第59章 BOOK III:THE HEART OF MAN(12)

Brotherson's glance in his direction had been anything but conciliatory.He was quite convinced that nothing was to be gained by it,but he could not resist her appeal,and followed them into the little room whose limited dimensions made the tall Orlando look bigger and stronger and more lordly in his self-confidence than ever.

"I am sorry it is so late,"she began,contemplating his intrusive figure with forced composure."We have to be very quiet in the evenings so as not to disturb your brother's first sleep which is of great importance to him.""Then I'm not to see him to-night?"

"I pray you to wait.He's -he's been a very sick man.""Dangerously so?"

"Yes."

Orlando continued to regard her with a peculiar awakening gaze,showing,Mr.Challoner thought,more interest in her than in his brother,and when he spoke it was mechanically and as if in sole obedience to the proprieties of the occasion.

"I did not know he was ill till very lately.His last letter was a cheerful one,and I supposed that all was right till chance revealed the truth.I came on at once.I was intending to come anyway.I have business here,as you probably know,Miss Scott."She shook her head."I know very little about business,"said she.

"My brother has not told you why he expected me?""He has not even told me that he expected you.""No?"The word was highly expressive;there was surprise in it and a touch of wonder,but more than all,satisfaction."Oswald was always close-mouthed,"he declared."It's a good fault;I'm obliged to the boy."These last words were uttered with a lightness which imposed upon his two highly agitated hearers,causing Mr.Challoner to frown and Doris to shrink back in indignation at the man who could indulge in a sportive suggestion in presence of such fears,if not of such memories,as the situation evoked.But to one who knew the strong and self-contained man -to Sweetwater possibly,had he been present,-there was in this very attempt -in his quiet manner and in the strange and fitful flash of his ordinarily quick eye,that which showed he was labouring -and had been labouring almost from his first entrance,under an excitement of thought and feeling which in one of his powerfully organised nature must end and that soon in an outburst of mysterious passion which would carry everything before it.But he did not mean that it should happen here.He was too accustomed to self-command to forget himself in this presence.He would hold these rampant dogs in leash till the hour of solitude;then -a glittering smile twisted his lips as he continued to gaze,first at the girl who had just entered his life,and then at the man he had every reason to distrust,and with that firm restraint upon himself still in full force,remarked,with a courteous inclination:

"The hour is late for further conversation.I have a room at the hotel and will return to it at once.In the morning I hope to see my brother."He was going,Doris not knowing what to say,Mr.Challoner not desirous of detaining him,when there came the sound of a little tinkle from the other side of the hall,blanching the young girl's cheeks and causing Orlando Brotherson's brows to rise in peculiar satisfaction.

"My brother?"he asked.

"Yes,"came in faltering reply."He has heard our voices;I must go to him.""Say that Orlando wishes him a good night,"smiled her heart's enemy,with a bow of infinite grace.

She shuddered,and was hastening from the room when her glance fell on Mr.Challoner.He was pale and looked greatly disturbed.The prospect of being left alone with a man whom she had herself denounced to him as his daughter's murderer,might prove a tax to his strength to which she had no right to subject him.Pausing with an appealing air,she made him a slight gesture which he at once understood.

"I will accompany you into the hall,"said he."Then if anything is wrong,you have but to speak my name."But Orlando Brotherson,displeased by this move,took a step which brought him between the two.

"You can hear her from here if she chooses to speak.There's a point to be settled between us before either of us leaves this house,and this opportunity is as good as another.Go to my brother,Miss Scott;we will await your return."A flash from the proud banker's eye;but no demur,rather a gesture of consent.Doris,with a look of deep anxiety,sped away,and the two men stood face to face.

It was one of those moments which men recognise as memorable.What had the one to say or the other to hear,worthy of this preamble and the more than doubtful relation in which they stood each to each?

Mr.Challoner had more time than he expected in which to wonder and gird himself for whatever suffering or shock awaited him.For,Orlando Brotherson,unlike his usual self,kept him waiting while he collected his own wits,which,strange to say,seemed to have vanished with the girl.

But the question finally came.

"Mr.Challoner,do you know my brother?"

"I have never seen him."

"Do you know him?Does he know you?"

"Not at all.We are strangers."

It was said honestly.They did not know each other.Mr.Challoner was quite correct in his statement.

But the other had his doubts.Why shouldn't he have?The coincidence of finding this mourner if not avenger of Edith Challoner,in his own direct radius again,at a spot so distant,so obscure and so disconnected with any apparent business reason,was certainly startling enough unless the tie could be found in his brother's name and close relationship to himself.

He,therefore,allowed himself to press the question:

"Men sometimes correspond who do not know each other.You knew that a Brotherson lived here?""Yes."

"And hoped to learn something about me "No;my interest was solely with your brother.""With my brother?With Oswald?What interest can you have in him apart from me?Oswald is -"Suddenly a thought name -an unimaginable one;one with power to blanch even his hardy cheek and shake a soul unassailable by all small emotions.