The Cinder Buggy

by Garet Garrett

  “It’s off,” he said, feeling secretly and utterly ludicrous. “That’s all.”

  “Oh, that can’t be,” she said. “Suppose I talk to her. I shan’t be modest about you. I’ll not promise to be even truthful.”

  “No use,” he said. “I’ve said everything there is to say for myself. She knows me well enough—too well, perhaps. That may be it.”

  “Tell me about her. What is she like?”

  “Cold. You wouldn’t think so, but she is. The fact that a man loves her means nothing—not a thing.”

  “Is she so used to it?”

  “I don’t know. No. That isn’t it....”

  “What?”

  “I was going to say selfish. I ought not to say that. I’m selfish to want her. She wants to keep her life to herself. It’s her own life.”

  “But it’s only postponed. She doesn’t say no, does she?”

  “Worse than that. She says—”

  “Yes. What does she say?”

  “She says it’s nicer as it is. We shall go on being friends. Friendship is all right. It blooms in the next world.”

  “Let me talk to her, please.”

  “No. It’s hopeless.”

  “I’d not urge you if I weren’t so sure I could change her mind. The fact is, I think I know her.”

  John started and became rigid with astonishment. He regarded her fixedly with a groping, incredulous expression. She stirred her tea very thoughtfully and kept her eyes down.

  “If she’s the person I think she is,” Agnes continued, still looking down, “what you say about her is probably true. And yet—”

  “Agnes! Be careful what you say.”

  “I’ll be as careful as I know how to be. Trust me.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “In one way, of course, you deserve to be wretched. It isn’t all on one side. Do you think it’s nice—?” “How long have you known her, I ask?” “A long time. Longer than you have,” she said.

  * * * * *

  Note from the society column of the New York Times, November 6, 1901:

  Mr. and Mrs. Breakspeare are passing their honeymoon in Mediterranean waters on Mr. Breakspeare’s yacht, the “Damascene.”

  THE END

  Table of Contents

  Cover Image

  Title Page

  Copyright

  By the Same Author

  Epigraph

  Contents

  I

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  VI

  VII

  VIII

  IX

  X

  XI

  XII

  XIII

  XIV

  XV

  XVI

  XVII

  XVIII

  XIX

  XX

  XXI

  XXII

  XXIII

  XXIV

  XXV

  XXVI

  XXVII

  XXVIII

  XXIX

  XXX

  XXXI

  XXXII

  XXXIII

  XXXIV

  XXXV

  XXXVI

  XXXVII

  XXXVIII

  XXXIX

  XL

  XLI

  XLII

  XLIII