CHAPTER XI

Vassar turned with a quick movement, passed into the hall and ran squarely into Virginia who was about to enter the library.

“Your interview at an end so soon? I took a turn in the garden for only five minutes. I was to join your conference. You have quarreled?”

“No--just agreed to fight, that’s all--”

“A compromise is impossible?”

“Utterly--”

“I am sorry,” she answered gravely.

The iron doors of the elevator softly opened with a low click and two slender young men of decidedly foreign features stepped briskly out, accompanied by the tall, straight figure of Villard. They crossed the hall and ascended the broad stairway as if at home. The clothes of the younger men were fitted with extreme care. The waist line was gracefully modeled. It was evident that they both wore corsets. They walked with the quick, measured tread of the trained soldier. From their yachting caps it was evident they had just entered the house through the tunnel from the river landing. Their slight waxed mustaches particularly caught Vassar’s attention and brought a smile of contempt. Undoubtedly they were the pampered darlings of a foreign court, friends of Waldron’s whom he was cultivating for some purpose. The Congressman wondered what the devil they could be doing in America when all the Old World was at war? He also wondered who Villard was--Villard with his fierce upturned mustache after the style of von Hindenberg. They might be South Americans or from the Balkan states of course. Waldron’s banking house was one of the international group and his agents came from every corner of the globe.

When they had passed Virginia quietly asked:

“May I go downtown with you?”

In the tumult of anger that still raged within over Waldron’s challenge the incongruity of the proposal struck him with new force. The offer seemed almost brazen. Under conditions of a normal environment it would have meant nothing more than a pretty attempt to console him in an hour of disappointment. Coming at the moment of his departure from the sinister establishment of the man he hated, it struck him as suggestive of a secret understanding between the two.

His one desire now was to be alone and breathe clean air.

“You’ll not like the long rough walk to the subway I’m afraid,” he protested.

“You will not return in the car?” she asked in surprise.

“I prefer to walk--”

“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” she answered firmly. “You’ll go with me--and I’m not going to walk.”

“You must excuse me”--he persisted.

“I will not. And I’ll never speak to you again unless you obey my orders for this one afternoon at least.”

He searched her face to see if she meant it, caught the look of determination and answered in quick tones of apology.

“Of course, if you really wish it, you know that it will give me pleasure--”

Virginia returned to the library, spoke to Waldron and in a few minutes they were again seated by each other’s side swiftly gliding down the Drive.

“Stop at the Claremont,” she called to the chauffeur. “I’m starved. We would have had lunch served in the library if your lordship had not been so proud and particular--”

“I couldn’t eat at Waldron’s table. I’d choke,” he answered in low tones.

“I’m afraid you’re not a good politician after all,” she observed. “You are too emotional. You allow your temperament to betray you into errors of diplomacy. You should have cultivated Waldron, flattered his vanity and studied his character--”

“I know it already--”

“I thought so at first myself,” she answered thoughtfully. “The more I see of him the less I know him. He’s a puzzle--”

“He’s merely an ape of foreign snobs--that’s all.”

“You utterly misjudge him,” Virginia protested. “He has too much strength for that. His ambitions are too great.”

“Then he’s more dangerous than I have thought.”

“What do you mean?” she asked in surprise.

“Nothing that I could put into words without making myself ridiculous in your eyes perhaps, yet the idea grows on me--”

Virginia laughed.

“You can’t do an opponent justice, can you?”

“No--can you?”

The car swept gracefully up the roadway to the rose-embowered white cottage on the hill. They leaped out and found a table in the corner overlooking the majestic sweep of the river and Jersey hills beyond.

Vassar was moody in spite of the inspiring view and the radiant face opposite. Again and again he tried to pull himself out of the dumps and enjoy this wonderful hour with the most fascinating woman he had ever met. It was no use. Waldron’s frozen smile, his royal establishment, his corseted pets, his big friend with the fierce mustache, his white yacht and the soft click of the doors of that elevator filled his mind with sinister suggestions.

“I’m so disappointed in you,” Virginia said at last.

“Why?”

“I’d planned to relax a little this afternoon. It’s Saturday you know. I thought you might be human enough just to play for a few hours. I wanted to find the real man side of you--not the statesman or the politician--”

“To study me under the microscope as another specimen of the species and plan my extermination?”

“No--to get acquainted in the simplest kind of old-fashioned way. But I see it’s no use today. You’re a greater enigma to me than Waldron. But I’m not going to be beaten so easily. I’m going to find you out now that I’ve made up my mind. I’ve a proposal to make before we begin the scrap in your district--”

“A proposal?” he asked mischievously.

“Yes! It’s hardly decent I know. Anyhow, I’m not wholly responsible for it. You’ve made a wonderful hit with my old soldier Dad. He has talked nothing else but your bill for an adequate national defense. He has positively ordered me to make you our guest for a couple of weeks at our country place on Long Island--”

Vassar blushed like a schoolboy.

“I should be only too happy--”

“I warn you that the Old Guard will talk you into a spell of sickness about war and the certainty of this country being captured by the Germans or Japs--”

“He can’t say too much to me on that subject,” Vassar declared.

“And if you’ll bring your father and the children I’m sure we could keep you until I’ve wormed the last secret out of you--”

“It wouldn’t be imposing on you?”

“You would do us a favor. Zonia would keep Billy at home. Marya and your father would be an endless source of joy to my mother. We’ve a big old house and a lot of vacant rooms. You’ll bring them all?”

“My dear Miss Holland,” he answered gratefully, “you overwhelm me with your kindness. My father and the kids have never been so honored. You will make them supremely happy--”

“You see,” Virginia interrupted, “I’ve a scheme back of this invitation. I’ve not only determined to find you out, but I’m a politician whether you like it or not. I’m going to make it just as difficult as I possibly can for you to fight me. You’ll walk into the trap with your eyes wide open--”

“I absolve you from all responsibility for my ruin,” he laughed.

“You’ll join us at Babylon on Sunday?”

“Tomorrow?”

“The sooner the better. We go down this evening--”

The clouds suddenly lifted. Vassar couldn’t keep his face straight. He was so happy it was absurd. An hour ago he was in the depths of despair. The foundations of the nation’s life were sinking. The sky had cleared. The sun was sparkling on the waters of the river in dazzling splendor. The world was beautiful and the country safe.

His mind was planning absurd programs for each day. He wondered for just a moment if she could be capable of plotting with Waldron to remove him from the district for two weeks, to lay the foundations of a movement to wreck his career--

He looked into the depths of her brown eyes and threw the ugly thought to the winds.