CHAPTER XXXVI
THE PAST AND FUTURE MEET
Larry knocked at Ruth's door. It opened and a wan and patheticallydrooping little figure stood before him. Ever since she had been awakeRuth, had been haunted by that unwelcome bit of memory illumination whichhad come the night before. No wonder she drooped and scarcely dared tolift her eyes to her lover's face. But in a moment he had her in hisarms, a performance which banished the droop and brought a lovely colorback into the pale cheeks.
"Larry, oh Larry, is it all right? I'm not his wife? He didn't marry me?"
Larry kissed her.
"He didn't marry you. Nobody's going to marry you but me. No, I didn'tmean to say that now. Forget it, sweetheart. You are free, and if youwant to say so I'll let you go. If you don't want--"
"But I do want," she interrupted. "I want Larry Holiday and he is all Iwant. Why won't you ever, ever believe I love you? I do, more thananything in the world."
"You darling! Will you marry me? I shouldn't have asked you that othertime. I hadn't the right. But I have now. Will you, Ruth? I want you so.And I've waited so long."
"Listen to me, Larry Holiday." Ruth held up a small warning forefinger."I'll marry you if you will promise never, never to be cross to me again.I have shed quarts of tears because you were so unkind and--faithless. Iought to make you do some terrible penance for thinking the money oranything but you mattered to me. Not even the wedding ring mattered. Itold you so but still you wouldn't believe."
Larry shook his head remorsefully.
"Rub it in, sweetheart, if you must. I deserve it. But don't you think Ihave had purgatory enough because I didn't dare believe to punish me foranything? As for the rest I know I've been behaving like a brute. I've adevil of a disposition and I've been half crazy anyway. Not that that isany excuse. But I'll behave myself in the future. Honest I will, Ruthie.All you have to do is to lift this small finger of yours--" He indicatedthe digit by a loverly kiss "and I'll be as meek and lowly as--as an ashcan," he finished prosaically.
Ruth's happy laughter rang out at this and she put up her lips for akiss.
"I'll remember," she said. "You're not a brute, Larry. You're a darlingand I love you--oh immensely and I'll marry you just as quick as ever Ican and we'll be so happy you won't ever remember you have adisposition."
Another interim occurred, an interim occupied by things which arenobody's business and which anybody who has ever been in love can supplyad lib by exercise of memory and imagination. Then hand in hand the twowent down to where Geoffrey Annersley waited to bring back the past toElinor Farringdon.
"Does he know me?" queried Ruth as they descended.
"He surely does. He knows all there is to know about you, Miss ElinorRuth Farringdon. He ought to. He is your cousin and he married your bestfriend, Nan--"
"Wait!" cried Ruth excitedly, "it's coming back. He married NancyHollinger and she gave me some San Francisco addresses of some friends ofhers just before I sailed. They were in that envelope. I threw away theaddresses when I left San Francisco and tucked my tickets into it. Why,Larry, I'm remembering--really remembering," she stopped short on thestairs to exclaim in a startled incredulous tone.
"Of course you are remembering, sweetheart," echoed Larry happily. "Comeon down and remember the rest with Annersley's help. He is some cousin.You'd better be prepared to be horribly proud of him. He is a captain andwears all kinds of honorable and distinguished dingle dangles anddecorations as well as a romantic limp and a magnificent gash on hischeek which he evidently didn't get shaving."
Larry jested because he knew Ruth was growing nervous. He could feel hertremble against his arm. He was more than a little anxious as to theoutcome of the thing itself. The shock and the strain of meeting GeoffreyAnnersley were going to be rather an ordeal he knew.
They entered the living room and paused on the threshold, Larry's armstill around the girl. Doctor Holiday and the captain both rose. Thelatter limped gallantly toward Ruth who stared at him an instant and thenflung herself away from Larry into the other man's arms.
"Geoff! Geoff!" she cried.
For a moment nothing more was said then Ruth drew herself away.
"Geoffrey Annersley, why did you ever, ever make me wear that horridring?" she demanded reproachfully. "Larry and I could have married eachother months ago if you hadn't. It was the silliest idea anyway and it'sall your fault--everything."
He laughed at that, a, big whole-souled hearty laugh that came from thedepths of him.
"That sounds natural," he said. "Every scrape you ever enticed me into asa kid was always my fault somehow. Are you real, Elinor? I can't helpthinking I am seeing a ghost. Do you really remember me?" anxiously.
"Of course I remember you. Listen, Geoff. Listen hard."
And unexpectedly Ruth pursed her pretty lips and whistled a merry,lilting bar of melody.
"By Jove!" exulted the captain. "That does sound like old times."
"Don't tell me I don't remember," she flashed back happy and excitedbeyond measure at playing this new remembering game. "That was ourspecial call, yours and Rod's and mine. Oh Rod!" And at that all the joywent out of the eager, flushed face. She went back into her cousin'sarms again, sobbing in heart breaking fashion. The turning tide ofmemory had brought back wreckage of grief as well as joy. In GeoffreyAnnersley's arms Ruth mourned her brother's loss for the first time.Larry sent his uncle a quick look and went out of the room. The olderdoctor followed. Ruth and her cousin were left alone to pick up thedropped threads of the past.
They all met again at luncheon however, Ruth rosy cheeked, excited andred-eyed but on the whole none the worse for her journey back into theland of forgotten things. As Larry had hoped the external stimulus ofactually seeing and hearing somebody out of that other life was enough tostart the train. What she did not yet remember Geoffrey supplied andlittle by little the past took on shape and substance and Elinor RuthFarringdon became once more a normal human being with a past as well as apresent which was dazzlingly delightful, save for the one dark blur ofher dear Rod's unknown fate.
In the course of the conversation at table Geoffrey addressed his cousinas Elinor and was promptly informed that she wasn't Elinor and was Ruthand that he was to call her by that name or run the risk of beingdisapproved of very heartily.
He laughed, amused at this.
"Now I know you are real," he said. "It is exactly the tone you used whenyou issued the contrary command and by Jove almost the same words exceptfor the reversed titles. 'Don't call me Ruth, Geoff,'" he mimicked. "'Iam not going to be Ruth any more. I am going to be Elinor. It is a muchprettier name.'"
"Well, I don't think so now," retorted Ruth. "I've changed my mind again.I think Ruth is the nicest name there is because--well--" She blushedadorably and looked across the table at the young doctor, "because Larrylikes it," she completed half defiantly.
"Is that meant to be an official publishing of the bans?" teased hercousin when the laugh that Ruth's naive confession had raised subsidedleaving Larry as well as Ruth a little hot of cheek.
"If you want to call it that," said Ruth. "Larry, I think you might saysomething, not leave me everything to do myself. Tell them we are engagedand are going to be married--"
"To-morrow," put in Larry suddenly pushing back his chair and goingover to stand behind Ruth, a hand on either shoulder, facing theothers gallantly if obviously also embarrassedly over her shyly bentblonde head.
The blonde head went up at that, and was shaken very decidedly.
"No indeed. That isn't right at all," she objected. "Don't listen to himanybody. It isn't going to be tomorrow. I've got to have a wedding dressand it takes at least a week to dream a wedding dress when it is the onlytime you ever intend to be married. I have all the otherthings--everything I need down to the last hair pin and powder puff.That's why I went to Boston. I knew I was going to want pretty clothesquick. I told Doctor Holiday so." She sent a charming, half merry, halfdeprecating smile at the older doctor who smiled b
ack.
"She most assuredly did," he corroborated. "I never suspected it was partof a deep laid plot however. I thought it was just femininity croppingout after a dull season. How was I to know it was because you wereplanning to run off with my assistant that you wanted all the gayplumage?" he teased.
Ruth made a dainty little grimace at that.
"That isn't a fair way to put it," she declared. "If I had beenplanning to run away with Larry or he with me we would have done itmonths ago, plumage or no plumage. I wanted to but he wouldn't anyway,"she confessed. "I like this way much, much better though. I don't wantto be married anywhere except right here in the heart of the House onthe Hill."
She slipped out of her chair and away from Larry's hands at that and wentover to where Doctor Philip sat.
"May we?" she asked like a child asking permission to run out and play.
"It is what we all want more than anything in the world, dear child," hesaid. "You belong with Larry in our hearts as well as in the heart of theHouse. You know that, don't you?"
"I know you are the dearest man that ever was, not even excepting Larry.And I am going to kiss you, Uncle Phil, so there. I can call you thatnow, can't I? I've always wanted to." And fitting the deed to the wordRuth bent over and gave Doctor Philip a fluttering little butterfly kiss.
They rose from the table at that and Ruth was bidden go off to her roomand get a long rest after her too exciting morning. Larry soberlyrepaired to the office and received patients and prescribed gravely forthem just as if his inner self were not executing wild fandangoes of joy.Perhaps his patients did get a few waves of his happiness however forthere was not one of them who did not leave the office with greater hopeand strength and courage than he brought there.
"The young doctor's getting to be a lot like his uncle," one of them saidto his wife later. "Just the very touch of his hand made me feel bettertoday, sort of toned up as if I had had an electrical treatment. Queerhow human beings can shoot sparks sometimes."
Not so queer. Larry Holiday had just been himself electrified by love andjoy. No wonder he had new power that day and was a better healer than hehad ever been before.
In the living room Doctor Philip and Captain Annersley held converse. Thecaptain expressed his opinion that Ruth should go at once to Australia.
"If her brother is dead as we have every reason to fear, Elinor--Ruth--isthe sole owner of an immense amount of property. The lawyers are aboutcrazy trying to keep things going without either Roderick or Ruth. Theyhave been begging me to come out and take charge of things for months butI haven't been able to see my way clear owing to one thing or another.Somebody will have to go at once and of course it should be Ruth."
"How would it do for her and Laurence both to go?"
"Magnificent. I was hoping you would think that was a feasible project.They will be glad to have a man to represent the family. My cousin knowsnothing about the business end of the thing. She has always approached itexclusively from the spending side. Do you think your nephew would careto settle there?"
"Possibly," said the Doctor. "That will develop later. They will have towork that out for themselves. I am rather sorry he is going to marry agirl with so much money but I suppose it cannot be helped."
"Some people wouldn't look at it that way, Doctor Holiday," grinned thecaptain. "But I am prepared to accept the fact that you Holidays are in aclass by yourselves. We have always been afraid that Elinor would be avictim of some miserable fortune hunter. I can't tell you what a reliefit is to have her marry a man like your nephew. I am only sorry he had togo through such a punishing period of suspense waiting for his happiness.Since there wasn't really the slightest obstacle I rather wish he had cuthis scruples and married her long ago."
"I don't agreed with you, Captain Annersley.. They are neither of themworse off for waiting and being absolutely sure that this is what theyboth want. If he had taken the risk and married her when he knew hehadn't the full right to do it he would have been miserable and made hermore so. Larry is an odd chap. There is a morbid streak in him. Hewouldn't have forgiven himself if he had done it. And losing his ownself-respect would have been the worst thing that could have happened tohim. No amount of actual legality could have made up for starting out ona spiritually illegal basis. We Holidays have to keep on moderately goodterms with ourselves to be happy," he added with a quiet smile.
"I suppose you are right," admitted the Englishman. "Anyway the thing isstraight and clear now. He has earned every bit of happiness that iscoming to him and I hope it is going to be a great deal. My own sense ofindebtness for all you Holidays have done for Ruth is enormous. I wishthere were some way of making adequate returns for it all. But it is toobig to be repaid. I may be able to keep an eye on your other nephew whenhe gets over. I certainly should like to. I don't know when I've takensuch a fancy to a lad. My word he is a ripping sort."
"Ted?" Doctor Holiday smiled a little. "Well, yes, I suppose he is whatyou Britishers call ripping. It has been rather ripping in another sensebeing his guardian sometimes."
"I judge so by his own account of himself. Yoxi mustn't let that smash ofhis worry you. He'll find something over there that will be worth ahundred times what any college can give him, and as for the rest half thelads of mettle in the world come to earth with a jolt over a girl sooneror later and they don't all rise up out of the dust as clean as he didby, a long shot."
"So he told you about that affair? You must have gotten under his skinrather surprisingly Ted doesn't talk much about himself and I fancy hehasn't talked about that thing at all to any one. It went deep."
"I know. He shows that in a hundred ways. But it hasn't crushed him ormade him reckless. It simply steadied him and I infer he needed somesteadying."
Doctor Holiday nodded assent to that and asked if he thought the boy wasdoing well up there.
"Not a doubt of it," said the Englishman heartily. And he added a briefsynopsis of the things that the colonel had said in regard to hisyoungest corporal.
"That is rather astonishing," remarked Doctor Holiday. "Obediencehasn't ever been one of Ted's strong points. In fact he has been arebel always."
"Most boys are until they perceive that there is sense instead of tyrannyin law. Your nephew has had that knocked into him rather hard and he isall the better for it tough as it was in the process. He is making goodup there. He will make good over seas. He is a born leader--a betterleader of men than his brother would be though maybe Larry is finerstuff. I don't know."
"They are very different but I like to think they are both rather finestuff. Maybe that is my partial view but I am a bit proud of them both,Ted as well as Larry."
"You have every reason," approved the captain heartily. "I have seen agood many splendid lads in the last four years and these two measure upin a way which is an eye opener to me. In my stupid insular prejudicemaybe I had fallen to thinking that the particular quality that marksthem both was a distinctly British affair. Apparently you can breed it inAmerica too. I'm glad to see it and to own it. And may I say one otherthing, Doctor Holiday? I have the D.S.C. and a lot of other junk likethat but I'd surrender every bit of it this minute gladly if I thoughtthat I would ever have a son that would worship me the way those lads ofyours worship you. It is an honor any man might well covet."
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