Mrs. Orme

“ But she had been there under compulsion; and Orme shuddered to think what might have happened.
He stole a glance at her. She was leaning back on the seat. Her eyes were closed and her pose indicated complete relaxation, though it was evident from her breathing that she was not asleep. Orme marveled at her ability to push the nervous excitement of the evening away and snatch the brief chance of rest. ”

“ I do not know whether it may not be better that it should be so."
"I did not mean to call him a boy in that sense," said Lady Mason.
"But you might; now your son is quite a man."
"Poor Lucius! yes; in his position it is necessary. His little bit of property is already his own; and then he has no one like Sir Peregrine to look out for him. Necessity makes him manly."
"He will be marrying soon, I dare say," suggested Mrs. Orme.
"Oh, I hope not. Do you think that early marriages are good for young men?"
"Yes, I think so. Why not?" said Mrs. Orme, thinking of her own year of married happiness. ”

“ That the truth must be established at the trial Mrs. Orme felt all but confident. When alone she would feel quite sure on this point, though a doubt would always creep in on her when Lady Mason was with her. But now, as she sat alone, she could not realize the idea that the fear of a verdict against her friend should offer any valid reason against the marriage. The valid reasons, if there were such, must be looked for elsewhere. And were these other reasons so strong in their validity? Sir Peregrine desired the marriage; and so did Lady Mason herself, as regarded her own individual wishes. ”

“ You can't open a mystery as you do a book, Mary Louise; it has to be pried open. The very fact that this Mrs. Orme has so carefully concealed her hiding- place is assurance that she's the guilty party who abducted Alora. Being positive of that, it only remains to find her—not an impossibility, by any means—and then we shall have no difficulty in liberating her prisoner. ”

“ But Orme, knowing that much was at stake, did not for an instant trust his unwelcome companion. Alcatrante would cling to him like an Old Man of the Sea, awaiting the opportunity to get the better of him. Every wile would be employed; but publicity was no part of the game—Orme began really to believe that. ”

“ Anticipating the literary woman of Fleet Street, who is so different from her writings, Margaret Orme disconcerted him. Her beauty, and the very womanliness of her surroundings, with flowers, flowers everywhere, increased rather than diminished that portentous something—that pending revelation. She was what “The Flamen” would lead one to expect her to be—and this it was that startled him.
For the first time his glance caught the dull gleam of the odd ring she wore. .... ”

“ Mason,' Mrs. Orme said at last, as she gave him her hand.
'Good-night. I believe that in my madness I spoke to you to-night like a brute.'
'No, no. It was nothing. I did not think of it.'
'When you think of how it was with me, you will forgive me.'
She pressed his hand and again told him that she had not thought of it. It was nothing. And indeed it had been as nothing to her. There may be moments in a man's life when any words may be forgiven, even though they be spoken to a woman. ”

“ Orme's feet, and hid her face in the skirt of Mrs. Orme's dress.
"My friend—my friend!" said Lady Mason.
"Yes, I am your friend—indeed I am. But, dear Lady Mason—" And she endeavoured to think of words by which she might implore her to rise and compose herself.
"How is it you can bear with such a one as I am? How is it that you do not hate me for my guilt?"
"He does not hate us when we are guilty."
"I do not know. Sometimes I think that all will hate me,—here and hereafter—except you. Lucius will hate me, and how shall I bear that? Oh, Mrs. Orme, I wish he knew it!" ”

“ Her first words brought a glow to Orme’s heart: “I know that you are mistaken. No American has those papers.” Orme breathed his relief. Then she added the dubious word—“Unless——”
So she did doubt him after all. Well, he could not blame her. The scene in the room—the frankness of the Japanese, which could only be attributed to discomfiture; the empty envelope; the torn prospectuses on the floor, all these conditions pointed to the truth of the explanation she had heard.
On the other hand, there was his appearance on the lake, an hour or more after the episode on the campus. ”

“ Women who write can but rarely pass the simplest beauty-test, even by candlelight. That is an accepted dogma of journalism.
He now saw that a great bowl of roses was upon the table, that vases and pots of roses stood all about the room. Margaret Orme talked gayly, and she talked well. She smiled, and her smile was dazzling. She was happy—and natural.
He had anticipated something quite different. Of all the newspaper men who had sought it, Grainger Barton alone had won the consent of the authoress to an interview. ”

“ Orme explained to the girl. “It will be better not to take the Lake Shore Drive. They may be watching the Père Marquette.”
“You are right,” she said. “As a precaution, we’d better not pass the hotel.”
“How surprised I was to find you waiting for me there last evening,” mused Orme—“and how glad!”
“I never called on a man before,” she laughed.
“I had made up my mind only a little while before,” he continued, “to stay in Chicago till I found you.” ”

“ As regarded herself, she must be content to rest by her mother's side as a flower ungathered. That she could marry no man without the approval of her father and mother was a thing to her quite certain; but it was, at any rate, as certain that she could marry no man without her own approval. Felix Graham was beyond her reach. That verdict she herself pronounced, and to it she submitted. But Peregrine Orme was still more distant from her;—Peregrine Orme, or any other of the curled darlings who might come that way playing the part of a suitor. ”

“ I think it would be better for her, Miss Furnival, to be staying at home with me, than to be at The Cleeve."
"The kindness of Mrs. Orme must be a great support to her."
"And why should not my kindness be a support to her,—or rather my affection? We know from whom all these scandals come. My desire is to meet that man in a court of law and thrust these falsehoods down his throat."
"Ah! but you are a man."
"And therefore I would take the burden from her shoulders. But no; she will not trust to me. The truth, Miss Furnival, is this, that she has not yet learned to think of me as a man. ”

“ Orme stood at the back of Lady Mason's chair with her hand on Lady Mason's shoulder. "Shall I go now, dear?" said Mrs. Orme.
"No; stay a moment; not yet. Oh, Mrs. Orme!"
"You will find that you will be stronger and better able to bear it when it has been done."
"Stronger! Why should I wish to be stronger? How will he bear it?"
"It will be a blow to him, of course."
"It will strike him to the ground, Mrs. Orme. I shall have murdered him. I do not think that he will live when he knows that he is so disgraced."
"He is a man, and will bear it as a man should do. ”

“ In events such as she had that night faced with him, any other girl Orme had ever met would have shown moments of weakness, impatience, or fear. But to her belonged a calm which came from a clear perception of the comparative unimportance of petty incident. She was strong, not as a man is strong, but in the way a woman should be strong.
The blood went to his cheeks as he remembered how tenderly he had spoken to her in the boat, and how plain he had made his desire for her. What should he call his feeling? Did love 140 come to men as suddenly as this? ”

“ Working, eating, sleeping, marrying and given in marriage, bearing children and dying—was that all? “But growing, too,” said Orme to himself. “Growing, too.” Would this be the sum of his own life—that of a worker in the hive? It came to him with something of an inner pang that thus far his scheme of things had included little more. He wondered why he was now recognizing this scantiness, this lack in his life.
He came out of his revery to find himself again at the Madison Street corner. Again he seemed 11 to see that beautiful girl in the car, and to hear the music of her voice. ”

“ There was a moment of silence, then the Japanese continued: “We have reason to think that the envelope was for a time last night in the possession of an American, and that he substituted these circulars for whatever the envelope may have held.”
Orme’s impulse to declare himself was almost irresistible. A man whose instincts were less cautious would have thrown the table over and ranged himself beside the girl. Orme was not fearful, but he knew that the chances of a successful outcome would be lessened by exposure. ”

“ Even in that moment Orme caught a glimpse of a mirror in the farther room, and knew that the Japanese had seen his reflection.
At this instant another man appeared, close behind Arima. A bandage was wrapped around his head. It was Maku, who presumably had been in the apartment all the time.
Orme stood little chance of overcoming the two. Quick as cats, with muscles like steel springs and a great variety of scientific tricks of offense and defense, they could handle him as they willed in a direct encounter. If Orme had had a revolver, he would now have drawn it. ”

“ Orme found himself looking into the contorted faces of two Japanese.
Discovery was evidently the last thing the hold-up men desired, for they disappeared like a flash, diving through the shrubbery behind them. Orme, dazed and breathing hard, attempted no immediate pursuit. He stepped quickly to Alcatrante and helped him to his feet.
“I am not hurt,” said the South American. “When the man threw me to the ground, I feigned that I was stunned. It is wiser not to resist a thug, is it not so?” ”

“ Suddenly the girl exclaimed “Listen!”
Orme stopped the car. Somewhere from the distance came a faint hum. “Another car!” he muttered.
“Yes,” she said. “Oh, but I can do no more. 90 I am tired, Mr. Orme. We cannot catch that car, even if it does hold the man we want—and there is no way of being sure that it does.”
“If there is any place to leave you, I will go after him alone.” He had turned the car as he spoke and was sending it slowly southward. ”

“ He nodded. “A motor would be safer—if we can get one.” He gave her hand a secret pressure while the elevator-boy was opening the door for them, and as she passed before him she flashed upon him a look so filled with love and trust that the sudden thrill of his happiness almost stifled him.
At the La Salle Street entrance Orme had a fleeting glimpse of the watching Alcatrante. The South American, after one astonished stare, darted away in the dusk. He would follow them, of course, but Orme decided to say nothing about him to the girl. ”

“ Little Poritol echoed the salute and, turning, shot off down a side street, with ridiculously rapid movements of his short legs. Orme inferred that he was bound for the North Clark Street car line. Alcatrante continued along the drive.
When the South Americans separated, the shadow quickly came to life. He hesitated for an instant, as if in doubt which of the two to follow, then decided in favor of Alcatrante, who was moving in leisurely fashion toward the park entrance, his head bowed in thought. Orme found himself wondering what snaky plots were winding through that dark mind. ”

“ Such had been the question which Sir Peregrine Orme had asked himself over and over again, in these latter days, since Lady Mason had been staying at his house; and the purport of the question was this:—Why should he not make Lady Mason his wife?
I and my readers can probably see very many reasons why he should not do so; but then we are not in love with Lady Mason. Her charms and her sorrows,—her soft, sad smile and her more lovely tears have not operated upon us. We are not chivalrous old gentlemen, past seventy years of age, but still alive, keenly alive, to a strong feeling of romance. ”

“ Tall and beautiful, you say. Dark eyes and hair. A black touring-car. Hum! I know, three girls to whom the description applies. It might be—but you don’t wish me to mention the name. Well, you’ll have to think of something more distinctive.”
Orme thought in vain. The image of the girl was ever in his mind, but describe her he could not. At last he said: “The girl I mean lives in one of the suburbs. She has a father who has lately undergone a slight operation. He is, I think, a man who is involved in negotiations with other countries.” ”

“ But this game is a serious game, Mr. Orme. You do not appear to understand. When one is working for his country, many strange things are justified.”
“Even murder?”
“Even murder—sometimes.”
Orme had an inspiration. “Thank you for the truth, Senhor,” he said. “I, too, am working for my country. If you continue to follow us, I shall assume that you have murder in your mind, and I shall act accordingly.”
Alcatrante smiled coolly.
“This is fair warning,” continued Orme.
He glanced to the drug store and saw the girl coming out of the telephone-booth. ”

“ Dawn, I ask you in the name of all that is reasoning, and for the sake of your happiness and mine, to divorce this man Peter Orme—this man who for almost ten years has not been your husband—who never can be your husband. I ask you to do something which will bring suffering to no one, and which will mean happiness to many. Let me make you happy—you were born to be happy—you who can laugh like a girl in spite of your woman’s sorrows—”
But I sank into a chair and hid my face in my hands so that I might be spared the beauty and the tenderness of his eyes. ”