by Leroy Scott
CHAPTER XXXVII
It was ten the next morning at Cedar Crest, and Larry Brainard sat inhis study mechanically going over his figures and plans for the Sherwoodhousing project.
For Larry the storms of the past few weeks, and the whirlwind of lastnight, had cleared away. There was quiet in the house, and throughthe open windows he could glimpse the broad lawn almost singing inits sun-gladdened greenness, and farther on he could glimpse theSound gleaming placidly. Once for perhaps ten minutes he had seen theoveralled and straw-hatted figure of Joe Ellison busy as usual among theflowers. He had strained his eyes for a glimpse of Maggie, but he hadlooked in vain.
Despite all that had come to pass at the Grantham the previous evening,Larry was just now feeling restless and rather forlorn. His breakfasthad been brought to him in his room, and he had not seen a single memberof last night's party at the Grantham since they had all divided upaccording to Miss Sherwood's orders and driven away; that is he hadreally seen no one except Dick.
Dick had gripped his hand when he had slipped in beside Dick in the lowseat of the roadster. "You're all right, Captain Nemo!--only I'm goingto be so brash as to call you Larry after this," Dick had said. "Ifyou'll let me, you and I are going to be buddies."
He was all right, Dick was. Dick Sherwood was a thoroughbred.
And there was another matter which had pleased him. The Duchess hadcalled him up that morning, had congratulated him in terms so briefthat they sounded perfunctory, but which Larry realized had all hisgrandmother's heart in them, and had said she wanted him to take overthe care of all her houses--those she had put up as bail for him.When could he come in to see her about this?... He understood thisdusty-seeming, stooped, inarticulate grandmother of his as he had notbefore. Considering what her life had been, she also was a brick.
But notwithstanding all this, Larry was lonely--hungrily lonely--andwas very much in doubt. Miss Sherwood had spoken to him fair enough thenight before--yet he really did not know just how he stood with her. Andthen--Maggie. That was what meant most to him just now. True, Maggie hademerged safe through perils without and within; and to get her throughto some such safety as now was hers had been his chief concern thesemany months. He wanted to see her, to speak to her. But he did not knowwhat her attitude toward him would now be. He did not know how to goabout finding her. He was not even certain where she had spent thenight. He wanted to see her, yet was apulse with fear of seeing her. Shewould not be hostile, he knew that much; but she might not love him;and at the best a meeting would be awkward, with so wide a gap in theirlives to be bridged....
He was brooding thus when there was a loud knocking at his door. Withoutwaiting for his invitation to enter, the door was flung open, and Huntstrode in leaving the door wide behind him. His face was just one great,excited grin. He gave Larry a thump upon the back, which almost knockedLarry over, and then pulled him back to equilibrium by seizing a hand inboth of his, and then almost shook it off.
"Larry, my son," exploded the big painter, "I've just done it! And I didit just as you ordered me to! Forgot that Miss Sherwood and I had hada falling out, and as per your orders I walked straight up to her andasked her. And Larry, you son-of-a-gun, you were right! She said 'yes'!"
"You're lucky, old man!" exclaimed Larry, warmly returning the painter'sgrip.
"And, Larry, that's not all. You told me I had the clearness of visionof a cold boiled lobster--said I was the greatest fool that ever hadbrains enough not to paint with the wrong end of an umbrella. Paid mesome little compliment like that."
"Something like that," Larry agreed.
"Well, Larry, old son, you were right again! I've been a worse foolthan all you said. Been blinder than one of those varnished skulls sometough-stomached people use for paper-weights. After she'd said 'yes'she gave me the inside story of why we had fallen out. And guess why itwas?"
"You don't want me to guess. You want to tell me. So go to it."
"Larry, we men will never know how clever women really are!" Huntshook his head with impressive emphasis. "Nor how they understand ournatures--the clever women--nor how well they know how to handle us. Sheconfessed that our quarrel was, on her part, carefully planned fromthe beginning with a definite result in view. She told me she'd alwaysbelieved me a great painter, if I'd only break loose from the prettythings people wanted and paid me so much for. The trouble, as she sawit, was to get me to cut loose from so much easy money and devote myselfentirely to real stuff. The only way she could see was for her to tellme I couldn't paint anything worth while, and tell it so straight-outas to make me believe that she believed it--and thus make me so mad thatI'd chuck everything and go off to prove to her that I damned well couldpaint! I certainly got sore--I ducked out of sight, swearing I'd showher--and, oh, well, you know the rest! Tell me now, can you think ofanything cleverer than the way she handled me?"
"It's just about what I would expect of Miss Sherwood," Larry commented.
"Excuse me," said a voice behind them. "I found the door open; may Icome in?"
Both men turned quickly. Entering was Miss Sherwood.
"Isabel!" exclaimed the happy painter. "I was just telling Larryhere--you know!"
Miss Sherwood's tone tried to be severe, and she tried not to smile--andshe succeeded in being just herself.
"I came to talk business with Mr. Brainard. And I'm going to stay totalk business with Mr. Brainard. But I'll give him five seconds forcongratulations--provided at the end of the five seconds Mr. Hunt getsout of the room."
Larry congratulated the two; congratulated them as warmly as he felthis as yet dubious position in this company warranted. At the end of thefive seconds Hunt was closing the door upon his back.
"I've always loved him--and I want to thank you, Mr. Brainard," she saidwith her simple directness. And before Larry could make response of anykind, she shifted the subject.
"I really came in to see you on business, Mr. Brainard. I hope I mademy attitude toward you clear enough last night. If I did not, let mesay now that I think you have made good in every particular--and that Itrust you in every particular. What I wished especially to say now," shewent on briskly, giving Larry no chance to stammer out his appreciation,"is that I wish to go ahead without any delay with your proposition fordeveloping the Sherwood properties in New York City which we discussedsome time ago. A former objection you raised is now removed: you arecleared, and are free to work in the open. I want you to take chargeof affairs, with Dick working beside you. I think it will be Dick's bigchance. I've talked it over with him this morning, and he's eager forthe arrangement. I hope you are not going to refuse the offer thistime."
"I can't--not such an offer as that," Larry said huskily. "But, MissSherwood, I didn't expect--"
"Then it's settled," she interrupted with her brisk tone. "There'll be alot of details, but we'll have plenty of time to talk them over later."She stood up. "There are some changes here at Cedar Crest which I wantbegun at once and which I want you to supervise. If you don't mind we'lllook things over now."
He followed beside her along the curving, graveled walks. She headedtoward the cliff, but he had no idea where she was leading until a sharpturn brought them almost upon the low cottage which these last few weekshad been Joe Ellison's home.
"Here is where we start our changes," said the business-like MissSherwood. "The door's open, so we might as well go right in."
They stepped into a tiny entry, and from thence into a littlesitting-room. The room was filled with cut flowers, but Larry did noteven see them. For as they entered, Maggie sprang up, startled, from achair, and, whiter than she had been before in all her life, gazed athim as if she wanted to run away. She stood trembling and slender in alinen frock of most simple and graceful lines. It was Miss Sherwood'sfrock, though Larry did not know this; already it had been decided thatall those showy Grantham gowns were never to be worn again.
Once more Miss Sherwood came to the rescue of a stupendous situation,just as her tact had rescued a situa
tion too great for words the nightbefore.
"Of course you two people now perceive that I'm a fraud--that I've gotyou together by base trickery. So much being admitted, let's proceed."She turned on Larry. "Maggie--we've agreed that I am to call herthat--Maggie stayed with me last night. There are two beds in my room.But we didn't sleep much. Mostly we talked. If there's anything Maggiedidn't tell me about herself, I can't guess what there's left to tell.According to herself, she's terrible. But that's for us to judge;personally I don't believe her. She confessed that she really loved you,but that after the way she'd treated you, of course she wasn't fit foryou. Which, of course, is just a girl's nonsense. I suppose you, Mr.Brainard, are thinking something of the sort regarding your own self. Itis equally nonsense. You both love each other--you've both been througha lot--nothing of importance now stands between you--so don't waste anyof your too short lives in coming together."
She took a deep breath and went on. "You might as well know, Mr.Brainard, that Maggie is going to live with me for the present--that, ofcourse, she is going to be a very great burden to me--and it will be agreat favor to me if you'll marry her soon and take her off my hands."And then the voice that had tried to keep itself brisk and even,quavered with a sudden sob. "For Heaven's sake, dear children--don't befools!"
And with that she was gone.
For an instant Larry continued to gaze at Maggie's slender, tremblingfigure. But something approaching a miracle--a very human miracle--hadjust happened. All those doubts, fears, indecisions, unexpresseddesires, agonies of self-abasement, which might have delayed theirunderstanding and happiness for weeks and months, had been swept intonothingness by the incisive kindliness of Miss Sherwood. In one minuteshe had said all they might have said in months; there was nothing moreto say. There was nothing left of the past to discuss. Before them wasonly the fact of that immediate moment, and the future.
Tremblingly, silently, Larry crossed to that trembling, silent figurein white. She did not retreat. Tremblingly he took her hands and lookeddown into her dark eyes. They were now flowing tears, but they met hissquarely, holding back nothing. The look in her eyes answered all hedesired to know just then, for he gathered her tight into his arms.Wordlessly, but with a sharp, convulsive sob, she threw her arms abouthis neck--and thus embracing, shaken with sharp sobs, they stood whilethe minutes passed, not a single word having been spoken. And so it wasthat these two, both children of the storm, at last came together....
Presently Joe Ellison chanced to step unsuspectingly into the room.Seeing what he did, he silently tiptoed out. There was a garden chairjust outside his door. Into this he sank and let his thin face fall intohis hands. His figure shook and hot tears burned through his fingers.For his heart told him that his great dream was at last come true.
