Page 64 (1/2)
Plans for the big dance presently began to move briskly, and there was
much talk of the affair As hostess, Rachael would notthemselves with the details of
elaborate costumes Warren's rather stern and classic beauty was to be
enhanced by the blue and buff of an officer of the Revolution, fine
ruffles falling at wrist and throat, wide silver buckles on square-toed
shoes, and satin ribbon tying his white wig Rachael, separately
teht of Dutch wooden shoes and of the always
delightful hoop skirts, eventually abandoned both because it was not
possible historically to connect either costume with the one upon which
Warren had decided She eventually determined to be the s disappearing
into ed and slashed skirt,
feathers in her loosened hair, and a ser skin,
strapped closely across her back, to lend a touch of distinction to the
costu before the dance she tried on her regalia and
appeared before her husband and three or four waiting dinner guests, so
exquisite a vision of glowing and radiant beauty that their admiration
was almost a little awed Her cheeks were crimson between her loosened
rich braids of hair; her eyes shone deeply blue, and the fantastic
costu strips of leather and richly colored
waave an extraordinary quality of youth and almost of frailty to
her whole aspect
"The wo you!" said
Rachael, in a shower of co? Warren
went six hundred and seventy-two places to catch hier like this in North America but what care I?
I' inconsistency like that
doesn't worry ME!"
"Me taky you ly "You my
squaw?"
"Co her by the arence to her caprice, but
Rachael kneas pleased "Well, when you first planned this outfit
I thought it was going to be an awfulher
slowly about "But it isn't so bad!"
"Isn't so bad!" Mrs Bowditch said scornfully; "it's the loveliest
thing I ever saw I'll tell you what, Rachael, if you come down to
Easthampton this summer we'll have a play, and you can be an Indian--"
"I'd love it," Rachael said, anda deep bow before her husband
she added: "I'll be Squaw-Afraid-of-Her-Man!"
She heard thee to athe Indian costume to her maid, "I'm too
happy to live!"
Etta, one of those homely, conscientious women who extract in some
mysterious way an actual pride and pleasure from the beauty of the
women whoetting real nice now," she sube a worthy ehed out joyously The next instant she had flung up a
and leaned out in the spring darkness Trees on the drive were
rustling over pools of light, a lighted steamboat went slowly up the
river, the brilliant eyes of urdy, guarded by two shadowy forle of sound from the curb When the as shut, a
moment later, the old Italian man and woman ned the musical
instrument decided that they must mark this apart hopefully, went upon their way The
belladonna in the spangled goho had looked down upon theuests
She was in wild spirits, inspired with herher Mrs Whittaker and Mrs
Bowditch fell as certainly under her spell as did the three ," said Louise Bowditch to
Mrs Whittaker; "but it's all nonsense--this talk about her being no
more fun! She's more fun than ever!"
"She's prettier than ever," Gertrude Whittaker said with a sigh
The next afternoon, a dreary, wet afternoon, at about four o'clock,
Warren Gregory stepped out of the elevator, and quietly admitted
himself to his own hallith a latchkey It was an unusual hour for
the doctor to come home, and in the butler's carefully commonplace tone
as he answered a few questions Warren knew that he knew
The awning had been stretched across the sidewalk, caterers' men were
in possession, the lovely spacious roo
studio had been ereat palms massed in
the musicians' corner; lance of the ory alone in her own luxurious rooht before would have been
likely to recognize her now She was pale, tense, and visibly nervous,
wrapped in a great woolly robe, as if she were cold, and with her hair
bound carelessly and tightly back as a wo
"You've seen it?" she said instantly, as her husband caht ho beside her, one arm about her, all his tenderness and
devotion in his face--"I knew you'd need hed deeply, but continued to stare
distractedly beyond hiueness and
brokenness in her
"Do, sweetheart?" he echoed at a loss
"With all those people coht," she added, mildly impatient
"Why, what CAN we do, dear?"
"You don't mean," Rachael said incredulously, "that we shall have to GO
ON with it?"
"Think a minute, dearest Why shouldn't we?"
"But"--her color, better since his entrance, aning again--"with
Clarence Breckenridge dying while we dance!" she shuddered
"Could anything bethat
concerns Clarence Breckenridge affect what you do now?" he asked with
kindly patience
"No, it's not that!" she answered feverishly "But--but for any old
friend one would--would make a difference, and surely--surely he was
more than that!"
"He WASto
you for a long tireed nervously She
sat silent for a ht "But,
Warren, they'll all know of it, they'll all be THINKING of it," she
said presently "I--really I don't think I can go through it!"
"It's too bad, of course," Warren Gregory said with his arive ten thousand dollars to have had the poor fellow select
so to do with it, and you simply
e, of course!"
"Of course She was e Poor kid--it's rather a sad start for her, especially with no one
but Joe Pickering to console her!"
"She was mad about her father," Rachael said in a preoccupied whisper
"Poor Billy--poor Billy! She never crossed hi but this
What did you see it in?"
"The World How did you hear it?"
"Etta brought up the paper" She closed her eyes and leaned back in her
chair "It see--where is he?"
"At St Mark's He won't live Poor fellow!" Warren Gregory scowled
thoughtfully as he gave a ht to the other man's
situation, and then se of
topic "Well," he said cheerfully, "is anyone in this place glad to see
me, or not, or what?"
"It just seeht!"
Rachael said, giving hiently put
hi--so
coarse--to be utterly and totally indifferent to the o I don't love hi, this way If it was Peter Pomeroy or Joe Butler, of COURSE we'd
put off our dance--Warren," she turned to him with sudden hope in her
eyes, "do you suppose anybody'll coirl," he said, displeased, "why are you working yourself into
a fever over this? It's most unfortunate, but as far as you're
concerned, it's unavoidable, and you'll sih it SOMEHOW! I aether you'll co colors
Of course everyone'll come; this is their chance to show you exactly
how little they ever think of you as Breckenridge's wife! And this is
your chance, too, to act as if you'd never heard of him Dash it! it
does spoil our little party, but it can't be helped!"
"Do you suppose Billy's with hi eyes fixed upon her own person as she sat before her land--that's the
dreadful thing for her Clarence evidently spent the whole night at the
club, sitting in the library, thinking Berry Stokes went in for his
mail after the theatre, and they had a little talk He pro Billings, the steward there,
saw old Maynard going out--Maynard's one of the directors--and asked
hie Mayn went
over to hiasp that was like a shriek, and put her two elbows on
the dressing-table, and her face in her hands It was Clarence's
fa!"
"Well, that was all there was to it," her husband said, watching her
anxiously "He had the thing in his pocket He stood up--everybody
heard it Fellows caot him to a
hospital"
"Florence is with him, of course?"
"Florence is at Palirl, how do I know? It's none of my affair!"
Rachael sat still for perhaps two minutes, while her husband,
ostentatiously cheerful, e of
clothes
"To-morrow you can take it as hard as you like, sweet," said he "But
to-night you'll have to face the
warm--it's a little cool out--and I'll take you for a spin, and we'll
have dinner soht o'clock,
and take our tireed autoently: "Warren, isn't there a chance that I'htn't it be better simply to telephone everyone that the dance is
postponed? Make it next week, or Mi-Care If they talk--let
them! I don't care what they say They'll talk anyway But every fibre
of , every delicate or decent instinct I ever had, rebels
against this Say I' to say--I know that it would SEEM less sensitive, less fine, to
mourn for one nore what happens to him, but you knohat's the truth! I never
loved him, and I love every hair of your head--you know that Only--"
She stopped short, baffled by the difficulty of expressing herself
accurately
"If you really love ory
said firmly
His wife sat as if turned to stone for only a few seconds When she
spoke it was naturally and cheerfully
"I'll be ready in no tilanced at
her little crystal clock as she spoke, as if she were coth of the drive before dinner But what she said in
her heart was, "At this time to-morroill all have been over for
orys sailed for Ber shame that was all the more acute because she
could not share it with this dearest coht indeed that the miserable episode of the past week had been
dis like a boy in the little
holiday, and proud of his beautiful wife, he found their hours at sea
cloudless With two men, whose acquaintance was ame drew other players fro They walked up and
down the deck for hours together, they lay side by side in deck chairs
lazily watching the blue water creep up and down the painted white
ropes of the rail; but they never spoke of Clarence Breckenridge
The Mardi-Gras dance had been like a hideous dream to Rachael She had
known that it would be hard fronificance of Clarence's suicide had rushed upon her She had known
that her arriving guests would be gay and conversational, that the
dance and the supper would go with a dash and shich no other
circumstance could more certainly have assured for thee that Clarence Breckenridge
was dying by his own hand, and his daughter on the ocean, and that this
woer skin outlining
her beautiful figure, had been his wife
This she had expected, and this was as she had expected But there were
other circumstances that made her feel even more acutely the turn of
the screw Joe Butler, always Clarence's closest friend, did not come
to the dance, and at about twelve o'clock an innocent e that several persons besides Warren heard: "Mr Butler
to speak to you on the telephone, Doctor Gregory"
Everyone could surmise where Joe Butler was, but no one voiced the
supposition Warren, handsome in his skirted coat, knee breeches, and
ruffles, disappeared fro went on The scene
was unbelievably brilliant, the hot, bright air sith flowers and
perfume, and the more subtle odors of silk and fine linen and powder on
delicate skin Warren was presently aain, and there was a
supper, the hostess' lovely face showing no er to uests
After supper there was ayety There
were no es, nor was there any definite foundation
for the ru Wo their noses as they waited for their wraps,in the hall, confided it to a
Mephistopheles; a pastry cook, after his effusive good-nights,
confirmed it as he climbed into the motorcar that held the Pierrette
as his wife: "Dead, poor fellow!"
"Dead, poor Clarence!" said Mrs Prince, nificent as Queen
Elizabeth, as she and Elinor Vanderent downstairs She had once
danced a fancy dance with hio "Awful!" said
Elinor, shuddering
After the last guest was gone Warren telephoned to the hospital,
Rachael, a little tired and pale in the Indian costu tensely She was sick at heart Even into the library, where
they stood, the Mardi-Gras disorder had penetrated: a blue silkacross Warren's blotter, a spatter of confetti lay on the
polished floor, and on the reading table was a tray on which were two
glasses through whose as that had snapped in the fireplace were gone, only gray
ashes remained, and to Rachael, at least, the room's desolation and
disorder seemed to typify her own state of mind
She could tell from Warren's look that he found the whole ree; on his handsoriainst events He did not bla in every fibre of his sensitive soul at this
sordid notoriety, at this blatant voicing of a hundred ugly whispers in
athe woman he loved
"Dead?" Rachael said quietly, when his brief conversation was over
Warren Gregory, setting the telephone back upon the desk, nodded
gravely
Rachael made no comment For a moment her eyes widened nervously, and a
little shudder rippled through her Then silently she gathered up the
leather belt and chains of beads that she had been loosening as she
listened, and sloent toward the door
They did not speak again of Clarence that night, although they chatted
easily for the next hour on other topics, even laughing a little as the
various episodes of the evening were passed in review
But Rachael did not sleep, nor did she sleep during the long hours of
the following night On the third night she wakened her husband
suddenly fro! Won't you talk tomad, I think!"
"Rachael! What is it?" staht
of Rachael's bedside la in two long braids over her shoulders, was sitting on the side
of his bed "What is it, darling--hear so his ar awake!" said Rachael, panting "I
haven't shut
it--Clarence's face, you knoith that horrible scar! What shall I
do?"
Shivering, gasping, wild-eyed, she clung to hi hour he
soothed her as if she had been an hysterical child He put her into a
comfortable chair,her back to calain It was terrible, of course,
but no one but Clarence himself was to blame, unless it was poor Billy--
"Yes, I must see Billy when she co voice reached this point If Warren Gregory's quiet
istered any opposition, she did not see it, and he did not
express it She was presently sound asleep, still catching a long
childish breath as she slept But she woke s, with all the horrid
visions of the past few days apparently blotted out, and she and Warren
went gayly don to get steamer tickets, and buy appropriate frocks
and hats for the spring heat of Bermuda
In midsummer came the inevitable invitation to visit old friends at
Belvedere Bay Rachael was pleased to accept Mrs Moran's hospitality
for a glorious July week Warren, to her delight, took an eightdays'
holiday, and while he looked to his racquet and golf irons she packed
her prettiest gowns Belvedere Bay welcoory was the idol of the hour Mrs Moulton, giving a
tennis tea during this week, duly sent Mrs Gregory a card But when
society wondering whether Rachael would really be a guest in her own
old ho Dicky
Moran was so considerate as to be flung froorys nor the Morans consequently appeared at the tea, but
Rachael,all inquirers on the Moran terrace, late in the
afternoon, with the news that Dicky was quite all right, no harm done,
asked prettily for details of the affair they had missed
She told herself that the past really made no difference in the radiant
present, but she kneas not so In a thousand little ways she had
lost caste, and she saw it, if Warren did not A certain bloo, woe was somehow lessened She knew
that newcomers at the club, struck by her beauty, were a little chilled
by her history She felt the difference in the very air
In her uory?" Why were these casual inquirers not
told of Clarence, of her long endurance of neglect and shaht came to her, that if other, events had been as they
were, and only the facts of her divorce and re, she
would have been Clarence's
"What's the difference? It all comes out the saht
"Then you and I would have been only engaged now," said Rachael,
sret your hed, his arms about her
"I'd like to live the first days over and over and over again, Greg!"
she answered passionately
"You are an insatiable creature!" he said But her earnestness was
beginning to puzzle him a little She was too deeply wrapped in her
love for her own happiness or his There was so
in her intensity She was jealous of every minute that they were apart;
she made no secret of her blind adoration
Warren had at first found this touching; it had hue, he had shared it, and their mutual
passion had seeht But
now, even while he snity was concerned had shown hi a little pitiful, so even a little absurd
Judy and Gertrude and little Mrs Sartoris listened interestedly when
Rachael talked of Greg, of his likes, his dislikes, his favorite words,
his old- his ties, hishis wife's flushed, lovely face,
wondered if they were laughing at her He same to come across the club porch to hiood, to warn hiet out of those wet flannels, to ask
Frank Whittaker what heboy three sets in
succession?
"Rachael, I'ht call
"Deal away!" Rachael, one hand on Warren's arm, would look saucily at
the others over his shoulder "I like my beau," she would assert
brazenly, "and if you say a word more, I'll kiss him here and now!"