Joseph Hergesheimer

“ However, Gannon knew this—Anton von Kammer was not a responsibility to be lightly assumed. He wondered, recalling the other's coldly deliberate being, at the impatience described by Fenella Lovel. Von Kammer was not the type of man to be swept away by passion; marriage, for such individuals, except under the most exceptional material conditions, was a subject for gibing.
Gannon's thoughts returned mechanically to the pink pearl swinging out from Fenella's throat, to the diamonds and platinum, the loops of sapphires. ”

“ He had found La Vasca, the pond under the blackened walls of the Fortezza Basso, by chance while driving through the city in a vain endeavor to leave behind him the dark specter of a growing dread. The park was so withdrawn from the stir of the Tornabuoni, so free from the unexpected noises that set his tense nerves shuddering, that, as he had grown worse, he had returned again and again to sit on the deserted benches and measure his flagging vitality. ”

“ If he has set his attention on any woman you care for, first discover whether she is absolutely indispensable; and if she is kill him very suddenly. Personally I should surrender her at once."
A sudden vision of the square, long head—not unlike a horse—of the eyes like polished stones, convinced Heath Gannon that the other's flamboyant words were not without adequate foundation. It surprised him that he had not been able to recognize the cold brutality of Von Kammer's countenance. ”

“ She says I should have a protector—someone to look after my property. Anton's manner has entirely captivated her. He has secrets with the Reverend Lemuel too—digs him in the ribs; and the old boy gets perfectly red."
"What is it that I can do? " Heath Gannon asked. "What can I tell you?"
"What a man is able—what you think of Anton von Kammer—whether he's nice, and—and—— I suppose that if I loved him in the way one reads in books nothing else would matter; but I am worried—sometimes he has an expression I can't understand; he shuts his mouth in a dark line and his eyes are like ice.... ”

“ Heath Gannon's seat was beside the banker. On his right sat a man with a finely modeled face, the color of dull yellow wax, a small, carefully tended beard and mustache, and black eyes without a glint of light or kindling of feeling. He wore black gloves and gambled with gold. With him was a slender woman in a medieval gown, with ornaments of heavy carved silver, and a still face as intense as a white flame. Beyond sat a middle-aged Italian, parsimoniously playing small amounts ”

“ The broad, expressionless face of the orator appeared suddenly over the side of the carriage.
"Fenella," he said solemnly, "you are aware that, though it is necessary for you to mingle with the throng in the cause, your grandmamma desires you to hold no protracted converse with strangers. Brother!" He saluted Heath Gannon. "A fellow countryman, I perceive. I insinuate nothing; it is necessary to exercise precautions with young ladies in this iniquitous bourne. The horsemen in light blue are a froward lot. Their ellipses are shattered."
Fenella Lovel descended from the carriage. ”

“ On the afternoon following, driving past the vast corner of the Strozzi Palace into the Tornabuoni, he saw a bright young figure suddenly stand and wave in Doney's window; and Fenella Lovel came out.
"Please!" she urged. "Tea and cakes. It will do you worlds of good; and I want to talk to you seriously. I was dreadfully afraid you'd leave, or something, and I shouldn't see you again. Grandmother is in bed with sciatica, there's no meeting this afternoon, and the Reverend Lemuel disappeared directly after lunch—thank heaven!" ”

“ The other nodded ponderously.
"Perhaps, then, you have noticed that Freiherr von Kammer has become interested in her? Or have you missed that in the midst of your—your struggle?"
"I have observed and considered him carefully. He is, for the scion of an ancient and noble race, singularly commanding of respect. He impresses me—all of us, in fact—most deeply."
"He is a damned rascal!" Heath Gannon pronounced suddenly and clearly. "A hired cutthroat! He is not fit to touch Fenella Lovel's fingers."
The Reverend Lemuel Zwiller's eyes narrowed to a mere glint of vision ”

“ I'm frightfully tired! Could I sit a moment in your carriage? Thanks." She settled at his side, spilling the tracts on the floor. "They come off," she explained, exhibiting palms stained by the crude coloring of the paper. Her densely black hair, cut across her eyebrows, gave her eyes an astonishing blueness; her mouth, like pale coral, was serious, as befitted the young.
"Is the champion of the flawless oval your parent?" he asked out of his profound indifference.
"He is not!" she retorted with spirit. "That's the Reverend Lemuel Zwiller, and I'm Fenella Lovel ”

“ Heath Gannon heard a stir, a faint gasp, behind him, and, turning, saw Fenella Lovel and the Freiherr von Kammer. The girl came swiftly up to Gannon and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"What is it?" she demanded. "It will hurt you to get excited." ”

“ What can your friends or family be about?"
"They're not about; that is, they don't exist."
"But they must! Even if all your family are dead there should be other—friends. Everybody has them."
"Not among——" He stopped abruptly. Then he added: "It's a good job I have neither; they'd fuss and try to take me to Switzerland."
She was about to reply to this, when the lush voice of the orator called:
"Fenella! Your grandmamma is ready to depart."
Heath Gannon thought he could distinguish on the girl's countenance the faintest trace of what might have been called "a nose." ”

“ And a gambler——"
"Called the Fifth Ace."
"I suppose you have it up your sleeve."
"No," he replied; "I was named that on account of good luck. It's rather a joke with the men who know me; I'm quite honest. You see, I gamble because I like it; I like to take a chance—the longer, the better; and there's no chance, no excitement, if you stack the game."
"It doesn't sound so wicked when you've explained it," she told him seriously, "but just human." ”

“ You will work yourself and others an injury."
Heath Gannon was suddenly overcome by the conviction of the uselessness of his protest. The man before him was as smoothly noncommittal as a blank wall. The necessity that had brought Gannon there amplified into a more complicated possibility.
"You are right," he said slowly, erect; "you have a great deal more perception than I thought. All this you already knew. You are probably far more familiar with Von Kammer than myself, and it has made no difference. You are selling Miss Lovel—Von Kammer is going to divide with you! ... ”

“ Most men are a large want column.
"The Reverend Lemuel asked me what I knew about you, but I didn't tell him you were a gambler. People who don't know them are prejudiced, and he's a narrow old hairpin anyway." ”

“ Gannon contributed little to the conversation that followed, but intently followed von Kammer's deliberate gestures, listened to his slow, courteous periods. The latter's personality evaded him; his cosmopolitan exterior was a complete mask for the man within. Such details as Heath Gannon noted were purely negative. ”

“ The Reverend Lemuel encourages it in a solemn way and grandmother echoes whatever he thinks. They're not much of a pair to ask about love. He's a Freiherr," she added, at a tangent, "named Von Kammer, and brings me bouquets like pinwheels, tied with wire."
Heath Gannon was vaguely aware of the appeal in her voice, of her precarious isolation on the Continent with the fatuous, inattentive elder woman and the orator with the honeyed voice. Something, he realized, should be done at once for her protection ”

“ The room and the conversation grew oppressive, and he rose in a momentary panic of nerves.
"Freiherr von Kammer will see you to your carriage," the girl replied to his farewell. "I must fly to grandmother."
Von Kammer had walked to the Via San Gallo and accepted Gannon's invitation to share his cab. When they had started the former said:
"Your American girls are charming if Miss Lovel is a fair example."
"Miss Lovel is not an example," Gannon returned; "she is unique and would be exceptional in any country." ”

“ And she held out the tracts. A pink one was called, Lemuel Zwiller, the Man. An orange, A Diagram of the True Ellipse; or Zwillerism Explicated. And a gray, Drops of Dew from Zwiller's Discourses.
"Thank you," Heath Gannon acknowledged in his spent voice. An instant pity marked the girl's mobile face.
"You must be dreadfully ill," she added. "And you're American too. You won't care for those tracts—wait, I think I have another: Nearing the Shore With Lemuel Zwiller." ”