He had known the Countess Lalage's governess for years. He admired her independence of character, too, though on the whole he would have preferred her taking the home that her uncle Gilbert Lawrence, the great novelist, was ever urging upon her. But she would have a home of her own soon.
"Gordon, I am so glad you have come," she whispered. "I have stolen away for half an hour as Mamie is better. If she wants me I have told the nurse----"
"She can't want you half so badly as I do," Gordon laughed as he bent3 down and kissed the shy lips. "And that queer little creature will have to learn to do without you altogether before long. Four new patients today, Hetty. And I have taken the house in Green-Street."
"Can we really afford it?" Hetty asked anxiously.
Bruce kissed her again. He loved that little pathetic, anxious look of hers. He spoke4 confidently of the time when Harley Street should be theirs. There was a strength and reliance about her lover that always comforted Hetty.
"I shall be glad," she whispered, after a thoughtful pause, "glad to get away from here."
"That's flattering to me. But I thought you liked the Countess."
Hetty glanced fearfully around her. Nobody was near--only the palms and the scented5 roses could hear her confidences.
"I have tried," she confessed, "and I have failed. She fascinates and yet repels6 me. There is some strange mystery about her. Gordon, I feel sure that there is the shadow of some great crime on her house. It sounds weak, hysterical7, perhaps, but I can't get it out of my mind."
"But, darling, the Countess has been a good friend to me."
"I know. You are strong and ambitious, and she is helping8 to make you the fashion. But has it ever struck you why?"
"Perhaps it is because she has the good taste to like me," Gordon laughed.
"Because she loves you," said Hetty, in a thrilling whisper. "Because her whole heart and soul is given over to a consuming passion for you. There is a woman who would go any length to win a man's love. If a husband stood in the way she would poison him; if a woman, she would be destroyed. Gordon, I am frightened; I wake up in the middle of the night trembling. I wish you had never come here; I don't know what I wish."
Gordon looked down into the troubled violet eyes with amazement9. Surely he would wake up presently and find that he had been dreaming. Countess Lalage with all the world at her feet, and he a struggling doctor. Oh, it was preposterous10! And yet little words and signs and hints unnoticed at the time were coming to his mind now.
"I wish you hadn't told me this," he murmured, uneasily. "It would have been far----"
He paused. From overhead somewhere came the sound of a frightened, wailing11 cry, the pitiful call of a child in terror. Hetty was on her feet in a moment, all her fears had gone to the winds.
"Mamie," she exclaimed. "Of course, nurse has crept off to the rest of the servants. Poor little wee frightened soul."
Hetty flashed off down the corridor, and was gone leaving Bruce to his troubled thoughts. Just before going, Hetty stood on her toes, and kissed her lover lightly on the lips. It was, perhaps, a goodnight caress12, for there was a chance that she might not return.
There was a sound at the top of the corridor, just the suggestion of a swish of silken drapery, and Gordon Bruce half turned. Under a cluster of electric lights stood Leona Lalage; she must have seen everything. It might have been fancy, it might have been a guilty conscience, but just for the moment Countess Lalage seemed transformed into a white fury with two murderous demons13 gleaming in her dark restless eyes. Then her silk and ivory fan fell from her hands, and Gordon hastened to recover it.
When he looked up again the mask of evil passions was gone. The Countess was smiling in her most fascinating manner. Gordon could not know that the long filbert nails had cut through the woman's glove, and were making red sores on the pink flesh. He did not know that he would have stood in peril14 of his life had there been a weapon near at hand.
"You must not flirt15 with my governess, Dr. Bruce," she said. "I would have given a great deal not to have seen what I saw just now."
The rebuke16 sounded in the best of taste. Gordon bowed.
"I have a good excuse," he said, "in fact, the very best. As I told you some months ago, I have known Miss Lawrence for years. We have always understood one another, but because I was in no position to marry nothing has been said. Won't you be the first to congratulate me on my engagement?"
"Then fetch me an ice. By the time you return I shall have thought of something pretty to say. Ah, I have pricked17 my finger. The ice, my dear boy, the ice. The finger will not hurt till you return."
Her hand had shot out grasping for something to steady herself on--the whole world spun18 around her. She had given her whole passionate19, tempestuous20 soul to this man; she had never dreamt that she could fail to gain his love. She had never failed before, she had only required to hold up her hand. . . .
She clasped the stem of a rose passionately21. The cruel thorns cut into the soft white flesh, but there was pleasure in the very pain. Another moment and she would have flashed out her secret and despair to the world. For the moment she was crushed and beaten to the earth. Yet she spoke very quietly and evenly, though the effort brought the blood thrilling to her temples.
She was alone now; she could give vent22 to her passionate anger. She smashed her fan across her knee, she tore her long gloves into fragments. Dimly, in a mirror opposite, she saw her white ghastly face, and the stain of blood where she had caught her lips between her teeth.
"So I have to sit down and submit to that tamely," she murmured. "You little white-faced cat, you pink doll, so you are going to get the best of me. We shall see; oh, yes, we shall see. If I could be somewhere where I could tear myself to pieces, where I could scream aloud and nobody could hear! If I could only face him now and smile and say honeyed words! Tomorrow, perhaps, but not tonight. Even I have my limits. . . . He's coming back!"
One glance at the dim mirror and Leona Lalage flew down the corridor. The music of the band was like the sound of mocking demons in her ears. As she flew up the stairs she could see the blank windows of the Corner House staring dreadfully in. Then she locked the door behind her and flung herself headlong down on the bed. . . .
Only for a minute, a brief respite23; then she must go down to her guests again.
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1
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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2
detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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3
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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4
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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5
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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6
repels
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| v.击退( repel的第三人称单数 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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7
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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8
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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9
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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10
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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11
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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12
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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13
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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14
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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15
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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16
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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17
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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18
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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19
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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20
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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21
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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22
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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23
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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