The Closing Net. Henry Cottrell Rowland

      "Is that all, Frank?" she asked.

      "Isn't it enough?" I retorted. "And isn't it all true?"

      "It may be true, to some extent," she answered slowly, "but it is not enough."

      "It may not be enough for you, Edith," I cried, "because you are a sort of angel on earth. But it is enough for me—and probably would be for John, if he were to look at it in this light."

      "John understands," said Edith, "he is loyal to the core—and besides, he is your half-brother, and it is his duty."

      "It is his duty not to sacrifice you," said I, "and mine, too. No, Edith, I won't have it. My word is passed to keep straight and I'll stick to it. But not here. I am going away."

      "With this woman?" she asked.

      "With or without her. What does it matter? That is not the question."

      "How long do you think you would keep your word to remain honest if you were with her, Frank?" Her eyes looked steadily into mine. "No; if you go back to her, I would prefer to absolve you from your promise. It is better to be dishonest to the world, I think, than untrue to yourself. That is why I am so sure of you; because, whatever you may have done, I know that you have always been right with yourself. But you could not be so if ​you were to slip now. And with such a woman it would be almost inevitable. Listen to me, Frank. I thought of all of this when I told John to bring you here. I weighed the pros and cons for all of us. If I had found you a different sort of person I might have lost my courage; but I feel instinctively your resolution and your strength. Since you are what you are I have no fear of the result to any of us. John and I are not dependent on the dictates of Society. If such friends as we have cannot accept our decision we do not want to keep them."

      "It's asking too much——" I muttered.

      Edith laid her hand upon my wrist.

      "We are asking nothing of anybody, Frank. We have merely made our choice, that is all."

      What was I to say? She was stronger than I—ten thousand million times. I mumbled back the same old argument, and she listened with her twisted smile, saying a warm word here and there, for which I found no answer. It was like a chunk of ice trying to argue the point with the sun. Finally I gave it up and raised her hand to my lips.

      "I'll talk a bit to John," I muttered, and shambled out.

      John was on the terrace at breakfast. His eyes were puffy, as he looked up to wish me good-morning, and I noticed that his hand was shaky as he poured his coffee.

      I told him of my talk with Edith. He listened, looking rather bored.

      "Oh, well," said he, "I understand, of course, how you feel about it all. Why can't we make some sort of a compromise? You needn't stop here at ​the house if you're afraid that it might reflect on Edith, but there's no need for you to go away. Give this crook lady to understand that she's got to leave you alone, then find yourself diggings up near the office and pitch into our motor business. There's a lot to be done in the way of introducing the car—advertising and all that. Besides, I've got quite a list of possible clients, and you will be busy taking them out over the road. Let's go ahead with our business and let the social part slide."

      There was a certain amount of sense in this. As long as I kept away from the house, it didn't seem as if I could do them any special harm. So, for the time being, we decided to let it go at that.

      I found myself quarters on a side street near the office and started in to work. Rather to my surprise, John proved himself a mighty good hustler for trade. He had a big acquaintance, both resident and amongst visiting Americans, and in the course of the first six weeks we booked quite a number of orders. Our car was a good one, silent as a watch, easy to handle, and constructed a bit on the American plan with a high clearance and light for the size and power, which made it easy on tires. I joined the Automobile Club and made quite a lot of useful acquaintances.

      I wrote to Léontine, telling her, briefly, of the course I'd taken, and asking her to make good in what she said about doing her part. She never answered the note, but I'll be hanged if she didn't come swelling into the office one day with Kharkoff and make him buy a car. John was tremendously tickled over this.

      ​Now and again I saw Edith, but I kept away from the house. She was herself a very good driver and duly certificated in Paris. Then one day John told me that Miss Dalghren was anxious to learn to drive, and asked me to give her a few early-morning lessons in a little voiturette which we had taken in trade and used for knocking about on our business. So I took the girl out in the Bois before business hours in the morning, and twice we met Léontine riding with Kharkoff. The face of the Polish girl was not as amiable as I would have liked to see it, and knowing something of the wild nature of women of her sort, I told Miss Dalghren that, if she didn't mind, we would continue our lessons late in the afternoon, as I had missed one or two early clients, and later in the day I could get John to relieve me at the office while I was gone. She agreed, and the very next day we ran into Léontine and Kharkoff again at about six in the evening.

      We were rounding the corner of a narrow little route and we couldn't have been in a worse position, for I was leaning over with my face so close to hers that a few tendrils of her yellow hair were against my cheek, the car being old and a noisy little beast. Miss Dalghren turned to me with a smile, just as Léontine and Kharkoff, walking their horses, came upon us. As I looked up I caught a glimpse of Léontine's face. It had gone as black as a thunder-cloud. She raised her crop and brought it down with a vicious cut on the ribs of her hunter, which sprang ahead, almost striking the car.

      ​They swept past and Miss Dalghren looked at me, her eyes big with surprise.

      "Did you see that?" she cried. "I wonder why she did it? And her face was furious."

      "Probably the Prince said something nice about you," I answered.

      The girl did not answer, and I guessed that she was thinking of the night that Leontine had sat next us in the box. A little later she turned and gave me a look which I pretended not to see. For my part, I was troubled, and when we got back I said:

      "You drive well enough now to take your examination. I'll go down to the prefecture and make an engagement for you."

      "Very well," she answered quietly, but there was a tone to her voice that made me uneasy.

      It was about a week later that John came into the office one morning looking so badly that I thought he must have been making a night of it. He shot me a quick look, then said, shortly:

      "Come into the private office, Frank, I want to talk to you."

      I followed him in. John turned to me with a haggard face.

      "Frank," said he, "here's the devil to pay. Mary Dalghren's pearls have been stolen."

      My friend, I have had some hard jolts at different times in my busy life. But never did I get such a knock-out blow as that. I could feel the blood sucking out of my face and the pit of my stomach seemed to melt. John's expression was pretty bad, but my own must have been worse, for he said, sharply: "What's the matter with you?"

      ​I pulled myself together. My throat and mouth felt dry and I hated to speak. John gave me another curious look and his face hardened a trifle. He pulled out his cigarette-case and lit a cigarette in a sullen sort of way. Something in his expression stiffened my back.

      "Tell me the particulars," I said.

      "There ain't much to tell," he answered. "Mary went to a big dinner at the Billings' last night. They are Americans—barrels of money, and mighty little else. Mary teaches the daughters music. She wore her pearls. After your visit showed me how easy it was for a cracksman to walk in and out of the house, I bought a small, new-model American safe, which is in my room. Both Mary and Edith keep their jewels in it. But last night I was playing a little baccarat at the Automobile Club and didn't get in till three. Edith has the combination, but she was asleep when Mary got home, and not wishing to disturb her, Mary locked up her pearls