A Rebellious Heroine - John Bangs 3 стр.

The cab was blocked!

I had no idea it was so far, said Marguerite, looking out of the cab window at the crowded and dirty thoroughfare.

Its a good mile farther yet, replied Mrs. Willard.  I shall have just that much more of your society.

It looks to me, said Marguerite, with a short laugh, as the cab came suddenly to a haltit looks to me as if you were likely to have more than that of it; for we are in an apparently inextricable, immovable mixture of trucks, horse-cars, and incompetent policemen, and nothing short of a miracle will get us a mile farther along in twenty minutes.

I do believe you are right, said Mrs. Willard, looking at her watch anxiously.  What will you do if you miss the steamer?

Escape a horrid fate, laughed Marguerite, gayly.

Poor Mr. Harleywhy, it will upset his whole story, said Mrs. Willard.

And save his reputation, said Marguerite.  It wouldnt have been real, that story, she added.  In the first place, Balderstone couldnt write a story that would fascinate me; he could never acquire a baleful influence over me; and, finally, I never should marry Robert Osborne under any circumstances.  Hes not at all the style of man I admire.  Im willing to go along and let Mr. Harley try to work it out his way, but he will give it up as a bad idea before longif I catch the steamer; and if I dont, then hell have to modify the story.  That modified, Im willing to be his heroine.

But your aunt and the twinsthey must be aboard by this time.  They will be worried to death about you, suggested Mrs. Willard.

For a few momentsbut Aunt Emma wanted to go, and she and the rest of them will have a good time, Ive no doubt, replied Miss Andrews, calmly; and here Stuart Harleys heroine actually chuckled.  And maybe Mr. Harley can make a match between Aunt Emma and Osborne, which will suit the publishers and please the American girl, she said, gleefully.  I almost hope we do miss it.

And miss it they did, as I have already told you, by three minutes.  As the cab entered the broad pier, the great steamer moved slowly but surely out into the stream, and Mrs. Willard and Mr. Harleys heroine were just in time to see Mrs. Corwin wildly waving her parasol at the captain on the bridge, beseeching him in agonized tones to go back just for a moment, while two separate and distinct twins, one male and one female, peered over the rail, weeping bitterly.  Incidentally mention may be made of two young men, Balderstone and Osborne, who sat chatting gayly together in the smoking-room.

Well, Osborne, said one, lighting his cigar, she didnt arrive.

No, smiled the other.  Fact is, Balderstone, Im glad of it.  Shes too snippy for me, and Im afraid I should have quarrelled with you about her in a half-hearted, unconvincing manner.

Im afraid Id have been the same, rejoined Balderstone; for, between us, theres a pretty little brunette from Chicago up on deck, and Marguerite Andrews would have got little attention from me while she was about, unless Harley violently outraged my feelings and his own convictions.

And so the New York sailed out to sea, and Marguerite Andrews watched her from the pier until she had faded from view.

As for Stuart Harley, the author, he sat in his study, wringing his hands and cursing his carelessness.

Ill have to modify the whole story now, he said, impatiently, since it is out of my power to bring the New York back into port, with my hero, villain, chaperon, and twins; but whenever or wherever the new story may be laid, Marguerite Andrews shall be the heroineshe interests me.  Meantime let Mrs. Willard chaperon her.

And closing his manuscript book with a bang, Harley lit a cigarette, put on his hat, and went to the club.

III

THE RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS

When, a few days later, Harley came to the reconstruction of his story, he began to appreciate the fact that what had seemed at first to be his misfortune was, on the whole, a matter for congratulation; and as he thought over the people he had sent to sea, he came to rejoice that Marguerite was not one of the party.

Osborne wasnt her sort, after all, he mused to himself that night over his coffee.  He hadnt much mind.  Im afraid I banked too much on his good looks, and too little upon what I might call her independence; for of all the heroines I ever had, she is the most sufficient unto herself.  Had she gone along Im half afraid I couldnt have got rid of Balderstone so easily either, for hes a determined devil as I see him; and his intellectual qualities were so vastly superior to those of Osborne that by mere contrast they would most certainly have appealed to her strongly.  The baleful influence might have affected her seriously, and Osborne was never the man to overcome it, and strict realism would have forced her into an undesirable marriage.  Yes, Im glad it turned out the way it did; shes too good for either of them.  I couldnt have done the tale as I intended without a certain amount of compulsion, which would never have worked out well.  Shed have been miserable with Osborne for a husband anyhow, even if he did succeed in outwitting Balderstone.

Then Harley went into a trance for a moment.  From this he emerged almost immediately with a laugh.  The travellers on the sea had come to his mind.

Poor Mrs. Corwin, he said, shes awfully upset.  I shall have to give her some diversion.  Lets see, what shall it be?  Shes a widow, young and fascinating.  Hmnot a bad foundation for a romance.  There must be a man on the ship whod like her; but, hang it all! there are those twins.  Not much romance for her with those twins along, unless the mans a fool; and shes too fine a woman for a fool.  Men dont fall in love with whole families that way.  Now if they had only been left on the pier with Miss Andrews, it would have worked up well.  Mrs. Corwin could have fascinated some fellow-traveller, won his heart, accepted him at Southampton, and told him about the twins afterwards.  As a test of his affection that would be a strong situation; but with the twins along, making the remarks they are likely to make, and all thatno, there is no hope for Mrs. Corwin, except in a juvenile storysomething like Two Twins in a Boat, not to Mention the Widow, or something of that sort.  Poor woman!  Ill let her rest in peace, for the present.  Shell enjoy her trip, anyhow; and as for Osborne and Balderstone, Ill let them fight it out for that dark-eyed little woman from Chicago I saw on board, and when the best man wins Ill put the whole thing into a short story.

Then began a new quest for characters to go with Marguerite Andrews.

She must have a chaperon, to begin with, thought Harley.  That is indispensable.  Herring, Beemer, & Chadwick regard themselves as conservators of public morals, in their Blue and Silver Series, so a girl unmarried and without a chaperon would never do for this book.  If they were to publish it in their Yellow Prism Series I could fling all such considerations to the winds, for there they cater to stronger palates, palates cultivated by French literary cooks, and morals need not be considered, provided the story is well told and likely to sell; but this is for the other series, and a chaperon is a sine qua non

Then began a new quest for characters to go with Marguerite Andrews.

She must have a chaperon, to begin with, thought Harley.  That is indispensable.  Herring, Beemer, & Chadwick regard themselves as conservators of public morals, in their Blue and Silver Series, so a girl unmarried and without a chaperon would never do for this book.  If they were to publish it in their Yellow Prism Series I could fling all such considerations to the winds, for there they cater to stronger palates, palates cultivated by French literary cooks, and morals need not be considered, provided the story is well told and likely to sell; but this is for the other series, and a chaperon is a sine qua non