after a moment he chuckled.

Presently, he laughed.

"By Jove, Bee, you're a corker!" he said. "You can give me cards and spades, and beat me hands down, when it comes to a matter of finesse.

Is it your idea to play out the other part of the game? What will it avail, if we do?"

"Never mind that," she replied. "In order to carry out the scheme, and to make it work itself out, as it should, one thing more is necessary.

It will be great fun, too--if we don't carry it too far."

"What is that?" he asked her. "What more is necessary?"

"I want you to tell the chauffeur to stop for a moment at the side-entrance to the Hotel Breslin; there I wish you to leave me alone in the cab, while you go inside, and telephone to the opera-house, to have Jack Gardner and his wife meet us as soon as they can, at Delmonico's for supper. You may not have noticed, but they occupied their box, which is directly opposite the Langdon's. One of the ushers will carry the message to him, and Jack will come, if he has no previous engagement."

"But what in the name of--what in the world do you want of Jack Gardner and his wife? what have they to do with it?"

"I want them to take supper with us, that is all; and then I want a few moments' conversation with Jack, while you talk with Sally."

They were driven to the Breslin, and the telephone-message was sent.

Duncan waited for a reply, and received one, to the effect that Mr.

and Mrs. Gardner would come at once. And so, not long afterward, the four occupied a conspicuous table of Beatrice's selection, at the famous restaurant.

Recalling the injunction put upon him to occupy himself with Sally Gardner, Duncan began to get a glimmer of understanding regarding the plot that Beatrice had concocted. He, therefore, gave all of his attention to the spirited and charming wife of the young copper-king.

Jack Gardner was everybody's friend. He loved a joke better than anyone else in the world, and a practical joke better than any other kind. He was especially fond of Roderick Duncan, and both he and his wife were intimate friends of Beatrice. Duncan noticed, while talking with Sally, that Jack and Beatrice had drawn their chairs more closely together, toward a corner of the table, and were now whispering together with low-toned eagerness. He could hear no word of what Beatrice said, but an occasional exclamation of Gardner's came to him.

He saw that Beatrice was talking rapidly, with intense earnestness, and that Gardner seemed to be highly amused, even elated, by what she was saying. Such expressions as, "By Jove, that's the best, ever!"

"Sure, I can do it!" and, "You just leave it to me!" came to his ears, from Gardner; and presently the latter excused himself and left the table.

If they had followed him, they would have seen that he went to the telephone, where he called up several numbers before he obtained the person he sought; but he presently returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and with intense satisfaction written upon every line of his smiling features.

As he seated himself at the table, other guests were just a.s.suming places at another one, quite near to them, and he bent forward toward Beatrice, saying in a tone which their companion could not hear:

"I say, Beatrice, it's all working out to the queen's taste! When you get a chance, look over your left shoulder. Gee! but this is funny!

All the same, though, I expect I'll get myself into a very devil of a stew. When that reporter discovers that I've given him an out-and-out fake, he'll go gunning for me as sure as you are alive."

"Is he coming here to see you?" she asked him.

"Sure. He will be here in about twenty minutes."

"Now, tell me who it is at the table behind me. I don't care to look around, to discover for myself."

"Why, Old Steve and his Juno; and they've got Malcolm Melvin with them." He leaned back in his chair, and laughed; then, he emptied the champagne-gla.s.s he had been playing with. Presently, he chuckled again.

"Tell you what, Beatrice," he said, in an undertone, "I almost wish that you had taken Duncan at his word, and married him. You should have called that bluff. Sure thing! Think of the millions he's got, and--"

"Hus.h.!.+"

"Oh, all right. All the same--"

"Hush, I tell you! Don't you see that Sally is trying to talk to you?"

After that, the conversation became general among the four. During it, Jack Gardner sought and found an opportunity to wave a greeting to the late arrivals, whose names he had just mentioned to Beatrice. Duncan, observing him, glanced also in that direction, and, meeting Patricia's eyes fixed directly upon him, flushed hotly as he, also, bowed to her.

Then, Sally and Beatrice turned their heads and nodded, as another course of the service was placed upon the table before them.

It was not yet finished when the head-waiter brought a card to Jack Gardner, who instantly left his seat for the second time that evening, and, with a curt, "I'll be back in a moment," departed, without further excuse. The person whose card he had received, was awaiting him in one of the reception-rooms; and the two shook hands cordially, for they were old acquaintances and on excellent terms with each other. It was not the first time they had got their heads together concerning matters for publication, although, in this instance, the newspaper man was to be made a wholly innocent party in the affair.

Burke Radnor was a newspaper man of prominence in New York. He was one of the few men of his profession who have succeeded in attaining sufficient distinction to establish themselves independently, and his "stories" were eagerly sought by all of the great dailies.

The two seated themselves in a corner of the room, and talked together earnestly, although in whispers, for a considerable time. It was Gardner who did most of the talking; Radnor only occasionally interjected a questioning remark. When they parted, it was with a hearty hand-clasp, and this remark from Radnor:

"I'll fix it up all right, old man; don't you worry. n.o.body shall know that I got the story from you. But it is a jim dandy, and no mistake!"

"Which of the papers will you use it in, do you think?" asked Gardner.

"I am not sure as to that. To the one that will pay the best price for a first-cla.s.s 'beat,' for that's what it is. Anyhow, that part of it is none of your business. Now that I've got the story, I shall handle it as I think best, and you can bet your sweet life it will be used for all it's worth!"

Gardner returned to the dining-room, with vague misgivings concerning what he had done; his smile was a bit less self-satisfied. Radnor, apparently, left the building. But the shrewd news-gatherer went no farther than the entrance, where he wheeled about and returned; and this time he sent his card to Roderick Duncan. Having "nailed the story," the proper thing now was to obtain an interview with one of the princ.i.p.als concerned in it; with both, if possible.

Duncan received the card, wonderingly. He knew Radnor, and liked him; but he could not imagine what the newspaper man could want with him at that particular time. The truth about it, did not even vaguely occur to him.

Excusing himself, he left the table and presently found Radnor in the same room where the recent interview with Jack Gardner had taken place.

"h.e.l.lo, Radnor," said Duncan, cordially, extending his hand. "There must be something doing when you call me away from a supper table, at Del's. Make it as brief as possible--won't you?--because I am dining, and--"

"Oh, I won't keep you but a moment, Mr. Duncan," was the quick reply.

"I just want to ask you a question or two about the interesting ceremony that took place this evening--that is all."

"Eh? What's that? Ceremony? What the devil are you talking about?"