54-40 or Fight

by Emerson Hough

  CHAPTER VI

  THE BOUDOIR OF THE BARONESS

  A woman's counsel brought us first to woe.--_Dryden_.

  "Wait!" she said. "We shall have candles." She clapped her handssharply, and again there entered the silent old serving-woman, who,obedient to a gesture, proceeded to light additional candles in theprism stands and sconces. The apartment was now distinct in all itsdetails under this additional flood of light. Decently as I might Ilooked about. I was forced to stifle the exclamation of surprise whichrose to my lips.

  We were plain folk enough in Washington at that time. The ceremoniousdays of our first presidents had passed for the democratic time ofJefferson and Jackson; and even under Mr. Van Buren there had beenlittle change from the simplicity which was somewhat our boast.Washington itself was at that time scarcely more than an overgrownhamlet, not in the least to be compared to the cosmopolitan centerswhich made the capitals of the Old World. Formality and stateliness of acertain sort we had, but of luxury we knew little. There was at thattime, as I well knew, no state apartment in the city which in sheersplendor could for a moment compare with this secret abode of a womanpractically unknown. Here certainly was European luxury transferred toour shores. This in simple Washington, with its vast white unfinishedcapitol, its piecemeal miles of mixed residences, boarding-houses,hotels, restaurants, and hovels! I fancied stern Andrew Jackson or plainJohn Calhoun here!

  The furniture I discovered to be exquisite in detail, of rosewood andmahogany, with many brass chasings and carvings, after the fashion ofthe Empire, and here and there florid ornamentation following that ofthe court of the earlier Louis. Fanciful little clocks with carvedscrolls stood about; Cupid tapestries had replaced the original tawdrycoverings of these common walls, and what had once been a dingyfireplace was now faced with embossed tiles never made in America. Therewere paintings in oil here and there, done by master hands, as one couldtell. The curtained windows spoke eloquently of secrecy. Here and therea divan and couch showed elaborate care in comfort. Beyond alace-screened grille I saw an alcove--doubtless cut through the originalpartition wall between two of these humble houses--and within thisstood a high tester bed, its heavy mahogany posts beautifully carved,the couch itself piled deep with foundations of I know not what of downand spread most daintily with a coverlid of amber satin, whose edgesfringed out almost to the floor. At the other extremity, screened off asin a distinct apartment, there stood a smaller couch, a Napoleon bed,with carved ends, furnished more simply but with equal richness.Everywhere was the air not only of comfort, but of ease and luxury,elegance and sensuousness contending. I needed no lesson to tell me thatthis was not an ordinary apartment, nor occupied by an ordinary owner.

  One resented the liberties England took in establishing this manner ofmenage in our simple city, and arrogantly taking for granted ourignorance regarding it; but none the less one was forced to commend thethoroughness shown. The ceilings, of course, remained low, but there wasvisible no trace of the original architecture, so cunningly had theinterior been treated. As I have said, the dividing partitions had allbeen removed, so that the long interior practically was open, save asthe apartments were separated by curtains or grilles. The floors werecarpeted thick and deep. Silence reigned here. There remained no traceof the clumsy comfort which had sufficed the early builder. Here was nolonger a series of modest homes, but a boudoir which might have beenthe gilded cage of some favorite of an ancient court. The breath andflavor of this suspicion floated in every drapery, swam in the faintperfume which filled the place. My first impression was that ofsurprise; my second, as I have said, a feeling of resentment at thepresumption which installed all this in our capital of Washington.

  I presume my thought may have been reflected in some manner in my face.I heard a gentle laugh, and turned about. She sat there in a greatcarved chair, smiling, her white arms stretched out on the rails, thefingers just gently curving. There was no apology for her situation, notrace of alarm or shame or unreadiness. It was quite obvious she wasmerely amused. I was in no way ready to ratify the rumors I had heardregarding her.

  She had thrown back over the rail of the chair the rich cloak whichcovered her in the carriage, and sat now in the full light, in thesplendor of satin and lace and gems, her arms bare, her throat andshoulders white and bare, her figure recognized graciously by every lineof a superb gowning such as we had not yet learned on this side of thesea. Never had I seen, and never since have I seen, a more splendidinstance of what beauty of woman may be.

  She did not speak at first, but sat and smiled, studying, I presume, tofind what stuff I was made of. Seeing this, I pulled myself togetherand proceeded briskly to my business.

  "My employer will find me late, I fear, my dear baroness," I began.

  "Better late than wholly unsuccessful," she rejoined, still smiling."Tell me, my friend, suppose you had come hither and knocked at mydoor?"

  "Perhaps I might not have been so clumsy," I essayed.

  "Confess it!" she smiled. "Had you come here and seen the exterior only,you would have felt yourself part of a great mistake. You would havegone away."

  "Perhaps not," I argued. "I have much confidence in my chief'sacquaintance with his own purposes and his own facts. Yet I confess Ishould not have sought madam the baroness in this neighborhood. IfEngland provides us so beautiful a picture, why could she not afford aframe more suitable? Why is England so secret with us?"

  She only smiled, showing two rows of exceedingly even white teeth. Shewas perfect mistress of herself. In years she was not my equal, yet Icould see that at the time I did scarcely more than amuse her.

  "Be seated, pray," she said at last. "Let us talk over this matter."

  Obedient to her gesture, I dropped into a chair opposite to her, sheherself not varying her posture and still regarding me with the laughin her half-closed eyes.

  "What do you think of my little place?" she asked finally.

  "Two things, Madam," said I, half sternly. "If it belonged to a man, andto a minister plenipotentiary, I should not approve it. If it belongedto a lady of means and a desire to see the lands of this little world, Ishould approve it very much."

  She looked at me with eyes slightly narrowed, but no trace ofperturbation crossed her face. I saw it was no ordinary woman with whomwe had to do.

  "But," I went on, "in any case and at all events, I should say that thebird confined in such a cage, where secrecy is so imperative, would attimes find weariness--would, in fact, wish escape to other employment.You, Madam"--I looked at her directly--"are a woman of so much intellectthat you could not be content merely to live."

  "No," she said, "I would not be content merely to live."

  "Precisely. Therefore, since to make life worth the living there must beoccasionally a trifle of spice, a bit of adventure, either for man orwoman, I suggest to you, as something offering amusement, this littlejourney with me to-night to meet my chief. You have his message. I amhis messenger, and, believe me, quite at your service in any way you maysuggest. Let us be frank. If you are agent, so am I. See; I have comeinto your camp. Dare you not come into ours? Come; it is an adventure tosee a tall, thin old man in a dressing-gown and a red woolen nightcap.So you will find my chief; and in apartments much different from these."

  She took up the missive with its broken seal. "So your chief, as youcall him, asks me to come to him, at midnight, with you, a stranger?"

  "Do you not believe in charms and in luck, in evil and good fortune,Madam?" I asked her. "Now, it is well to be lucky. In ordinarycircumstances, as you say, I could not have got past yonder door. Yethere I am. What does it augur, Madam?"

  "But it is night!"

  "Precisely. Could you go to the office of a United States senator andpossible cabinet minister in broad daylight and that fact not be known?Could he come to your apartments in broad daylight and that fact not beknown? What would 'that man Pakenham' suspect in either case? Believeme, my master is wise. I do not know his reason, but he knows it, and heh
as planned best to gain his purpose, whatever it may be. Reason mustteach you, Madam, that night, this night, this hour, is the only time inwhich this visit could be made. Naturally, it would be impossible forhim to come here. If you go to him, he will--ah, he will reverence you,as I do, Madam. Great necessity sets aside conventions, sets asideeverything. Come, then!"

  But still she only sat and smiled at me. I felt that purple and amberglow, the emanation of her personality, of her senses, creeping aroundme again as she leaned forward finally, her parted red-bowed lips againdisclosing her delicate white teeth. I saw the little heave of herbosom, whether in laughter or emotion I could not tell. I was young.Resenting the spell which I felt coming upon me, all I could do was toreiterate my demand for haste. She was not in the least impressed bythis.

  "Come!" she said. "I am pleased with these Americans. Yes, I am notdispleased with this little adventure."

  I rose impatiently, and walked apart in the room. "You can not evade me,Madam, so easily as you did the Mexican gentleman who followed you. Youhave him in the net also? Is not the net full enough?"

  "Never!" she said, her head swaying slowly from side to side, her faceinscrutable. "Am I not a woman? Ah, am I not?"

  "Madam," said I, whirling upon her, "let me, at least, alone. I am toosmall game for you. I am but a messenger. Time passes. Let us arrive atour business."

  "What would you do if I refused to go with you?" she asked, stillsmiling at me. She was waiting for the spell of these surroundings, thespirit of this place, to do their work with me, perhaps; was willing totake her time with charm of eye and arm and hair and curved fingers,which did not openly invite and did not covertly repel. But I saw thather attitude toward me held no more than that of bird of prey and somelittle creature well within its power. It made me angry to be so rated.

  "You ask me what I should do?" I retorted savagely. "I shall tell youfirst what I _will_ do if you continue your refusal. I will _take_ youwith me, and so keep my agreement with my chief. Keep away from the bellrope! Remain silent! Do not move! You should go if I had to carry youthere in a sack--because that is my errand!"

  "Oh, listen at him threaten!" she laughed still. "And he despises mypoor little castle here in the side street, where half the time I am solonely! What would Monsieur do if Monsieur were in my place--and if Iwere in Monsieur's place? But, bah! you would not have me following_you_ in the first hour we met, boy!"

  I flushed again hotly at this last word. "Madam may discontinue thethought of my boyhood; I am older than she. But if you ask me what Iwould do with a woman if I followed her, or if she followed me, then Ishall tell you. If I owned this place and all in it, I would tear downevery picture from these walls, every silken cover from yonder couches!I would rip out these walls and put back the ones that once were here!You, Madam, should be taken out of luxury and daintiness--"

  "Go on!" She clapped her hands, for the first time kindling, anddropping her annoying air of patronizing me. "Go on! I like you now.Tell me what Americans do with women that they love! I have heard theyare savages."

  "A house of logs far out in the countries that I know would do for you,Madam!" I went on hotly. "You should forget the touch of silk and lace.No neighbor you should know until I was willing. Any man who followedyou should meet _me_. Until you loved me all you could, and said so, andproved it, I would wring your neck with my hands, if necessary, untilyou loved me!"

  "Excellent! What then?"

  "Then, Madam the Baroness, I would in turn build you a palace, one oflogs, and would make you a most excellent couch of the husks of corn.You should cook at my fireplace, and for _me!_"

  She smiled slowly past me, at me. "Pray, be seated," she said. "Youinterest me."

  "It is late," I reiterated. "Come! Must I do some of these things--forceyou into obedience--carry you away in a sack? My master can not wait."

  "Don Yturrio of Mexico, on the other hand," she mused, "promised me notviolence, but more jewels. Idiot!"

  "Indeed!" I rejoined, in contempt. "An American savage would give youbut one gown, and that of your own weave; you could make it up as youliked. But come, now; I have no more time to lose."

  "Ah, also, idiot!" she murmured. "Do you not see that I must reclothemyself before I could go with you--that is to say, if I choose to gowith you? Now, as I was saying, my ardent Mexican promises thus and so.My lord of England--ah, well, they may be pardoned. Suppose I mightlisten to such suits--might there not be some life for me--some lifewith events? On the other hand, what of interest could America offer?"

  "I have told you what life America could give you."

  "I imagined men were but men, wherever found," she went on; "but whatyou say interests me, I declare to you again. A woman is a woman, too, Ifancy. She always wants one thing--to be all the world to one man."

  "Quite true," I answered. "Better that than part of the world to one--ortwo? And the opposite of it is yet more true. When a woman is all theworld to a man, she despises him."

  "But yes, I should like that experience of being a cook in a cabin, andbeing bruised and broken and choked!" She smiled, lazily extending herflawless arms and looking down at them, at all of her splendid figure,as though in interested examination. "I am alone so much--so bored!" shewent on. "And Sir Richard Pakenham is so very, very fat. Ah, God! Youcan not guess how fat he is. But you, you are not fat." She looked meover critically, to my great uneasiness.

  "All the more reason for doing as I have suggested, Madam; for Mr.Calhoun is not even so fat as I am. This little interview with my chief,I doubt not, will prove of interest. Indeed"--I went on seriously andintently--"I venture to say this much without presuming on my station:the talk which you will have with my chief to-night will show you thingsyou have never known, give you an interest in living which perhaps youhave not felt. If I am not mistaken, you will find much in commonbetween you and my master. I speak not to the agent of England, but tothe lady Helena von Ritz."

  "He is old," she went on. "He is very old. His face is thin andbloodless and fleshless. He is old."

  "Madam," I said, "his mind is young, his purpose young, his ambitionyoung; and his country is young. Is not the youth of all these thingsstill your own?"

  She made no answer, but sat musing, drumming lightly on the chair arm.I was reaching for her cloak. Then at once I caught a glimpse of herstockinged foot, the toe of which slightly protruded from beneath herball gown. She saw the glance and laughed.

  "Poor feet," she said. "Ah, _mes pauvres pieds la_! You would like tosee them bruised by the hard going in some heathen country? See you haveno carriage, and mine is gone. I have not even a pair of shoes. Go lookunder the bed beyond."

  I obeyed her gladly enough. Under the fringe of the satin counterpane Ifound a box of boots, slippers, all manner of footwear, daintily andneatly arranged. Taking out a pair to my fancy, I carried them out andknelt before her.

  "Then, Madam," said I, "since you insist on this, I shall choose.America is not Europe. Our feet here have rougher going and must be shodfor it. Allow me!"

  Without the least hesitation in the world, or the least immodesty, shehalf protruded the foot which still retained its slipper. As I removedthis latter, through some gay impulse, whose nature I did not pause toanalyze, I half mechanically thrust it into the side pocket of my coat.

  "This shall be security," said I, "that what you speak with my mastershall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

  There was a curious deeper red in her cheek. I saw her bosom beat thefaster rhythm.

  "Quite agreed!" she answered. But she motioned me away, taking the stoutboot in her own hand and turning aside as she fastened it. She lookedover her shoulder at me now and again while thus engaged.

  "Tell me," she said gently, "what security do _I_ have? You come, by myinvitation, it is true, but none the less an intrusion, into myapartments. You demand of me something which no man has a right todemand. Because I am disposed to be gracious, and because I am muchdisposed to be _ennuy
e_, and because Mr. Pakenham is fat, I am willingto take into consideration what you ask. I have never seen a thingentleman in a woolen nightcap, and I am curious. But no gentleman playsgames with ladies in which the dice are loaded for himself. Come, whatsecurity shall _I_ have?"

  I did not pretend to understand her. Perhaps, after all, we all had beenmisinformed regarding her? I could not tell. But her spirit of_camaraderie_, her good fellowship, her courage, quite aside from herpersonal charm, had now begun to impress me.

  "Madam," said I, feeling in my pocket; "no heathen has much of thisworld's goods. All my possessions would not furnish one of these rooms.I can not offer gems, as does Senor Yturrio--but, would this be ofservice--until to-morrow? That will leave him and me with a slippereach. It is with reluctance I pledge to return mine!"

  By chance I had felt in my pocket a little object which I had placedthere that very day for quite another purpose. It was only a littletrinket of Indian manufacture, which I had intended to give Elisabeththat very evening; a sort of cloak clasp, originally made as an Indianblanket fastening, with two round discs ground out of shells andconnected by beaded thongs. I had got it among the tribes of the farupper plains, who doubtless obtained the shells, in their strange savagebarter, in some way from the tribes of Florida or Texas, who sometimestrafficked in shells which found their way as far north as theSaskatchewan. The trinket was curious, though of small value. Thebaroness looked at it with interest.

  "How it reminds me of this heathen country!" she said. "Is this all thatyour art can do in jewelry? Yet it _is_ beautiful. Come, will you notgive it to me?"

  "Until to-morrow, Madam."

  "No longer?"

  "I can not promise it longer. I must, unfortunately, have it back when Isend a messenger--I shall hardly come myself, Madam."

  "Ah!" she scoffed. "Then it belongs to another woman?"

  "Yes, it is promised to another."

  "Then this is to be the last time we meet?"

  "I do not doubt it."

  "Are you not sorry?"

  "Naturally, Madam!"

  She sighed, laughing as she did so. Yet I could not evade seeing thecurious color on her cheek, the rise and fall of the laces over herbosom. Utterly self-possessed, satisfied with life as it had come toher, without illusion as to life, absorbed in the great game of livingand adventuring--so I should have described her. Then why should herheart beat one stroke the faster now? I dismissed that question, andrebuked my eyes, which I found continually turning toward her.

  She motioned to a little table near by. "Put the slipper there," shesaid. "Your little neck clasp, also." Again I obeyed her.

  "Stand there!" she said, motioning to the opposite side of the table;and I did so. "Now," said she, looking at me gravely, "I am going withyou to see this man whom you call your chief--this old and ugly man,thin and weazened, with no blood in him, and a woolen nightcap which isperhaps red. I shall not tell you whether I go of my own wish or becauseyou wish it. But I need soberly to tell you this: secrecy is asnecessary for me as for you. The favor may mean as much on one side ason the other--I shall not tell you why. But we shall play fair until,as you say, perhaps to-morrow. After that--"

  "After that, on guard!"

  "Very well, on guard! Suppose I do not like this other woman?"

  "Madam, you could not help it. All the world loves her."

  "Do you?"

  "With my life."

  "How devoted! Very well, _on guard_, then!"

  She took up the Indian bauble, turning to examine it at the nearestcandle sconce, even as I thrust the dainty little slipper of white satinagain into the pocket of my coat. I was uncomfortable. I wished thistalk of Elisabeth had not come up. I liked very little to leaveElisabeth's property in another's hands. Dissatisfied, I turned from thetable, not noticing for more than an instant a little crumpled roll ofpaper which, as I was vaguely conscious, now appeared on its smoothmarquetry top.

  "But see," she said; "you are just like a man, after all, and anunmarried man at that! I can not go through the streets in this costume.Excuse me for a moment."

  She was off on the instant into the alcove where the great amber-coveredbed stood. She drew the curtains. I heard her humming to herself as shepassed to and fro, saw the flare of a light as it rose beyond. Once ortwice she thrust a laughing face between the curtains, held tighttogether with her hands, as she asked me some question, mocking me,still amused--yet still, as I thought, more enigmatic than before.

  "Madam," I said at last, "I would I might dwell here for ever, but--youare slow! The night passes. Come. My master will be waiting. He is ill;I fear he can not sleep. I know how intent he is on meeting you. I begyou to oblige an old, a dying man!"

  "And you, Monsieur," she mocked at me from beyond the curtain, "areintent only on getting rid of me. Are you not adventurer enough toforget that other woman for one night?"

  In her hands--those of a mysterious foreign woman--I had placed thislittle trinket which I had got among the western tribes for Elisabeth--awoman of my own people--the woman to whom my pledge had been given, notfor return on any morrow. I made no answer, excepting to walk up anddown the floor.

  At last she came out from between the curtains, garbed more suitably forthe errand which was now before us. A long, dark cloak covered hershoulders. On her head there rested a dainty up-flared bonnet, whosejetted edges shone in the candle light as she moved toward me. She wasexquisite in every detail, beautiful as mind of man could wish; thatmuch was sure, must be admitted by any man. I dared not look at her. Icalled to mind the taunt of those old men, that I was young! There wasin my soul vast relief that she was not delaying me here longer in thisplace of spells--that in this almost providential way my errand had metsuccess.

  She paused for an instant, drawing on a pair of the short gloves of themode then correct. "Do you know why I am to go on this heathen errand?"she demanded. I shook my head.

  "Mr. Calhoun wishes to know whether he shall go to the cabinet of yourman Tyler over there in that barn you call your White House. I supposeMr. Calhoun wishes to know how he can serve Mr. Tyler?"

  I laughed at this. "Serve him!" I exclaimed. "Rather say _lead_ him,_tell_ him, _command_ him!"

  "Yes," she nodded. I began to see another and graver side of her nature."Yes, it is of course Texas."

  I did not see fit to make answer to this.

  "If your master, as you call him, takes the portfolio with Tyler, it isto annex Texas," she repeated sharply. "Is not that true?"

  Still I would not answer. "Come!" I said.

  "And he asks me to come to him so that he may decide--"

  This awoke me. "No man decides for John Calhoun, Madam," I said. "Youmay advance facts, but _he_ will decide." Still she went on.

  "And Texas not annexed is a menace. Without her, you heathen peoplewould not present a solid front, would you?"

  "Madam has had much to do with affairs of state," I said.

  She went on as though I had not spoken:

  "And if you were divided in your southern section, England would haveall the greater chance. England, you know, says she wishes slaveryabolished. She says that--"

  "England _says_ many things!" I ventured.

  "The hypocrite of the nations!" flashed out this singular woman at mesuddenly. "As though diplomacy need be hypocrisy! Thus, to-night SirRichard of England forgets his place, his protestations. He does noteven know that Mexico has forgotten its duty also. Sir, you were not atour little ball, so you could not see that very fat Sir Richard payinghis bored _devoirs_ to Dona Lucrezia! So I am left alone, and would bebored, but for you. In return--a slight jest on Sir Richard to-night!--Iwill teach him that no fat gentleman should pay even bored attentions toa lady who soon will be fat, when his obvious duty should call himotherwhere! Bah! 'tis as though I myself were fat; which is not true."

  "You go too deep for me, Madam," I said. "I am but a simple messenger."At the same time, I saw how admirably things were shaping for us all. Awoman's jealo
usy was with us, and so a woman's whim!

  "There you have the measure of England's sincerity," she went on, withcontempt. "England is selfish, that is all. Do you not suppose I havesomething to do besides feeding a canary? To read, to study--that is mypleasure. I know your politics here in America. Suppose you invadeTexas, as the threat is, with troops of the United States, before Texasis a member of the Union? Does that not mean you are again at war withMexico? And does that not mean that you are also at war with England?Come, do you not know some of those things?"

  "With my hand on my heart, Madam," I asserted solemnly, "all I know isthat you must go to see my master. Calhoun wants you. America needs you.I beg you to do what kindness you may to the heathen."

  "_Et moi?_"

  "And you?" I answered. "You shall have such reward as you have neverdreamed in all your life."

  "How do you mean?"

  "I doubt not the reward for a soul which is as keen and able as yourheart is warm, Madam. Come, I am not such a fool as you think, perhaps.Nor are you a fool. You are a great woman, a wonderful woman, with headand heart both, Madam, as well as beauty such as I had never dreamed.You are a strange woman, Madam. You are a genius, Madam, if you please.So, I say, you are capable of a reward, and a great one. You may find itin the gratitude of a people."

  "What could this country give more than Mexico or England?" She smiledquizzically.

  "Much more, Madam! Your reward shall be in the later thought of manyhomes--homes built of logs, with dingy fireplaces and couches of husksin them--far out, all across this continent, housing many people, manyhappy citizens, men who will make their own laws, and enforce them, manand man alike! Madam, it is the spirit of democracy which calls on youto-night! It is not any political party, nor the representative of one.It is not Mr. Calhoun; it is not I. Mr. Calhoun only puts before you thesummons of--"

  "Of what?"

  "Of that spirit of democracy."

  She stood, one hand ungloved, a finger at her lips, her eyes glowing. "Iam glad you came," she said. "On the whole, I am also glad I came uponmy foolish errand here to America."

  "Madam," said I, my hand at the fastening of the door, "we haveexchanged pledges. Now we exchange places. It is you who are themessenger, not myself. There is a message in your hands. I know notwhether you ever served a monarchy. Come, you shall see that ourrepublic has neither secrets nor hypocrisies."

  On the instant she was not shrewd and tactful woman of the world, notstudent, but once more coquette and woman of impulse. She looked at mewith mockery and invitation alike in her great dark eyes, even as Ithrew down the chain at the door and opened it wide for her to pass.

  "Is that my only reward?" she asked, smiling as she fumbled at a glove.

  In reply, I bent and kissed the fingers of her ungloved hand. They wereso warm and tender that I had been different than I was had I not feltthe blood tingle in all my body in the impulse of the moment to do morethan kiss her fingers.

  Had I done so--had I not thought of Elisabeth--then, as in my heart Istill believe, the flag of England to-day would rule Oregon and thePacific; and it would float to-day along the Rio Grande; and it wouldmenace a divided North and South, instead of respecting a strong andindivisible Union which owns one flag and dreads none in the world.