elind 
 
 ia 
 
 
 I i'.i .' r; , ; -
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 ELIZABETH FERRIS 
 
 **

 
 T h e w ay 
 
 of 
 
 Belinda 
 
 BY 
 
 Frances Weston Carruth 
 
 Author of 
 "Those Dale Girls" 
 
 New York 
 
 Dodd y Mead & Company 
 1901
 
 Copyright, 1901, 
 By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY.
 
 " Wise choice to you, Belinda ! Man's no easy thing to 
 
 measure, 
 
 For now and then he justifies the shape he's moulded in ; 
 And then, again, he doesn't ; still, an able woman's leisure 
 May find worse use than steering him, and helping him 
 to win." 
 
 E. S. MARTIN. 
 
 2227S14
 
 TO MY MOTHER 
 IN APPRECIATION
 
 THE WAY OF BELINDA 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Time and chance are but a tide." 
 
 BURNS. 
 
 WITH hands deep in pockets and hat pulled 
 well down over his eyes, Jerry Blake, reporter, 
 came swinging up Rivington Street late one 
 winter afternoon, wishing something would 
 happen. He had been over to the East River on 
 an assignment connected with a supposed murder 
 case, which had turned out to be no murder, but 
 merely a drunken brawl, the like of which was 
 so common in that quarter as to have no story 
 in it. And he wanted a story, a rattling good 
 story to take back to his chief when he returned 
 to the office and reported on this assignment. 
 : Rivington Street seemed to him exasperatingly 
 commonplace as he came along. A snow-storm 
 and the gathering darkness combined to soften
 
 2 The Way of Belinda 
 
 the aspect of the buildings, which formed a 
 sombre background for the street alive with 
 shouting, clamorous children, playing in dirty 
 snow piled high from the storm of two days 
 previous. Few people passed. It was yet too 
 early for the great outpouring from shops and 
 factories, but an occasional long-bearded patri- 
 archical Hebrew, carrying a heavy burden of 
 men's clothing over one arm, lent an air of pictu- 
 resqueness to the scene. In the street, carts, 
 pushed by Yiddish vendors, picked their way in 
 and out among the children and took up such 
 advantageous places along the sidewalk as had 
 not already been secured by their rivals. Children 
 rich in the possession of a penny stopped play 
 long enough to purchase wofully sticky candy, 
 a banana or an apple much the worse for age, 
 while every few blocks a group of ragged urchins 
 shivered round a small bonfire built without fear 
 of the police, who in that district shut their eyes 
 to much it is convenient not to see. 
 
 Blake observed these things, but they did not 
 interest him he had seen them so many times 
 before. Suddenly his attention was arrested by 
 the sight of three boys sneaking round the end 
 of a push-cart, grabbing handfuls of fruit so 
 decayed that it squashed in their fingers as they
 
 The Way of Belinda 3 
 
 ran, while the vendor, unconscious of being 
 robbed, was crying out the merits of his extra-fine 
 fruit at bargain prices. Blake watched the boys 
 gather farther down in the middle of the street 
 and hurl an occasional apple, dipped in snow, at 
 a passer-by. Watchful lest he fall a victim him- 
 self, he had about decided to attempt the fun of 
 collaring the youngsters when he saw emerge 
 from a low frame house some yards ahead 
 a young woman leading a little child. The 
 next instant a volley of decayed fruit struck 
 them, frightening the child so that she slipped and 
 fell. 
 
 The young woman sprang toward the boys, 
 her eyes blazing. " How dare you ! " she cried, 
 " how dare you, you cowards, to strike a child ! " 
 
 Capering with delight, the ringleader jumped 
 beyond reach, took off his cap in mock obeisance, 
 and with superb insolence threw kisses to her. 
 The next moment he howled with pain as some 
 one sprang at him from behind, clutching him 
 with a ferocious grip. 
 
 The other boys fled. 
 
 " You young hound," cried Blake, nearly 
 shaking the life out of him, " I'll teach you to 
 insult ladies with your dirty tricks ! " Holding 
 him by the nape of the neck, he leaped from street
 
 4 The Way of Belinda 
 
 to sidewalk, where the girl was gathering the 
 child up in her arms. 
 
 " Are you hurt ? " he asked eagerly, " or the 
 child ? May I will you allow me to be of assist- 
 ance ? " In his interest in the girl his hold on 
 the culprit relaxed. By a frantic jerk the boy 
 freed himself, and with an exultant yell raced 
 madly down the street. A muttered imprecation 
 escaped the man, now riveting his attention on 
 the girl beside him. 
 
 " I am not hurt," she was saying, trembling 
 with the indignity to which she had been sub- 
 jected, and so startled out of her usual composure 
 that she was scarcely conscious she was talking 
 to a stranger ; " but I think the child is or 
 frightened, perhaps both. Don't cry, ' Lady 
 Redbreast,' " to the little girl, who was sobbing 
 on her shoulder ; " you're all right. I'll carry you 
 home." Then to the man, " She is lame. Can 
 you tell me how to get to Orchard Street?" 
 
 " Let me carry her there for you," he 
 said impulsively ; "I know the tenement, it 
 is not ten minutes' walk. It will be no trouble at 
 all." 
 
 " Thank you," she said simply, " I shall be 
 really glad if you will." She shifted the child 
 to him, and Blake took her clumsily with a curi-
 
 The Way of Belinda 5 
 
 ous thrill as the little arms tightened about his 
 neck. 
 
 " Youse come, too," between her sobs, said 
 " Lady Redbreast" to the girl. 
 
 Together the three went down the street, snow 
 swirling about them, the wind now and then 
 nearly lifting the girl from her feet. Relieved 
 of the child, she was suddenly conscious that she 
 was covered with fruit stains from head to foot. 
 A hot flush of rage swept over her. Instinctively 
 she put her hand to her head, to find her hat 
 had been knocked well off her fluffy hair. She 
 straightened it and pushed on through the storm, 
 angry that she should have suffered such indigni- 
 ties, c 
 
 ,, Near the door of Orchard Street a girl of 
 ten pounced upon them. " Oh, Miss Leigh ! " 
 she exclaimed, " youse must be put out havin' to 
 get a gentleman to bring Janie from the kinder- 
 garten club. I didn't know as how it was stormin' 
 or I'd a bin before." 
 
 " I thought you'd forgotten her, Susie. She 
 was the only one to-day." 
 
 Susie led the way into the tenement. 
 
 " Shall I carry her upstairs ? " Blake asked the 
 girl at his side. 
 
 " Oh, no, miss sir, I mean" said Susie,
 
 6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 answering instead ; " she mos allus walks. There 
 ain't nothin' the matter with you, is there, 
 Janie ? " looking with sudden suspicion at the 
 little girl. 
 
 " No," was the reply, " I ain't hurted ; I fell 
 down, but I ain't hurted. I ' tucked my head 
 under my wing, poor thing,' like the robin we 
 wus singin' 'bout," looking shyly up at the young 
 woman beside her. 
 
 " What a clever little girl. You're a robin 
 yourself, ' Lady Redbreast,' you know I told you 
 so. You must go up now with Susie and keep 
 yourself warm, like the other robins." 
 
 " Ain't a real robin. I seed one onct," she 
 volunteered, " up to Miss Helen Gould's they 
 wus hoppin' round on the grass." 
 
 " How splendid ! " remembering as she started 
 her upstairs to have heard that this deformed 
 mite had been sent the previous spring from the 
 hospital to the home for convalescent children 
 which Miss Gould had opened on the Hudson. 
 " And now they're all sitting in the barn, waiting 
 for summer to come again." 
 
 " Ain't a real robin," the child said again with 
 an evident desire to be contradicted. 
 
 " You're my real robin, * Lady Redbreast/ ' 
 said the girl ; and, stooping, kissed her.
 
 The Way of Belinda 7 
 
 Susie took her by the hand, and they vanished 
 up the stairway. 
 
 Partly because of the man and partly because 
 of the unusualness of the situation, a sudden 
 embarrassment seized the girl. " I must be a 
 perfect fright ! " she exclaimed self-consciously, 
 at the same time making little dabs at the stains 
 on her gown with a diminutive handkerchief. 
 This feminine appeal affected him queerly, and 
 he was seized with a desire to comfort her with 
 the assurance that the spots did not show, but as 
 quickly realized the remark would be idiotic in 
 view of the fact that they were so conspicuous; 
 and, moreover, he had no right to take advantage 
 of the situation. " You're pretty well covered 
 with snow," was what he said. 
 
 She nodded and turned to go out, but as she 
 reached the door was blown sharply against him. 
 
 He put out his hands to steady her, and then 
 said, " If you are going uptown, you will let me 
 walk with you to the car, will you not? The 
 storm is increasing," in a matter-of-fact tone, 
 quite as if taking stray damsels under his protec- 
 tion were the business of his life. 
 
 She, alarmed at finding herself out so late, 
 alone in such a quarter of the town, acquiesced 
 with sudden shyness.
 
 8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 No further word was spoken between them, 
 but she more than once was conscious of his 
 protection, the skilful manner in which he guided 
 her, warding off first this person and then that, 
 so that in all that storm-driven crowd now 
 hurrying home from work none brushed against 
 her. When they reached the corner of the 
 Bowery and stood for a moment under the full 
 glare of the electric light, they for the first time 
 saw each other face to face. A quick look of 
 recognition crossed the man's. Over hers fleeted 
 varying expressions in which gratitude and 
 embarrassment were intermingled. She looked 
 up at him, and began to speak: 
 
 " I am so oh, there's my car ! " was all she 
 said. 
 
 She darted into the street, he beside her. The 
 car stopped, and she was forced to stand aside 
 while several passengers alighted. Slipping her 
 hand out of her muff, she held it out shyly. 
 " Thank you," she began with pretty confusion, 
 and stopped. She had meant to say more, but 
 speech forsook her. Perhaps the man under- 
 stood, for his face lighted as he took her hand 
 in a hearty clasp. " Thank you," he replied, 
 lifting his hat, and the next instant she was gone. 
 
 Conflicting thoughts chased through Blake's
 
 The Way of Belinda 9 
 
 mind as he boarded the downtown car for Park 
 Row. From the instant he had seen the urchins 
 stealing rotten fruit on Rivington Street to the 
 moment they had attacked the girl and child on 
 the doorsteps his mind had leaped to the belief 
 that at last something was happening. While 
 capturing the boy, while proffering his assistance 
 to the girl, no detail of the situation had escaped 
 him. He had pushed his way into the thick of it 
 with a genuine desire to help, but all the while 
 his newspaper instinct had been keenly alive to 
 the possibilities of a story. No sooner had he 
 found them unharmed, however, than it had been 
 manifestly clear that, from a newspaper point of 
 view, there was nothing in it for him. This had 
 not prevented his seeing the thing through, but 
 all the way along he had inwardly raged at the 
 commonplace ending to what promised to be 
 a mighty good story if only the attack had 
 resulted in some striking incident say a broken 
 leg or arm or some serious injury like that. As 
 it was, it had turned out an incident, annoying 
 to her, no doubt; to him merely an episode. 
 When at the corner of the Bowery he had had 
 his first distinct look at her face and recognized 
 her as a certain Miss Leigh, whose name figured 
 in the society papers as conspicuous in a fashion-
 
 io The Way of Belinda 
 
 able set, more than ever had he felt defrauded. 
 There were reporters, of course, who, taking 
 what material there was, would work up a sensa- 
 tional story, with pictures and big head-lines, but 
 his paper was not of saffron hue. 
 
 Yet now, as he stood on the rear platform of 
 the car, he found himself savagely wishing the 
 girl had, at least, been knocked unconscious, in 
 which case, in view of her social prominence, the 
 surroundings, and the unusual nature of the 
 attack, all combined would have been good for 
 half a column, perhaps more, in his best writing. 
 
 With aggravating clearness he could see its 
 pictorial possibilities. The low, frame house, the 
 girl emerging, an indefinable air of elegance 
 about her, in strong contrast to the tenement mite 
 at her side. Below her, the moving panorama 
 of the sidewalk; beyond, the street alive with 
 romping children; to one side, the group of mis- 
 chievous urchins. Then the attack, his proffer 
 of assistance, the girl's evident unfamiliarity 
 with her surroundings, the walk to the tenement 
 and to the car, the darkness closing in, the snow 
 swirling round them. Gad! in the handling of 
 the girl what a chance for delicacy of treatment 
 how it appealed to his imagination! 
 
 All this chased fantastically through the man's
 
 The Way of Belinda 1 1 
 
 mind until suddenly into these journalistic flights 
 whirled the personality of the girl herself. With 
 a start he found himself viewing her from a new 
 standpoint. She was no longer mere possible 
 " copy," but a girl, young, unprotected, appealing. 
 In vivid flashes she stood before him in a series 
 of pictures woven of the mind, but colored by the 
 heart, though Blake himself would have been the 
 last to acknowledge it. He saw her, strong, 
 defiant, bravely facing the boys with righteous 
 wrath; the tender womanliness toward the little 
 child, for whom she was so solicitous that she 
 gave no thought to her own annoyance and 
 plight. He heard her voice ; glowed in the recol- 
 lection of the confidence implied in her frank 
 acceptance of his assistance. Felt the tight clasp 
 of the child's arms about his neck; remembered 
 the girl's embarrassment over her gown, her 
 shyness under the electric light, and at the car 
 the sweet, impulsive way she had put out her 
 hand to thank him as she said good-by. She had 
 trusted him, a complete stranger, as not one girl 
 in a thousand would have done, and he had had 
 the impudence to allow his mind to weave repor- 
 torial pictures of her and to rail against circum- 
 stances that had brought no injury upon her to 
 serve his selfish and cold-blooded ends!
 
 1 2 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Of Blake the reporter, a wave of disgust swept 
 over Blake the man. Following this, the swift 
 realization that the man was still uppermost filled 
 him with a satisfaction hard to define. Then his 
 training reasserted itself, and the car having 
 reached its terminus, Blake the reporter swung 
 off the rear platform and hurried down the street, 
 office bound.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "Tis with our judgments as our watches, none 
 Go just alike, yet each believes his own." 
 
 POPE. 
 
 IN her apartment in a fashionable hotel on 
 Fifth Avenue sat Madame Ronalds, turning the 
 pages of a magazine, reading never a word. 
 Engrossed was her mind and greatly perturbed 
 by the non-appearance of her granddaughter, 
 Belinda Leigh, who had refused to make the 
 usual round of calls that afternoon and had 
 insisted upon going down on some crazy expedi- 
 tion to that impossible section of the town known 
 as the East Side. To Madame Ronalds the 
 unknown was always " impossible ;" moreover, 
 she highly disapproved of Belinda's interest in 
 philanthropic or other interests outside the con- 
 ventional beaten track which she herself unswerv- 
 ingly followed. 
 
 Since the day when first she began to talk, 
 Belinda had been to Madame Ronalds an enigma.
 
 14 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Just why her granddaughter could not have been 
 comfortably patterned along her own lines was 
 a matter over which she pondered. Much specula- 
 tion, however, left her at the end of Belinda's 
 twentieth year no nearer a solution of their 
 diverse natures and with no clearer comprehen- 
 sion of Belinda's vagaries than on that never- 
 to-be-forgotten morning when Ethel Ronalds 
 Leigh, slipping out of life, had left to her mother 
 the week-old baby as a legacy. She was never 
 like other babies, so, to her consternation, Madame 
 Ronalds found; a discovery which led her to 
 regard the child as an uncanny imp to be avoided 
 as much as possible. All the elfishness which 
 looked out from her big, inquiring gray eyes and 
 twisted her baby locks into refractory curls over 
 her tiny head was attributed to her father poet, 
 scholar, idealist, reformer, all things unworldly 
 who, in the face of Madame Ronalds's opposi- 
 tion, dared to marry her Ethel, only to die before 
 his baby girl saw light. It was his voice, low, 
 dominant, echoing with startling distinctness 
 through the child's; his mind wrought into hers 
 that led her from the days of infantine prattle 
 to question the workings of the universe. " Why" 
 had been the keynote of Belinda's life. Not the 
 why of mere curiosity, but the deeper yearning
 
 The Way of Belinda 15 
 
 of her nature to know the truth of all things. 
 And, it must be confessed, she was not in the 
 way of having these yearnings satisfied through 
 intercourse with her grandmother. Nevertheless, 
 though inwardly they were singularly remote, 
 outwardly their relations were more cordial than 
 might have been expected, a fact largely due to 
 the sunniness of Belinda's disposition a sunni- 
 ness which pervaded her personality in spite of 
 a pronounced tendency to self-analysis and 
 introspection. 
 
 As the moments sped on, and still the girl did 
 not come, Madame Ronalds was thinking that 
 she had in a measure brought this anxiety upon 
 herself by allowing Belinda to go about the town 
 alone. Belinda's mother up to the day of her 
 marriage had never left her mother's sight with- 
 out a maid or other suitable protector; but 
 Belinda, full grown at seventeen, had rebelled 
 and claimed such liberty as came from the free- 
 dom to go about unattended. It was not the 
 girl's pleading, but motives of economy, which 
 had led Madame Ronalds to consent to this 
 innovation. 
 
 Economy, indeed, for fifteen years past had 
 been the pivot on which Madame Ronalds's life 
 swung. Owing to a series of unprofitable invest-
 
 1 6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 ments, she had been forced to study it from every 
 standpoint, and thereby had reduced it to such 
 a science that, on a ludicrously small income she 
 continued to live in one of the small but most 
 expensive hotels in the Avenue, which for eighteen 
 years had been her home, while she held her own 
 in the fashionable and exclusive society in which 
 she had been born and bred. To have launched 
 Belinda as successfully as she had the previous 
 season was, under the circumstances, itself an 
 achievement worthy a strategist, and none knew 
 this so well as the astute Madame herself. The 
 debutante's frock had come straight from Paris; 
 the reception in the ballroom of the hotel was 
 perfect in every detail; all was characterized by 
 that rich simplicity supposed to be attained only 
 by possessors of unlimited wealth. Just how all 
 this had been accomplished only Madame and 
 possibly the manager of the hotel and possibly 
 the modiste knew. Certainly, society did not, 
 nor even Belinda, who was most concerned. 
 
 The overweening desire of Madame Ronalds's 
 life was that Belinda should make a brilliant 
 marriage. Her daughter had wofully disap- 
 pointed her, Belinda should not. The girl had 
 received several excellent offers during her first 
 season, but was singularly indifferent to her
 
 The Way of Belinda 17 
 
 opportunities. This, thought her grandmother, 
 was only natural coquetry, but now she deter- 
 mined that Belinda should marry before the end 
 of her second season; indeed, from a financial 
 standpoint it was imperative, and who could be 
 more eligible than Dan Denbeigh? 
 
 With the possibilities of this alliance with the 
 son of a millionaire Madame Ronalds was play- 
 ing when Belinda burst into the room. 
 
 " I've been greatly alarmed about you ! " 
 exclaimed her grandmother, " and why are you 
 so late?" scrutinizing her sharply. "Your 
 clothes are in a shocking condition! Were you 
 exposed to the storm ? You look thoroughly wet 
 through." 
 
 " Yes," replied the girl, " I had no umbrella, 
 and the storm is fearful." 
 
 " You should have taken a cab. It is absurd, 
 dangerous to expose yourself like this." 
 
 " It won't do me any harm, Nana," replied the 
 girl, passing into the adjoining bedroom to 
 remove her wet clothes. 
 
 Her grandmother followed her. 
 
 " Where have you been ? " she demanded. 
 
 " Down at Miss Lovering's. Don't you re- 
 member I told you I was going, Nana? I would 
 have been back long ago but for the storm and
 
 1 8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 an accident. Only one of the children came 
 and" 
 
 " Don't tell me anything about those tiresome 
 children," interrupted her grandmother. " They 
 do not interest me in the least, and your wilful 
 persistence in going down to such impossible 
 places annoys me, as you know, inexpressibly. 
 Miss Lovering " 
 
 " I love her dearly/' challenged the girl, at 
 once on the defensive. 
 
 " Miss Lovering is responsible for " 
 
 " You used to like her," interrupted Belinda. 
 
 " As a governess she was exceptional your 
 education proves it but from the moment she 
 inherited a little money she lost her wits. Instead 
 of settling down on her income and living like 
 a lady, she must needs go down into the slums, 
 take a ramshackle old house, and waste all her 
 time, strength, and money over a lot of perfectly 
 worthless foreigners who, I don't doubt, would 
 much prefer to be let alone." 
 
 " Oh, Nana," the girl protested, "it had always 
 been the dream of her life to live and work among 
 the poor. If only you knew how much good she 
 does and how happy she is ! " 
 
 " She was very careful never to express any 
 such Quixotic views before me," remarked the
 
 The Way of Belinda 19 
 
 woman ; " but as I was about to remark when 
 you rudely interrupted me, she is undeniably 
 responsible for much of this tiresome nonsense 
 which is coming out in you, and I should be glad 
 if you'd see no more of her." She was watching 
 the girl shake out her skirt and hang it near the 
 radiator to dry. " What is the matter with your 
 gown ? " she asked ; " it looks as if it had been 
 spattered with something." 
 
 " It was. Oh, Nana, such a fright as I had ! " 
 began the girl impulsively. 
 
 " Spare me the details, my dear," broke in the 
 woman ; " further talk about this afternoon's 
 expedition is distasteful. I suppose you remem- 
 ber you're dining to-night at half after eight at 
 the Denbeighs' ? " 
 
 " Yes," responded the girl, wishing she didn't 
 have to go. 
 
 " Dan will, no doubt, take you in to dinner," 
 continued the woman. 
 
 " It seems to be a matter of course at the 
 Denbeighs'," commented the girl indifferently. 
 
 " It is his mother's tacit acknowledgment that 
 the affair has her sanction. The sooner you 
 marry him, Belinda, the better." 
 
 " He hasn't asked me for a week," she re- 
 marked flippantly.
 
 2o The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Belinda, you try me beyond endurance ! " 
 
 " There, there, Nana, don't scold," she pleaded ; 
 " I do want to please you, truly I do ; but I don't 
 want to marry yet," with a wistful smile. 
 
 Madame Ronalds shrugged her shoulders 
 impatiently. " All girls say that," was her re- 
 joinder. " You know my wishes in regard to 
 Dan, and they coincide with those of his people 
 and with his own. You have no money, Belinda, 
 and I little less than you imagine. I have 
 sacrificed everything to your social success, and 
 as a result you're one of the most attractive, 
 well-set-up girls in your set ; and Dan Denbeigh, 
 one of the most eligible partis in society to-day, 
 is in love with you." 
 
 " But I don't love him," protested the girl, who 
 felt like a bird imprisoned in the hand and about 
 to be thrust into a golden cage. 
 
 " That does not signify, you will learn to love 
 him. It is much more to the point just now that 
 he loves you," argued her worldly mentor. 
 
 " You make it all so sordid, Nana," with a little 
 shudder. 
 
 " Nonsense, Belinda, you're too much inclined 
 to be opinionated. If you were a woman with 
 my experience of life, instead of a child, you 
 would know I have your welfare at heart and
 
 The Way of Belinda 2 1 
 
 am talking sound common-sense." Then in her 
 most autocratic manner she added, " What I 
 consider best for you, Belinda, is not a matter 
 I allow even you to question;" and with this 
 finality she left the room. 
 
 In five minutes she returned with a cup of hot 
 bouillon and some biscuit. " Take these," she 
 said pleasantly, " and lie down for fifteen minutes. 
 I'll come and call you when it is time to dress." 
 
 It was part of Madame Ronalds's creed that 
 Belinda should be nourished with warm drinks 
 and put to bed as often as possible between her 
 goings out and comings in. Thus systematically 
 seizing every opportunity to rest, the girl was 
 kept radiantly fresh in spite of late hours and the 
 relentless demands of fashionable life. Vigorous 
 Belinda during her first season had thought this 
 coddling foolish, and frequently rebelled ; but she 
 had learned the wisdom of it, and was now really 
 dependent on the brief rest snatched in this way. 
 In lieu of a maid, Madame Ronalds waited on her. 
 This fact, like many another, was carefully 
 guarded from their world, which, seeing Belinda 
 at balls and dinners with her own maid in attend- 
 ance, remained ignorant of the fact that this 
 accessory was one of the hotel servants permitted 
 by the courtesy of the manager to be at Madame
 
 22 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Ronalds's disposal when her day's work was 
 done. 
 
 Belinda, having drunk the bouillon, threw 
 herself on the couch, closed her eyes and heaved 
 a long sigh. More from excitement than any- 
 thing else she was desperately tired and thankful 
 to be alone to think over the events of that after- 
 noon. Now that she was safe in her own home, 
 it hardly seemed possible that such a strange 
 thing could have happened to her. She had come 
 in with her mind full of it, excited by the unusual- 
 ness of it her first real adventure. And though 
 not given to many confidences with her grand- 
 mother, she had meant to tell her all about it, 
 had not that individual's condemnatory attitude 
 at once made it impossible for her to do so. 
 Defrauded of natural outlet, the facts assumed 
 undue importance, immediately became intensified 
 in the girl's mind, and the personality of the man 
 more than the events themselves persistently 
 engrossed her. From a safe distance, now that 
 she thought it over, she was appalled that she had 
 allowed a stranger such privileges, but at the 
 time it had seemed the most natural thing 
 in the world. Something in his manner and 
 voice had won her immediate confidence. She 
 could not analyze it, but she felt it at the time
 
 The Way of Belinda 23 
 
 and she felt it now in retrospect. She could 
 recall his appearance perfectly, though she was 
 in doubt as to the color of his eyes. But his 
 clean-shaven face with its well-cut though some- 
 what irregular features stood out clearly before 
 her, and she remembered in the brief moment 
 when she had looked squarely at him to have been 
 impressed by its strength, particularly as shown 
 in the well-moulded mouth and chin. She won- 
 dered who he was and what he happened to be 
 doing in Rivington Street, and then she smiled 
 as she thought he'd have good reason to wonder 
 in the same way about her. For his sudden 
 appearance and courteous protection she was 
 thankful, for to herself she was willing to confess 
 she had been thoroughly frightened. Reverting 
 to the boys, she speculated with considerable 
 curiosity as to why she was singled out as a target 
 for decayed fruit, or was this, perhaps, one of 
 the little pleasantries of the East Side, about 
 which she knew so little and Miss Lovering so 
 much? In the first instant of her rage against 
 the boys she had inwardly vowed she'd never go 
 down there again, but that passed. She wanted 
 to help Miss Lovering, and she liked singing 
 songs and telling stories to the children of her 
 kindergarten club, in some of whom she was
 
 24 The Way of Belinda 
 
 greatly interested, little Janie, whom she had 
 dubbed " Lady Redbreast," most of all. How 
 contented the mite had been to have the man 
 carry her no doubt, she liked his strong arms. 
 How well he seemed to know the neighborhood, 
 the house " tenement," he called it where 
 " Lady Redbreast" lived ! Perhaps he lived 
 down there perhaps he was one of those serious 
 young University Settlement men of whom Miss 
 Levering had told her perhaps 
 
 She woke with a start, looking up with a 
 bewildered expression at her grandmother, who 
 was impressing on her the necessity of rising to 
 dress.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " It sometimes happens that one looks for one 
 thing and finds another." 
 
 SANCHO PANZA. 
 
 THE Denbeighs, after eighteen years in the 
 metropolis, regarded themselves as an old New 
 York family. At least, the younger members 
 did. Mrs. Denbeigh knew better, while Mr. 
 Denbeigh gave no thought to the matter. Of 
 wealth there was plenty, traditions none, and 
 Mrs. Denbeigh knew the value of traditions; 
 knew, too, they could not be bought, nor were 
 they to be acquired in one generation. 
 
 Ambitious to found a family name, Mrs. Den- 
 beigh attached the highest importance to a good 
 background, and thus it came about that their 
 life in New York had its beginning in Washing- 
 ton Square. The house selected was the old 
 Ronalds mansion, purchased from Madame 
 Ronalds, who had put it on the market directly 
 after her husband's death. Negotiations for the 
 property were left entirely to Mrs. Denbeigh,
 
 26 The Way of Belinda 
 
 whose husband was provokingly indifferent to 
 the matter of residence. Through their brokers 
 she and Madame Ronalds met, which led to an 
 acquaintance, never ripening into friendship for 
 Madame Ronalds did not make friends of " new " 
 people yet cordial in its relations, of im- 
 mense advantage to Mrs. Denbeigh and no small 
 advantage to Madame Ronalds, as that astute 
 woman reasoned, when she decided in a measure 
 to take her up. She did not go to the length of 
 standing Mrs. Denbeigh's social godmother and 
 launching her in her own exclusive set, but occa- 
 sionally, as the seasons passed, threw her a sop 
 in the way of an invitation to luncheon to meet 
 social luminaries, and was always most thought- 
 ful in allowing her to subscribe liberally to 
 fashionable charities and to buy unlimited tickets 
 for the many and varied entertainments, chari- 
 table and otherwise, at which Madame Ronalds 
 figured as patroness. Mrs. Denbeigh willingly 
 allowed herself to be governed in the choice of 
 milliners and modistes, to whom she gave such 
 extravagant orders that she was much desired as 
 a customer. And her patronage, secured through 
 Madame Ronalds, who, as the years went on, 
 was constantly recommending new tradespeople, 
 gave unlimited credit to that individual, and
 
 The Way of Belinda 27 
 
 enabled her in many ways, of which Mrs. Den- 
 beigh was unconscious, to profit by her connection 
 with the nouveau riche. 
 
 By studious conformity to the most approved 
 standards, Mrs. Denbeigh, rung by rung, slowly 
 climbed the social ladder, a feat requiring infinite 
 patience and agility, and one which left upon her 
 countenance the mark of many an ambitious 
 conflict, of many a bitter disappointment. 
 
 Dinner at the Denbeighs' commonly meant to 
 Belinda a prolonged tete-d,-tete with Dan, whose 
 conversation was pretty much confined to making 
 love to her in and out of season. At first this 
 had amused her, but now it annoyed her, for she 
 wearied of sentimental utterances to which she 
 was unresponsive, though she liked him well 
 enough to try to keep friendly with him. To- 
 night, as usual, he took her out to dinner, 
 confiding to her on the way that she looked 
 " perfectly ripping." Her smile in response to 
 this drew forth from him the remark, in tones 
 intense, that he'd been living all day in the 
 thought of seeing her, to which she made a light 
 rejoinder as they were seated. A few minutes 
 later she heard the words " University Settle- 
 ment" from the man on her left, and at the first 
 opportunity she spoke to him. He proved to be
 
 28 The Way of Belinda 
 
 a young Englishman, a social reformer over here 
 to study American methods. For the life of her 
 Belinda could not have told why University 
 Settlements attracted her, but of a sudden they 
 seemed the most interesting thing in the world. 
 And she drew the Englishman out, listening the 
 while to his talk with such absorbed attention 
 that the man was flattered into a long account 
 of the philanthropic movement, as he viewed it, 
 completely forgetting Miss Denbeigh, whom he 
 had taken in to dinner, while Dan sulked in his 
 seat, an ominous frown on his heavy young face. 
 To Belinda it was quite the pleasantest dinner 
 she ever had at the Denbeighs', and it ended all 
 too soon. At the signal from Mrs. Denbeigh 
 reluctantly she left the table, not deigning to look 
 at Dan, who muttered some boyish threat as she 
 passed, but turning to flash back a smile at the 
 Englishman. 
 
 " Belinda," said Leila Denbeigh, when Mrs. 
 Denbeigh and the girls reached the drawing- 
 room, " for a girl who pretends not to flirt, you 
 behaved rather queerly with Mr. Westcote." 
 
 " Did I ? " she replied, confident of what was 
 coming. 
 
 " You did. You encouraged him outrageously. 
 He scarcely spoke a word to me. Now, you may
 
 The Way of Belinda 29 
 
 as well stop where you are, for Mr. Westcote 
 belongs to me." 
 
 " Exclusively ? " asked the other girl quizzi- 
 cally. 
 
 " Exclusively." 
 
 Belinda raised her eyebrows. "Are felicitations 
 in order, Leila? " 
 
 " Don't be so literal, Belinda ; I've only seen 
 him twice. He brought letters to father. To 
 tell the truth, his philanthropy bores me horribly, 
 but he's adorably good looking, and I'm going 
 slumming with him. Mamma makes a great fuss 
 over him insisted on his dining here to-night, 
 though he doesn't like society. He's awfully well 
 connected in England heir to an earldom, and 
 I suspect mamma has designs on him." 
 
 " I should say you had," commented Belinda. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," self-consciously ; " any- 
 way, he'd be useful if we go to London next 
 season, and in the meantime I'm going to have 
 fun with him." Leila smiled suggestively. 
 
 " Don't," protested Belinda ; " he's too nice." 
 
 " Too nice for me ? " 
 
 " To victimize, yes." 
 
 " Um! You were willing enough to victimize 
 him during dinner." 
 
 " I was really interested in hearing his
 
 30 The Way of Belinda 
 
 theories," said the other seriously. " I never 
 heard any one talk like that before." 
 
 "Rubbish!" retorted Leila; "I don't believe 
 you care any more for his theories than I do. 
 You thought he was nice, so you smiled at him 
 in that fetching way you have till he didn't know 
 there was any one around but you. You might 
 as well be honest." 
 
 " Leila, you're absurd when you talk like that," 
 realizing even as she said it the futility of arguing 
 with her. " I don't delight in dangling scalps 
 at my belt, as you do, and you know perfectly well 
 that I hate the cold-blooded way you talk about 
 such things. I like to have sensible talk with 
 men when I can. It's a relief after all the silly 
 twaddle one hears." 
 
 " Do you always have to be so fascinating 
 when they're just ' sensible' ? " caustically asked 
 Leila, who all her life had been jealous of Belinda. 
 
 The girl turned from her with a disgusted 
 shrug. " You never understand, because you 
 won't," she replied; and leaving her, joined a 
 group of girls, whose sudden animation indicated 
 that the men were trooping into the drawing- 
 room. 
 
 Dinner at the Denbeighs' that night was fol- 
 lowed by a dance. The arrival of a hundred
 
 The Way of Belinda 31 
 
 or more people sent the dinner guests to the 
 ballroom, where Dan claimed Belinda for the 
 first dance. To this she gladly acquiesced, for 
 she delighted in dancing, and Dan was an ideal 
 partner. Moreover, under the circumstances, it 
 was far pleasanter to dance with him than to talk 
 to him. He murmured a few words as they went 
 round, to which she made no reply. At the first 
 stop she was begged to divide the dance, and 
 went off with another man. She was deep in 
 engagements when Dan got to her again, and it 
 was not until supper, for which he had been 
 clever enough to secure her some days previous, 
 that he had any chance to talk to her, and to 
 Dan the monopolist even that was a most un- 
 satisfactory arrangement, for they shared their 
 table with two others. Across the room Belinda 
 looked for a glimpse of the Englishman, whom, 
 not seeing, she concluded had departed before 
 the dance began. Dan, the wily, carried her off 
 after supper to a corner where they were safe 
 from interruption, and there on her unoffending 
 head vented the wrath that had been consuming 
 him. She listened somewhat indifferently to his 
 tirade until he said : 
 
 " You haven't been even decent to me to- 
 night, Belinda. You've flirted right and left
 
 32 The Way of Belinda 
 
 with all the fellows that English duffer worst 
 of all. And I'm not the only one who's noticed 
 it." 
 
 " So you've been talking me over with Leila? " 
 
 " How do you know? " sullenly. 
 
 " Abuse of me is a trait you share in common." 
 
 " Well, she generally agrees with a fellow, 
 which is more than you do. Why can't you be 
 nice, Belinda ? " He leaned close and tried to 
 slip his arm around her, but she drew away. 
 
 " I would be nice, Dan, truly I would, if only 
 you'd behave and stop teasing me to love you. 
 You know we used to get on well enough before 
 you got foolish. How's your new automobile ? " 
 
 " Bother the automobile ! " refusing to be 
 mollified by her interest in his new pet. " I don't 
 care a hang about it or anything else but you, and 
 I'm going to have you." 
 
 " You've always had everything in the world 
 you set your heart on, haven't you?" she asked 
 with cool inflection. 
 
 " Certainly, and I'm going to have you," he 
 repeated with a determination that gave momen- 
 tary strength to his characterless face. " You'll 
 marry me, Belinda; our people expect it." 
 
 " You're not half as much in love with me as 
 you think you are, Dan," she said argumenta-
 
 The Way of Belinda 33 
 
 lively ; " you're really in love with yourself, and 
 I truly believe you're determined to marry me 
 just because I'm the first thing you've wanted 
 that you did not immediately get." 
 
 She had summed up the situation with wisdom 
 beyond her years. Dan scoffed at her analysis; 
 and having unburdened his mind in a manner 
 wholly satisfactory to himself, was persuaded to 
 return to the ballroom. 
 
 An hour later Belinda, followed by her maid, 
 was making her way down the stairs and through 
 the hall crowded with departing guests, all of 
 whom were chatting gaily together. Dan way- 
 laid her, asking permission to escort her to her 
 carriage, and in the second that she stopped to 
 answer him a man brushed against her and 
 .quickly stepped aside to let her pass. She turned, 
 recognized the hero of her Rivington Street 
 adventure, and flashed a smile into his half- 
 expectant face. 
 
 "Good-evening," she said in a voice that 
 brought him to her side; "I did not know you 
 were here." 
 
 In her long white wrap and trailing gown, her 
 cheeks flushed, her eyes brilliant, her pretty, 
 mobile face framed in a white hood, itself a con- 
 fusion of lace, fur, and ribbons, she stood before
 
 34 The Way of Belinda 
 
 him, the girl he had last seen on the Bowery, a 
 bewildering vision. 
 
 " I haven't been here more than ten minutes," 
 he hastened to reply, pleasure evident in her 
 recognition of him. " I came on business, and 
 have been closeted with Mr. Denbeigh and an 
 Englishman, whom I wished particularly to see. 
 I'm all out of my element here," with a compre- 
 hensive nod over the crowded hall. 
 
 " Mr. Denbeigh," cried a girl, " is it three 
 o'clock or four to-morrow you're going to take 
 me out in your automobile ? " 
 
 Dan turned to reply. 
 
 Belinda slipped by him, Blake close beside her. 
 " Of course," she was saying in answer to his 
 remark, " I understand. Mr. Westcote told me 
 so many things to-night at dinner. I think it is 
 splendid, your work so interesting and absorb- 
 ing, isn't it?" 
 
 Blake's face lighted. " Yes," he said, " it is." 
 To the man whose work was more than life 
 itself it seemed odd that this girl, a few hours 
 ago a stranger, should so quickly strike the key- 
 note of his existence. " Will you allow me to 
 put you into your carriage? " he asked formally, 
 his eyes betraying his appreciation. 
 
 She nodded and smiled as they went down the
 
 The Way of Belinda 35 
 
 steps. " It seems to be your role to-day, does 
 it not, to do escort duty to me? " 
 
 A compliment rose to his lips and was swal- 
 lowed. She was above such banalities. " I wish 
 it were a privilege not limited to to-day," he said 
 frankly, looking down in her upturned face, and 
 then hated himself for forgetting for an instant 
 that her life and his lay as wide apart as the poles. 
 
 " Perhaps it will not be," she laughed, " now 
 that we find we have friends in common. I fancy 
 you must know Miss Lovering, too." 
 
 " I don't know these people here," he hastened 
 to say, " but Miss Lovering I do know well." 
 
 " How distressed she will feel when she hears 
 what a fright ' Lady Redbreast' and I had this 
 afternoon, and how grateful she'll be to you for 
 helping us out I am, too." There was none of 
 the shyness of the afternoon about her now. She 
 was in her own world, on her own ground, self- 
 possessed and perfectly at ease with this man 
 who, meeting under the Denbeighs* roof, was no 
 longer to be regarded questioningly. And her 
 mood was radiant. She felt happy, gay, exhila- 
 rated by the excitement of the evening, the 
 surprise of running across the man who had so 
 persistently engrossed her since first they met. 
 She wished the distance to the carriage stretched
 
 36 The Way of Belinda 
 
 out immeasurably, she wished a hundred in- 
 definable things. 
 
 Blake, moved by the irresistible charm of her, 
 tightened his hold on himself and made no 
 response to her pretty show of gratitude. He 
 opened the carriage door, and would have closed 
 it after her without further speech had she not 
 leaned forward in her seat and held out her hand. 
 
 He took it impulsively. 
 
 "Good-night," she said, " and au revoir" 
 
 " Good-night," he echoed, " and good-by." 
 
 Half way up the block Belinda startled her 
 sleepy maid by the sudden exclamation, " I don't 
 know his name ! " 
 
 "Has mademoiselle forgotten something?" 
 asked Elise. 
 
 " No." 
 
 There was silence. The maid dozed. 
 
 " His eyes are gray," softly murmured Belinda.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " No matter ! His coat was guilty. They didn't 
 tear him to pieces; they tore his coat." 
 
 JAMES LANE ALLEN. 
 
 Now it happened on that stormy afternoon 
 when Belinda and Blake had their first encoun- 
 ter, that another reporter had been passing 
 through Rivington Street, eager and ever alert 
 for news. He represented a highly colored 
 journal, steeped in sensationalism and dealing 
 largely in personalities. For him the fashion- 
 ably clad girl on the doorsteps had immediate 
 interest. So did the succeeding events. He 
 recognized Blake, recognized, too, as he fol- 
 lowed them along to the tenement, that Blake's 
 interest in the matter had passed from profes- 
 sional to personal. Knew, also, that there was 
 no story in the incidents for a conservative 
 paper like Blake's. When the child had been left 
 at the tenement and the girl and man had de- 
 parted, the reporter followed them to the car,
 
 38 The Way of Belinda 
 
 saw the episode to its finish, hurried back to the 
 tenement, and extracted from Janie and her sis- 
 ter a full account of what the girl was in her re- 
 lations to them. Miss Leigh, the well-known 
 society girl ! Here was a name to conjure with. 
 He had her history at his finger tips, and her 
 mother's and her grandmother's. He remem- 
 bered he had been assigned to write them up 
 when Miss Leigh made her debut. He gloated 
 over the thought of what a good thing had come 
 his way that afternoon, and hurried down to the 
 office, where he reported to his chief, entered 
 into a brief conversation with one of the artists 
 of the paper, and with some facts and much 
 fancy set to work. 
 
 In consequence, the following morning the 
 second page of his paper blazed with lurid head- 
 lines : 
 
 " MISS LEIGH IN THE SLUMS. 
 
 WELL-KNOWN SOCIETY GIRL PELTED WITH 
 ROTTEN FRUIT. 
 
 SMALL BOYS FLEE FROM HER RESCUER, WHO 
 ASSISTS HER IN GETTING HER TENE- 
 MENT CHARGE HOME."
 
 The Way of Belinda 39 
 
 Then followed a column and a half of vivid 
 writing, minutely setting forth Miss Leigh's 
 charms, her clothes, her social position, her kin- 
 dergarten club, and in the middle the column 
 broke for the insertion of a sketch of her as she 
 stood on the steps holding the child by the hand 
 at the moment when the boys attacked them. 
 The sketch was rather cleverly done, but with- 
 out the name attached would not have been rec- 
 ognizable. A few lines in the story were given 
 to the gallantry of her rescuer, but no mention 
 was made of his name. This, however, was 
 scarcely noticeable, so entirely was it made to 
 hang on Miss Leigh, its central figure. 
 
 If the world were made up of persons who 
 minded their own business and not that of their 
 neighbors if, in fact, the world were Utopian, 
 certain it is that the story in question never 
 would have come to the notice of Madame Ron- 
 alds or Belinda. They never bought the news- 
 paper in the columns of which it appeared, nor 
 saw it in the houses of their friends. It was a 
 journal frowned on by respectability, masculine 
 and feminine, yet glanced at by respectability 
 masculine, who found in it news and whose in- 
 terest was continually piqued into speculation as 
 to what it might say or do next.
 
 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Dan saw the paper at his club, and rushed 
 home with it to his mother. To rush home with 
 things to his mother was the habit of a lifetime 
 with Dan. Not that he took her altogether into 
 his confidence, but so much so that she herself 
 thought she knew all the workings of his mind, 
 and Dan regarded her as his best friend. But to 
 pet, indulge, and thoroughly spoil a boy 
 through the twenty-four years of his life is not 
 by the unbiassed regarded as the highest form 
 of friendship. And Mrs. Denbeigh had mo- 
 ments of discovering that Dan's will was 
 stronger than her own. 
 
 She read the newspaper story of Belinda in 
 amazement, interjected with exclamations, and 
 ached to be off with it to Madame Ronalds; but 
 Dan held her back. He had grievances to air. 
 Belinda had treated him abominably the pre- 
 vious evening, and he related to his mother her 
 indifference at dinner, her unwillingness to let 
 him talk, her all too evident pleasure in the so- 
 ciety of any other man than himself, and, worst 
 offence of all, her escape from him at the last, 
 going off with whom did his mother suppose? 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " A newspaper reporter !" 
 
 " Impossible, Pan ! You're mistaken. I
 
 The Way of Belinda 41 
 
 never allow them in my house. And how could 
 Belinda know such a person? " 
 
 " Why, don't you see," exclaimed Dan, " it's 
 the man who wrote this. It must be," picking 
 up the paper again. " We were in the hall," he 
 explained, " and I was going out to the car- 
 riage with her, when Miss Archer spoke to me 
 about an engagement I'd made with her. Just 
 as I turned I saw Belinda bow to a strange man 
 who was passing. She stopped him, but by that 
 time Miss Archer had me buttonholed. When 
 I turned again I didn't see Belinda, but the crush 
 was awful then, with every one leaving at 
 once, so I thought she'd got back out of it 
 somewhere, and hunted around for her. 
 Couldn't find her all over the place. Asked 
 James. He'd seen her go out to her carriage 
 with a gentleman. Who was the gentleman? 
 James didn't know. Just then I passed father 
 and Mr. Westcote coming out of the library, and 
 I heard father say, * That Blake strikes me as a 
 remarkably keen young man.' ' What Blake? ' 
 I broke in. ' Oh, no one you know/ said father, 
 ' a reporter who's been here interviewing Mr. 
 Westcote/ I asked if he'd gone. ' Ten minutes 
 ago/ father said. I was staggered. That was 
 the fellow Belinda went off with."
 
 42 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " It's incredible !" gasped Mrs. Denbeigh. 
 
 " It's as simple as A, B, C," impatiently. 
 " Don't you see he'd evidently thrust himself 
 on Belinda down in the slums, and she got some 
 fool girl notion that he'd done a fine thing it's 
 just like her. So, last night, when he had the 
 nerve to thrust himself on her again, she was 
 idiot enough to let him. I suppose he was 
 stringing her for more copy !" 
 
 " What do you mean? " 
 
 " Getting her to talk so he could write her up 
 again. Probably to-night's paper will be an il- 
 lustrated edition of the Denbeigh mansion, and 
 more pictures of Belinda taking her departure 
 from the dance." 
 
 His mother shuddered. " Dan," she said, 
 " order my brougham. I must go at once to 
 Madame Ronalds." 
 
 " You can just tell Belinda," he cried irately, 
 " that if she's going in for duffers of that class 
 it's all over between her and me." 
 
 " Don't be absurd, Dan," said his mother, 
 who had this match dearly at heart. " Fancy 
 Belinda's associating with a reporter. You 
 might as well suspect her of conversing with 
 James ! There's some mistake about it the last 
 night part of it. Probably she was annoyed
 
 The Way of Belinda 43 
 
 that the man spoke to her, and hurried to her 
 carriage to get rid of him. She shouldn't have 
 left the house, of course, but girls often do fool- 
 ish things." 
 
 " Well," admitted Dan, prone from long habit 
 to accept his mother's views, " you may be 
 right about that, but there's no getting 'round 
 the slum racket, is there? Gad! What a talk 
 there'll be!" 
 
 " The publicity is a disgrace, or would be to 
 most families. The Ronalds's position is im- 
 pregnable." 
 
 " I don't think old lady Ronalds is any greater 
 shakes than we are. What's the matter with us? 
 Aren't we in the swim? " cried Dan. " The 
 way you truckle to her is foolish," the youthful 
 dictator continued. " We're as high up on the 
 ladder as she is, every bit." 
 
 " If such a sensational newspaper article as 
 this should come out about Leila, you'd see how 
 quickly we'd fall from the ladder on which you 
 fancy we are so highly and serenely perched. It 
 will annoy Madame Ronalds, but won't really 
 hurt her at all. You don't understand these 
 things, my dear Dan men never do but 
 they're of the utmost importance, and you have 
 my realization of it to thank for the position you
 
 44 The Way of Belinda 
 
 and Leila hold in society to-day. You're better 
 known in the more exclusive set than your 
 father and I are, or ever will be, which proves 
 that I have not worked all these years in vain, 
 and your social position will be all I would ask 
 when you marry Belinda and are backed by the 
 Ronalds connection." 
 
 " I'll have no girl I'm engaged to prowling 
 'round the East Side." 
 
 " Of course not; her grandmother will put a 
 stop to that, you may be sure. Now, persuade 
 Belinda that you don't want to trifle any longer, 
 and get the engagement announced." With 
 which command Mrs. Denbeigh withdrew to 
 her room, and half an hour later was announced 
 at Madame Ronalds's. 
 
 The older woman received her, but without 
 the inward cordiality which outwardly she mani- 
 fested. She disliked morning visitors, and was 
 somewhat annoyed that Mrs. Denbeigh should 
 presume upon their acquaintance to intrude at 
 such a time. She was quick to discover that the 
 visit had some special significance, for Mrs. 
 Denbeigh fairly bristled with importance. This 
 propensity on Mrs. Denbeigh's part to bristle on 
 all occasions was a source of constant annoy- 
 ance to Madame Ronalds, who regarded a
 
 The Way of Belinda 45 
 
 calmly dignified manner as a sine qua non of 
 good breeding. And in the younger woman's 
 high-pitched voice there was a suspicious West- 
 ern twang, which for the most part was kept 
 under, but in moments of excitement crept to 
 the surface and jarred on the fastidious Ron- 
 alds ear. 
 
 The twang was apparent in her first abrupt 
 remark. " Have you seen the Globe this morn- 
 ing? " 
 
 " The what? " queried Madame Ronalds, 
 leaning indolently back in her chair. 
 
 " The Globe this " producing a newspaper 
 which she began to unfold " have you seen it 
 this morning? " 
 
 " Oh, pray, do not trouble to open it," re- 
 joined Madame Ronalds; " I never read it or 
 permit it to be about where I am." 
 
 " Nor I, usually," resenting the other's su- 
 periority, " but I'm always interested in any- 
 thing that concerns Belinda." 
 
 "Ah! that I know," suavely, "but I really 
 fail to see the connection." 
 
 " There it is " spreading the page before 
 her " well-known Globe headings, picture and 
 all. It won't leave further doubt of the connec- 
 tion in your mind. Read it and see."
 
 46 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Madame Ronalds took the obnoxious sheet, 
 and held it with the tips of her fingers, as if she 
 feared contamination. Her face was a study in 
 emotions as Mrs. Denbeigh gazed at her. 
 Astonishment, anger, blank amazement, dis- 
 gust, horror, were depicted with swiftness and 
 intensity rarely betrayed by so self-contained a 
 nature. She seemed suddenly to grow old. It 
 was as if the superlatively elegant and haughty 
 woman of the world had inadvertently dropped 
 her mask and revealed the anxious, ambitious, 
 weary schemer. Startled and shocked by the 
 ashen hue that settled on her face as she read on 
 to the end, Mrs. Denbeigh laughed nervously. 
 " It is evidently a surprise to you, too," she 
 said inanely. 
 
 Madame Ronalds made no reply, but com- 
 pressed her lips tightly together. 
 
 " Belinda saw the man again at our house 
 last night," further announced Mrs. Denbeigh. 
 " Dan says it's the same. She went off with 
 him." 
 
 Madame Ronalds dropped the paper and 
 looked at the bristling lady opposite. Her face, 
 still pale, no longer betrayed any emotion. " I 
 don't think I quite follow you," she said, resum-
 
 The Way of Belinda 47 
 
 ing her usual imperturbable manner. " Of what 
 man are you speaking? " 
 
 " The man whom Belinda picked up on the 
 East Side, and who wrote that dreadful thing, 
 and who managed to get in our house last 
 night," breathlessly. 
 
 " He was with her last night, you say? Really, 
 you astonish me. I fancied in these days," with 
 slight emphasis, " one was not likely to encoun- 
 ter objectionable persons in your house." 
 
 Mrs. Denbeigh was almost in tears. " It was 
 not my fault he was there," she cried; " the ser- 
 vants have the strictest orders about reporters. 
 I don't know how he managed to get in. I 
 didn't see him, but Belinda did, and slipped 
 away from Dan to go out to her carriage 
 escorted by him." She had arrived with the in- 
 tention of making some sort of a defence for 
 Belinda, but the other woman's attitude stung 
 her into vindictiveness. " Perhaps they had it 
 all arranged before they came," she hazarded. 
 " Perhaps she was expecting him. It is incon- 
 ceivable that their meeting again so soon was a 
 mere coincidence. Probably it was a clandestine 
 meeting!" This thought seemed to her a posi- 
 tive inspiration.
 
 48 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Madame Ronalds drew herself up frigidly. 
 " The Ronalds," she remarked haughtily, " rec- 
 ognize no such word as clandestine." 
 
 Mrs. Denbeigh felt crushed, defrauded of 
 rightful claim to discussion of news of which she 
 had been the bearer. " Belinda's escapade is all 
 over town by this time," she rallied to say defi- 
 antly, expecting to see the older woman wince. 
 
 But Madame Ronalds only regarded her 
 calmly. " Yes," she rejoined, " such publicity 
 to what was merely an annoying occurrence to 
 Belinda yesterday afternoon is much to be re- 
 gretted. The article is largely a matter of in- 
 vention." 
 
 " Lies? " Mrs. Denbeigh asked with return- 
 ing boldness. 
 
 " A tissue of lies, set forth in the vulgar man- 
 ner one might expect from such a paper. It is, 
 as I say, to be regretted and ignored," point- 
 edly. " Belinda will no longer venture into a 
 part of the town where she is likely to be sub- 
 jected to such unpleasantness. Apparently, 
 however, Mrs. Denbeigh, she is not free from 
 annoyance in your house. May I suggest that 
 in future you give even stricter orders to your 
 servants, that I may not be under the necessity 
 of keeping Belinda away? "
 
 The Way of Belinda 49 
 
 Mrs. Denbeigh flushed, but made no reply. 
 It was not the first time she had been unable to 
 parry a thrust of Madame Ronalds'. She 
 chafed against her helplessness in the matter of 
 speech at such times, but Madame had always 
 had a paralyzing effect on her. " Dan is fear- 
 fully cut up about it all," she at last managed to 
 say. 
 
 Here she touched a responsive chord. " Ah ! 
 send the dear boy to me," replied Madame Ron- 
 alds; " he mustn't mind in the least. Young 
 people take these things so very seriously, do 
 they not? However, it is natural and proper he 
 should feel whatever in any way concerns Be- 
 linda. She will be touched by this new proof of 
 his devotion." 
 
 If Mrs. Denbeigh had her doubts of this she 
 did not express them, but departed with the con- 
 sciousness that her visit had not been all she had 
 reason to expect of it. " She thought she fooled 
 me, but she didn't," asserted that lady in the 
 freedom and privacy of her brougham. " It is 
 worth it all to have seen her face."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " The human race would be too unhappy if it 
 were as common to commit atrocious things as it 
 is to believe them." 
 
 VOLTAIRE. 
 
 FROM a brief walk in the Park, Belinda 
 entered, smiling. " It's glorious out this morn- 
 ing, Nana," she exclaimed ; " the snow is over 
 everything. Every shrub and tree covered with 
 ' ermine too dear for an earl.' The Park is like 
 fairyland do go out and see !" 
 
 Rhapsodies, at all times merely tolerated by 
 Madame Ronalds, were not at the moment in 
 accord with her mood. 
 
 " Sit down," she said, " when you've taken 
 off your things and tell me more about the 
 dance last night. You enjoyed it? " 
 
 " So much more than usual," her eyes grow- 
 ing soft with remembrance. 
 
 " It was just your particular young set, was it 
 not? No new people? " 
 
 " A few," said the girl, flinging her furs into
 
 The Way of Belinda 5 i 
 
 one chair and herself in another, " one sat next 
 me at dinner an Englishman. I liked him ex- 
 ceedingly. Westcote, his name was." 
 
 " Ah ! yes, I know the family. Gerard, I fancy 
 this is. He inherited an enormous fortune, 
 which he's rapidly disposing of. Has pro- 
 nounced altruistic tendencies, and that sort of 
 nonsense, hasn't he? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Belinda, inwardly resenting 
 this speech. 
 
 " And the other new people," continued 
 Madame Ronalds, " who were they? " 
 
 " I didn't meet any others." 
 
 " Ah ! then your escort to the carriage was 
 not a stranger to you," she said, her penetrating 
 eyes fixed on the girl's face. 
 
 " Not not exactly," said Belinda, with an 
 embarrassment she struggled to hide, and won- 
 dering what tales Elise had been telling. 
 
 " Who is he, Belinda? " 
 
 The girl hesitated. " A a University Settle- 
 ment man, I think, Nana." 
 
 "And what is that?" 
 
 "They all live together, a lot of men, in a 
 house they call a Settlement, and work among 
 the poor," she said, fresh with information 
 gleaned from Westcote.
 
 52 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " What an extraordinary person to be at the 
 Denbeighs' dance," commented her grand- 
 mother, whose eyes never left Belinda's face. 
 
 " Oh, he wasn't at the dance," exclaimed Be- 
 linda, breathing more freely; " he just dropped in 
 at the end to see Mr. Westcote. He said he was 
 all out of his element there," she volunteered, 
 delighted to have something definite to say. 
 
 " Did he? " rejoined Madame Ronalds, re- 
 moving her glasses and tapping them against 
 her fingers; " and pray how did that sort of per- 
 son happen to be talking to you? " 
 
 Belinda leaned across her chair to pick up her 
 furs, and half rose with the evident intention of 
 going to her room. " I don't see why you think 
 it strange, Nana," she replied, face averted, 
 " that I should be talking to a guest of the Den- 
 beighs'." 
 
 " Sit still," commanded her grandmother. 
 " The man was not a guest of the Denbeighs, 
 but a reporter a newspaper reporter," drop- 
 ping the words from her tongue as if she were 
 speaking of a leper, " and your former disgrace- 
 ful connection with him is known to me. He 
 has set it forth picturesquely here!" The cool 
 sarcasm of her tone so startled the girl that the
 
 The Way of Belinda 53 
 
 full significance of her words did not penetrate 
 until the paper was thrust into her hand. She 
 clutched it, stared blankly at the picture, the 
 text, jumped from her chair, and stood by the 
 window, where she read it through, trembling 
 from head to foot. 
 
 " Such an adventure among low, common 
 people is scandalous the publicity given to it a 
 disgrace," said Madame Ronalds, turning to 
 where the girl stood; " and that a granddaugh- 
 ter of mine should allow a vulgar, impertinent 
 stranger such liberties and take such good care 
 to conceal all knowledge of the affair from me is 
 past belief." 
 
 " Oh, it isn't true, it isn't true," cried Belinda ; 
 " he wasn't it isn't it can't be," she gasped, 
 bewilderment in her face, the paper swimming 
 before her eyes. 
 
 " I am waiting for an explanation," rejoined 
 her grandmother coldly; " you will oblige me 
 by speaking coherently, Belinda." 
 
 " I did have a disagreeable time with the 
 boys," confessed the girl, struggling to maintain 
 her composure, " and a man did help me with 
 Janie all that's true. But he was not vulgar, 
 he was kindness itself, and did everything in the
 
 54 The Way of Belinda 
 
 quietest way, and I would have told you all 
 about it when I came home only you wouldn't 
 listen you wouldn't. Don't you remember, 
 Nana? You said it bored you when I began. 
 And, oh! it wasn't all horrid, and and sensa- 
 tional the way it's written here. It wasn't any- 
 thing to speak of at all !" 
 
 " Nothing to speak of," retorted her grand- 
 mother, " that you were walking in the dark in 
 a disreputable quarter of the town, alone with a 
 man of whom you knew absolutely nothing? A 
 man of the lowest type, who all the while was 
 drawing you out, taking notes of your costume, 
 your manners, your speech, that he might make 
 capital out of you and publish your indescre- 
 tions from one end of the town to the other? " 
 
 Belinda stood rigid, though the world seemed 
 dropping from under her feet. 
 
 " And as if that were not enough," pursued 
 Madame Ronalds, " he tracked you last night to 
 the Denbeighs' to see what more he could get 
 out of you. Once they get the scent those crea- 
 tures are like bloodhounds. And evidently his 
 persistence was rewarded. You were seen to 
 leave the house with him. The result of his last 
 encounter with you will no doubt be published 
 as a companion piece to this!"
 
 The Way of Belinda 55 
 
 The cool, scathing words burned like iron 
 into the girl's soul. Her heart throbbed pain- 
 fully, and her mind was in a turmoil, out of 
 which no coherent thought took shape. " He 
 he said he came to see Mr. Westcote," she 
 ventured feebly. 
 
 " Indeed ! a good excuse ! Reporters have the 
 inventive faculty highly developed," remarked 
 Madame Ronalds, who seemed of a sudden 
 extraordinarily conversant with this much- 
 despised class. " Return that paper to me, Be- 
 linda. I wish to put it in the fire. I shall never 
 refer to it again, nor will I permit any reference 
 to it from our friends, neither will you. They 
 will talk enough, you may be sure, but I have 
 not seen the paper, do you understand? I have 
 not seen it, nor have you, and I fancy no one will 
 venture to pursue the subject in my presence. 
 Disgrace is best lived down by being ignored. 
 Of your conduct in future I shall take more strict 
 account. Deception is abhorrent to me, and it 
 is not a Ronalds trait " 
 
 " Nana !" cried the girl, smarting under this 
 injustice. 
 
 " Don't interrupt. You will go no more to 
 Miss Lovering's or any part of that impossible 
 section of the town, which seems to have such a
 
 56 The Way of Belinda 
 
 fascination for you, neither will you go any- 
 where unattended. When Elise can't go with 
 you, I will." She delivered this ultimatum in 
 the voice of one whose authority was unques- 
 tioned. " If you can't find interests in your own 
 neighborhood I will endeavor to discover some 
 for you, but it would seem to me that with your 
 social duties, your days might be called suffi- 
 ciently full." 
 
 " Oh, Nana," cried the girl, " I can't give up 
 Miss Lovering or the children! I love her so 
 dearly, and she needs me she has so little help. 
 You don't know how I care about it, how much 
 it means to me," beseechingly. " Every time I 
 go down there and see her and realize what she 
 is doing and hear her talk, I come away with a 
 feeling of being bigger, broader somehow. 
 I can't just explain it," earnestly, " but I sup- 
 pose it's because I learn such a lot." 
 
 " Sentimental rubbish that is of no use to you, 
 and that you are far better off without," said her 
 grandmother, unmoved. " I've expressed my- 
 self clearly to you, have I not? We need not 
 discuss this unpleasant topic further. You've 
 given me one of the bitterest shocks of my life 
 to-day, not the least part of which is the dis- 
 covery that you're not to be trusted."
 
 The Way of Belinda 57 
 
 The color rushed to Belinda's face and re- 
 ceded, leaving her white. She opened her mouth 
 with a gasp, half anger, half pain. Words rose 
 to her lips and were stifled. Fright coupled 
 with an acute sense of suffocation held her 
 .mute. 
 
 " I am lunching at the Meynells' to-day," con- 
 tinued Madame Ronalds, glancing at the clock. 
 " You will assist me to dress, Belinda." 
 
 Mechanically the girl followed her grand- 
 mother to her bedroom and automatically set 
 about playing lady's-maid. It was a relief to 
 have something to do. Her mind, thrust into 
 momentary fixedness, occupied itself with the 
 duties at hand. She brought out her grand- 
 mother's gown, her bonnet, wrap and furs, put 
 on her boots and buttoned them, was otherwise 
 deft and useful; moved about quietly, facilitating 
 her departure, thankfulness within her that soon 
 she was to be left alone. 
 
 An inordinately vain woman, Madame Ron- 
 alds regarded no detail of her toilet too insig- 
 nificant to occupy her mind and heighten her at- 
 traction. She invariably wore black, not that 
 she considered it necessary to prolong her 
 mourning, but because she had the French- 
 woman's belief that nothing so admirably set off
 
 58 The Way of Belinda 
 
 the lines of one's figure, so intensified the deli- 
 cacy of one's skin, and so thoroughly brought 
 into relief the beauty of white hair as that sombre 
 color. Madame Ronalds could afford to give 
 prominence to all these feminine points. Her 
 figure was straight, slender and wonderfully 
 girlish; her face, with the faintest flush of pink in 
 each cheek, remarkably free from wrinkles; 
 while her hair, worn pompadour, rolled off her 
 face in heavy white masses. Dark, penetrating 
 eyes looked out from under straight brows, in 
 marked contrast to her hair. Mouth and nose 
 were aristocratic and severe; so was her chin. 
 People called her La Marquise, and she looked 
 the part, lived up to it, too, on her limited in- 
 come. 
 
 She was engrossed now in the process of be- 
 ing hooked into her velvet gown, and tried on at 
 least four bonnets before she decided on the one 
 most becoming. She declared to Belinda that 
 after what she had been through it would be re- 
 markable if she looked well to-day in anything. 
 To the girl, overwrought and quivering in every 
 nerve, it was a trying ordeal, this attendance on 
 her grandmother, but she went through it un- 
 waveringly, and at last had the satisfaction of 
 seeing her depart.
 
 The Way of Belinda 59 
 
 Left alone, Belinda flung herself on the divan 
 and buried her face deep in the cushions. For a 
 few seconds she lay there rigid, then sat bolt up- 
 right. "A newspaper reporter! A man of the 
 lowest type," seemed emblazoned in letters of 
 scarlet as she stared blankly at the wall. " Oh, 
 he isn't, he isn't, he can't be!" she cried aloud, 
 as if the sound of her voice strengthened her 
 conviction. In leaps her mind traversed the 
 events since their first meeting. His dominant 
 personality, his voice, which affected her 
 strongly. She remembered how she had always 
 claimed special sensitiveness to voices. His in- 
 spired immediate trust. Every word of their 
 conversation, which, at the Denbeighs', had 
 struck a personal note, rang in her ears. All he 
 had said, all she had said what had she said? 
 Told him she thought his work splendid, absorb- 
 ing, and other foolish, impulsive things. Well, 
 wasn't it the University Settlement work? and 
 was it strange that she should say so, with her 
 mind so full of Mr. Westcote's talk? And how 
 his face had brightened, his eyes deepened, when 
 she leaned from the carriage to say good-night 
 and au revoir! He had said good-by. The word 
 became pregnant with meaning. She jumped 
 up with an exclamation. Good-by!
 
 60 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Suddenly the consciousness that she was 
 warding off the truth in the desire to deceive 
 herself overwhelmed her. Her grandmother's 
 statements, cruel though they were, admitted of 
 no doubt, supplemented by that hideous news- 
 paper. There were the facts, bald, relentless. 
 She knew she had come to believe he was guilty, 
 though her heart cried out protestingly. So, all 
 the while she was trusting him, he was merely 
 " drawing her out to make capital of her." 
 Wasn't that what her grandmother said? How 
 she must have amused him, and later, when 
 again she fell so readily into the trap ! She 
 shuddered, anger swept over her, humiliation at 
 the recollection of her friendlessness, disgust 
 that her intuitions had played her false. In her 
 revulsion of feeling, she struggled to recall some 
 familiarity, some impertinence in his manner 
 toward her that there must have been that sort 
 of thing was obvious since he had turned out 
 such a cad. But try as she would, no look or 
 word sprang to mind to his discredit. Only his 
 quiet mastery of the situation, his courtesy, his 
 unobtrusive attention when again they met, filled 
 her mind, a torrent flooding her. When she 
 thought good of him, her reason censured; when 
 she thought evil, his deep, gray eyes reproach-
 
 The Way of Belinda 61 
 
 fully haunted her. Tortured by the desire to ex- 
 cuse, the enormity of his offence came to her with 
 a sort of sick conviction. 
 
 " Oh," she cried with an hysterical sob, " how 
 could he how could he !"
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " She hath no scorn of common things, 
 And, though she seem of other birth, 
 Round us her heart intwines and clings, 
 
 And patiently she folds her wings 
 To tread the humble paths of earth." 
 
 LOWELL. 
 
 ESTHER LOVERING was one of those rare 
 women to whom life had come to yield all that 
 she desired of it. For two years past this beatific 
 state had existed, and in the two years her nature 
 had burst its outer shell of reserve and expanded 
 to the fulness and beauty of a rose. 
 
 Reserve in Esther Lovering had been the re- 
 sult of repression rather than temperament. The 
 daughter of a physician who all his life had la- 
 bored among the poor, whose ailments are many 
 and payments few, she found herself at his death 
 penniless. Hitherto her life, though barren of 
 more than the common necessities, had been 
 happy enough and rich in the companionship of 
 her father, a genial, scholarly man of brilliant at-
 
 The Way of Belinda 63 
 
 tainments, who would have made a wide reputa- 
 tion had he not always been absorbed in alle- 
 viating the sufferings of the most wretched of his 
 fellow-creatures, to the detriment of his own 
 worldly advancement. Singularly enough, 
 though wedded to his profession and always 
 ready to discuss it with his daughter, he discour- 
 aged, on her part, any tendency to make it her 
 own. Neither did he sanction her desire, since 
 medicine was denied her, to become a trained 
 nurse. He clung to the old conservative view that 
 women, particularly women with fathers, should 
 be withheld from the arena; that they were 
 developed and seen to best advantage in the pro- 
 tecting fold of domesticity. That Esther might 
 some day be fatherless did not seem to occur to 
 him. When, however, with his death, the neces- 
 sity of entering the arena did arrive to his daugh- 
 ter, she was not wholly unequipped, for she had 
 an uncommonly good, all-round education, ex- 
 celled as a linguist, and found no difficulty in 
 procuring a position as governess. If before she 
 took this decisive step, and, indeed, for long 
 after, there were within her yearnings for a pro- 
 fessional life, she courageously put them aside, 
 first, because she could not reconcile her con- 
 science to deviation from her father's will, and
 
 64 The Way of Belinda 
 
 had that reason not existed, the expense of study 
 and the problem of living during the years neces- 
 sary to fit herself for a profession rendered im- 
 possible even its serious contemplation. Ethi- 
 cally and practically, the question settled itself. 
 
 Engaged by Madame Ronalds to instruct her 
 young granddaughter, Esther Lovering came to 
 live in the Ronalds's apartment at the Tyrol, 
 feeling herself fortunate to begin her new life 
 amid such pleasant surroundings. She was at 
 that time a desperately lonely young woman, 
 whose sorrow touched with gravity her pale face 
 and added dignity beyond her years to her full, 
 tall figure. Had Madame Ronalds known she 
 was but twenty-five, it is doubtful if she would 
 have taken her; but so pleased was she with the 
 young woman's good breeding, her undoubted 
 ability, and her acceptance of the moderate sal- 
 ary offered, that she engaged her forthwith with- 
 out further preliminaries. 
 
 Esther, in her innocence, had fancied she 
 would have much delightful intercourse with the 
 elegant and cultured madame. This illusion 
 scarcely outlived a day. She was given to under- 
 stand that her conversation was not desired, her 
 ideas not required, her voice not to be heard ex- 
 cept in response to questions asked. Thus thrust
 
 The Way of Belinda 65 
 
 back within herself, she would have sunk into 
 mental apathy but for Belinda. The repression 
 which Madame Ronalds forced upon her gave 
 way before the child, whose quaint, eager little 
 face at once captivated her, and whose nature, in 
 the developing of which she was to wield so 
 strong an influence, aroused her interest. The 
 two at once became fast friends, and so studious 
 was the erstwhile refractory Belinda that 
 Madame Ronalds was more than satisfied with 
 the new arrangement. Then followed ten profit- 
 able, happy years, fruitful alike for the girl and 
 the governess. During this time, with unceasing 
 care, Miss Levering trained the girl's mind and 
 body, and with unfailing love and tenderness 
 watched them grow. At the end of the ten years 
 she had the satisfaction of seeing a tall, supple, 
 healthy, vigorous girl, whose clear, honest eyes 
 gazed fearlessly out at the world; whose curved 
 mouth was proud, yet broke into captivating 
 lines to display her dimples; whose saucy nose 
 contradicted the regularity of the other features 
 of a face whose expression varied with every 
 passing mood. Not strictly beautiful was Be- 
 linda, but above the average in point of attrac- 
 tiveness, and this Miss Lovering knew. Knew, 
 too, that the girl, though impulsive, volatile,
 
 66 The Way of Belinda 
 
 wilful, would at all times be open to reason. Her 
 heart might dictate, but her head would rule; 
 and it was a sensible little head, stored with more 
 knowledge than was gleaned from books, for 
 much of the wisdom that descended from Dr. 
 Lovering to his daughter had been passed on to 
 her. If in her pupil Miss Lovering saw all these 
 things, how much more was it to feel that the 
 girl's confidence in and love for her had grown 
 with the years until she knew no dearer friend. 
 Belinda, among the girls of her set, had no inti- 
 mates, none with whom she exchanged con- 
 fidences or vowed eternal friendship. Many girls 
 she knew well, Leila Denbeigh, perhaps, best of 
 all, but on none of them was she in the least de- 
 pendent. Naturally, as she did not attend school 
 with them her interests were somewhat apart. 
 They met on the common ground of dancing 
 school and in the Park, but otherwise she saw 
 little of them, and was more than satisfied with 
 Miss Lovering's companionship. 
 
 The season before Belinda's debut Madame 
 Ronalds had dismissed Miss Lovering. The gov- 
 erness allowed her that privilege, though, as a 
 matter of fact, she might have left at any mo- 
 ment, and only remained during that last year at 
 the earnest solicitation of Belinda. For Miss
 
 The Way of Belinda 67 
 
 Levering, through a distant cousin, had come 
 into a legacy which would yield her $1000 a year. 
 The desire, inherent in her, to emulate her 
 father's example, and consecrate her life to the 
 poor, sprang up to claim her unexpressed activ- 
 ity. Hopes relinquished, memories cherished, 
 crept out from their long hiding. It was like the 
 resurrection of the dead marching solemnly be- 
 fore her eyes. Plans evolved themselves, grew, 
 took definite shape, until one day, late in the 
 summer of the year, Madame Ronalds had " dis- 
 missed " her, she found herself in possession of 
 the little frame house in Rivington Street which 
 was to be her home. At thirty-six Esther 
 Levering had come into her kingdom. 
 
 She chose the summer to take up her residence 
 in Rivington Street, because she felt that at that 
 season, when the tenements empty their inmates 
 into the streets, she was likely to learn more 
 quickly to know and assimilate with her neigh- 
 bors. And this proved true. Throughout the 
 hot evenings, when streets, sidewalks, and door- 
 steps swarmed with sweltering humanity, she 
 came and went among the people. Often she 
 joined a group of women sitting on the steps or 
 in chairs along the sidewalk, scarcely one of 
 whom but held a sickly, ailing baby in her arms
 
 68 The Way of Belinda 
 
 and was the mother of perhaps half a dozen more 
 playing in the street, to whom she yelled admoni- 
 tory threats at intervals. Esther learned these 
 women's names and to distinguish their children 
 among the multitude; listened to their talk, 
 spoke with them in their native German 
 tongue, which pleased them mightily. At first 
 when she told them she was their neighbor they 
 looked askance, fearing she was some fine lady 
 who was going to pry curiously into their affairs, 
 which the poor, quite as well as the rich, resent. 
 But slowly she won their confidence, and gradu- 
 ally the women stopped at her steps to return her 
 visits, even ventured, the more curious, so far as 
 to inspect the little frame house. As for the chil- 
 dren, Miss Lovering won them from the start. 
 They called her " Miss Loving," and as " Miss 
 Loving " she became known throughout the dis- 
 trict. When, exhausted from play, overheated 
 and overwrought, she could capture these young 
 ones from the street, she would gather them 
 about her and tell them fascinating stories. Some 
 of the children would listen spellbound, others 
 interrupt with endless questions, others fall 
 asleep; all would be immensely benefited by this 
 quieting of their excitability. And what picnics 
 she took them on! Car-rides to the Battery,
 
 The Way of Belinda 69 
 
 where they visited the Aquarium, played in the 
 Park, and sat at the water's edge watching the 
 vessels go by. Then the long car-rides to that 
 far-distant country, Central Park, which, 
 though not four miles away, many had never 
 seen a land of delight where birds sang, squir- 
 rels played hide-and-seek, strange animals, in the 
 Menagerie, were to be seen for the looking ; where 
 the children ran riot on the grass, kicking up 
 their heels and tumbling over one another in an 
 ecstasy of joy. Then those red-letter days when 
 mothers and babies, as well as children, were 
 spirited out of the hot city onto a ferryboat and 
 landed at one of the beaches, there to spend in 
 idle enjoyment a whole memorable day. Was it 
 any wonder " Miss Loving " established her 
 claim as neighbor in Rivington Street? 
 
 By the autumn she had laid out her plan of 
 work. It was with the children she showed espe- 
 cial talent; from them she hoped most. She 
 began at once with a kindergarten, for which she 
 procured a teacher. She found on investigation 
 that there were many helpless, crippled children 
 in the tenements who were debarred from any 
 form of education and enlightenment by their 
 inability to get about. These became at once her 
 special care; she persuaded their mothers or the
 
 yo The Way of Belinda 
 
 older children of the family to carry them to her 
 house, and her little school became the meeting- 
 place of the lame, the halt, and the blind. While 
 they in their small way studied, she studied them 
 minds and bodies, both wofully neglected. 
 This led her to get out her father's medical books 
 and plunge into yet deeper study, with the result 
 that she became able to understand the needs and 
 help to ease the sufferings of many of her chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Esther Levering did not stop with her kinder- 
 garten, but formed clubs for children, little and 
 big, who came to her house from the public 
 schools in the afternoon. One evening a week 
 she had a mother's meeting, and all the other 
 evenings she was deep in medical books when 
 not at the beck and call of the people who, nam- 
 ing her " Miss Loving," were finding in her 
 doctor and nurse as well as friend. A busy life, 
 with no fixed method, but a certain quick adapta- 
 bility, which enabled her to adjust herself to 
 whatever the moment demanded, she was con- 
 tent to leave the larger duties of organized work 
 to the several social Settlements in her neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 On this particular afternoon she was to be vis- 
 ited by Gerard Westcote and Leila Denbeigh,
 
 The Way of Belinda 
 
 7 
 
 who, in the language of the latter, were " doing 
 the slums." True to her intention, Leila had 
 made the arrangements for this expedition the 
 night of the dance, and had persuaded her 
 mother to sanction it, greatly against that lady's 
 inclination; but the fads of a man who was heir 
 to an earldom were to be treated with proper 
 consideration. So Mrs. Denbeigh drove the two 
 down to one of the Settlement houses, consumed 
 all the way through the East Side with the dread 
 that a bomb might be thrown into the carriage; 
 never venturing to look to right or left lest some 
 offensive sight meet her eyes. On the plea of 
 having a headache, she made constant use of her 
 vinaigrette all the way, for who could tell what 
 dreadful germs one might not inhale in that mis- 
 erable quarter, were one not wise enough to take 
 every possible precaution. No sooner had the 
 young people left her than down came the win- 
 dow shades of her carriage, not to be raised again 
 until, with a sigh of relief, she found herself in 
 the safe and familiar region of Union Square. 
 As an antidote to her unpleasant drive she went 
 into Tiffany's to see how the work was pro- 
 gressing on a new tiara she had ordered, and 
 found balm for her nerves in admiring the bril- 
 liancy of the diamonds and the perfection with
 
 72 The Way of Belinda 
 
 which the stones had been matched. Then, 
 against that dread moment, two hours hence, 
 when she was for a second time to jeopardize her 
 life by driving down for her daughter, she for- 
 tified herself by making calls. 
 
 In the meantime Leila and her escort were 
 paying visits of quite another character. This 
 inspection of Settlement houses would not have 
 been termed by Westcote " doing the slums," 
 nor, indeed, would any invasion of the East Side 
 have been so expressed by him. But the girl 
 experienced a certain excitement, caused by the 
 belief that she was penetrating the most 
 wretched quarter of the town, where crime lurked 
 in every doorway, and that she was impressing 
 Westcote by thus bravely exposing herself, albeit 
 in a measure protected by him. That the street 
 through which they passed was not offensive nor 
 aggressively squalid, but presented, on the 
 whole, a fairly respectable appearance; that the 
 people paid small heed to her or Westcote all 
 too intent on their own business astonished 
 her. She was conscious of a feeling of disap- 
 pointment, of being defrauded of something, 
 that she attracted so little attention as she went 
 along. Their first stop had been at the Univer-
 
 The Way of Belinda 73 
 
 sity Settlement, where Westcote had been 
 greatly interested in inspecting the fine new 
 building, and had had a long talk with one of the 
 resident workers in regard to the growth and 
 scope of the work. Leila had gone with the men 
 over the building and had said " How nice ! How 
 very interesting!" and other appropriate ex- 
 clamations steadily at intervals, whenever she 
 thought it was expected of her. So well feigned 
 was her animated interest that Westcote more 
 than once thought how much more attractive 
 she was when one got at the serious side of her 
 than in the fashionable atmosphere where they 
 had met. 
 
 They called at two other Settlement houses, 
 where Westcote was warmly welcomed and 
 Leila subjected to the fatigue of going over the 
 houses, looking in on classes in cooking, sewing, 
 music, wood-carving a dozen industries with 
 which the places teemed. It was her own sugges- 
 tion that they visit Miss Lovering, whom, as 
 Belinda's governess, she had known for years. 
 She had little interest in her now, but consider- 
 able curiosity to view the scene of Belinda's 
 adventure. 
 
 They rang the bell at the little frame house,
 
 74 The Way of Belinda 
 
 and were ushered into a long, low room, where, 
 from among a group of children, Miss Levering 
 rose to greet them. Her oval face and large, 
 well-shaped head, on which the hair was parted 
 and drawn loosely into a knot behind, reminded 
 Westcote of an old painting. Her mouth was 
 strong and sweet, eyes serene, figure well poised, 
 as with firm, light step she came forward. Leila, 
 who had not seen her for more than a year, 
 scarcely recognized her, she was so changed. 
 For happiness is a great beautifier, and the soul 
 that expands in the rich soil of ministration to 
 one's fellow-men looks out through eyes soft, 
 diffused, shining. 
 
 " Mr. Westcote," said Leila by way of in- 
 troduction, " is interested in the poor. We've 
 been to all the Settlements, so I thought he'd 
 like to come and see you how you do it, you 
 know." 
 
 " Oh, hardly that, Miss Lovering," remon- 
 strated Westcote. 
 
 " I don't ' do it,' " replied Esther, smiling, " in 
 any prescribed fashion. There," indicating the 
 children, " are a lot of little scallawags with 
 whom I've been playing games. They're rather 
 too small, I think, to play in the street, so I try 
 and get them inside. If you'll sit down aticl ex-
 
 The Way of Belinda 75 
 
 cuse me a moment I'll turn them out for awhile 
 in my back yard." 
 
 The children scattered into the entry, where 
 she bundled them into wraps and sent them out 
 a rear door. Returning, she said simply : 
 
 " I believe there can't be too much whole- 
 some play for the little ones." 
 
 " I quite agree with you," Westcote replied, 
 " though my views are somewhat theoretical, as 
 I've had no experience with children." 
 
 " They are my particular study and care," the 
 woman said earnestly. " The necessity of start- 
 ing them right is so great. Their possibilities 
 have you ever thought of it? are enormous." 
 
 " Yes, I've thought of it," he said warmly, 
 " thought much of it, without, I'm ashamed to 
 say, practical results." 
 
 Leila, who foresaw a prolonged discussion in 
 which she was likely to play no part, brought it 
 to an abrupt close by rising with the remark that 
 they were to meet her mother at the University 
 Settlement and must at once take their depart- 
 ure. She nodded patronizingly to Miss Lov- 
 ering, but Westcote offered his hand, and 
 begged with more warmth than Leila thought 
 the occasion demanded to be allowed to come 
 again. She whisked him out and away up the
 
 7 6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 street to where the Denbeigh carriage, with one 
 liveried man on the box and another at the door, 
 was waiting. And there Mrs. Denbeigh had the 
 infinite satisfaction of greeting them whole and 
 uninjured after what she regarded as their peril- 
 ous journey into the lower world.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " The secret of our emotions never lies in the 
 bare object, but in its subtle relations to our own 
 past." 
 
 GEORGE ELIOT. 
 
 MYRIADS of tulip lights shed their soft radiance 
 over a room rapidly filling with men and women 
 talking gaily as they seated themselves in rows 
 of chairs arranged for them. There was a lively, 
 anticipatory feeling in the air, bred of the knowl- 
 edge that the host of the evening, Ronalds 
 Castleton, always served up something piquant 
 in the way of an evening's entertainment. His 
 studio had been the scene of more clever ama- 
 teur " first appearances " than any other one spot 
 in town. Professionals, too, could always be 
 counted on to do something original there, and 
 rarely failed to put in an appearance when they 
 had promised to sing or dance for him. People 
 said Ronalds Castleton could persuade Diana 
 herself to come down off the tower of the Madi-
 
 78 The Way of Belinda 
 
 son Square Garden and " do a turn " for him if 
 he liked he had a way with him. 
 
 His way to-night was likely to be a disappoint- 
 ment to some of his guests, who knew not that 
 he had arranged his programme with a view to 
 the fact that his aunt, Madame Ronalds, was to 
 be among their number. Madame Ronalds tol- 
 erated her nephew's entertainments, such as she 
 had seen, but she had not allowed Belinda to 
 attend them during her first season. The mod- 
 ern tendency of society to be Bohemian she held 
 with aversion, and expressed herself strongly on 
 this point to her nephew, who refused to get 
 drawn into an argument with her and made 
 laughing rejoinders to most that she said. 
 Madame Ronalds thought her nephew had an 
 exasperating way of taking all things, conversa- 
 tional or otherwise, lightly. He refused to bow 
 the knee to her; to Money, her god; to Society, 
 her religion; likewise refused to live by pre- 
 scribed rule. What, he would ask of his aunt, La 
 Marquise, was the advantage of being a Ronalds 
 Castleton if one could not be a law unto one's 
 self? 
 
 So he went his own way; a way inoffensive, 
 unoffending gay, debonaire, rich, interested in 
 all things, dabbling in many, doing most uncorn-
 
 The Way of Belinda 79 
 
 monly well, a dilettante, popular alike with men 
 and women. 
 
 He gave Belinda a smile of approbation as, 
 with her grandmother, she entered the room. 
 He liked the corn-colored gown she wore, noted 
 how admirably it set off her wavy, brown hair 
 and creamy skin, thought her a delicious study 
 in color. He was fond of Belinda never more 
 so than when she satisfied his artistic taste. 
 
 His programme that night was short, crisp, 
 and varied, but it contained no particularly novel 
 or startling features. A clever little English girl 
 did some " imitations," and a cleverer French-, 
 woman sang songs which, though quite the 
 mildest in her repertoire, made Madame Ronalds 
 regret she had brought Belinda. There was 
 skirt dancing, notably by Reggie Dunn, who 
 that night leaped into fame. They all said he was 
 the prettiest girl imaginable and could dance 
 like a sylph. No one had suspected such possi- 
 bilities of Reggie. He shared the honors of the 
 evening with Sally Scarborough, who did a 
 Spanish dance quite different from any of those 
 with which during the season she had been en- 
 chanting her set. That Sally Scarborough and 
 Reggie Dunn should permit their names to go 
 down on a programme with professionals was to
 
 80 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Madame Ronalds more shocking than the ex- 
 hibitions they made of themselves. Interlarded 
 with these was music in a more serious vein. A 
 prima donna, with a reputation for reserve, sang 
 a group of French chansonettes with such pathos, 
 spirit, and abandon that she carried everything 
 before her. Instinctively artists were at their best 
 in Ronalds Castleton's studio; they liked the 
 atmosphere, and they liked him. Vrodi, the 
 Hungarian, compelled silence from the audience 
 by the enthralling music which only a Tzigan 
 knows how to draw from his violin. In his pic- 
 turesque, native costume he stood before them, 
 gazing beyond them with eyes that saw not, his 
 heart going out in the strains of exquisite, in- 
 sistent melody now fiery, now plaintive, now 
 tender the whole gamut of emotions his soul 
 wafted back to his own beloved plains, where 
 about some ruddy, gypsy fire his tribe were gath- 
 ered. Belinda could see it all feel in every deep, 
 passionate note the throb of his people. Uncon- 
 scious that she was observed by a man standing 
 over against the wall, she sat with head bent for- 
 ward, lips parted, eyes dreamy, her whole atti- 
 tude one of rapt absorption in the thrilling har- 
 monies. Lifted far above earth, the soul of the 
 girl leaped out to illumine her face.
 
 The Way of Belinda 81 
 
 The man gazed at her, while over him swept a 
 tumult of feeling, so delicious, so exquisite, so 
 startling, that he felt he must flee from the sight 
 of her forever. He half turned and then let his 
 eyes go back to her with an inward laugh of con- 
 tempt that he should again forget that she and 
 he did not inhabit the same planet; that he should 
 have taken himself so seriously as for a second to 
 have had thoughts of bolting for the door. 
 
 The programme ended, supper was served at 
 small tables. Belinda sat with Miss Scarbor- 
 ough, Reggie Dunn, and a young playwright 
 who was achieving an international reputation. 
 She was greatly enjoying herself, for she liked 
 the people whom she met at her cousin Ronalds's 
 clever people who talked and were interesting 
 and did things, and she had on this particular 
 evening a feeling of exhilaration in the con- 
 sciousness that she should be free from the so- 
 ciety of Dan Denbeigh. Her cousin Ronalds 
 never entertained the Denbeighs, least of all Dan, 
 whom he thought an insufferable young parvenu. 
 Carefully to avoid unpleasant people was part of 
 Ronalds Castleton's creed. So Belinda, who was 
 beginning to feel persecuted by Dan, revelled in 
 the delight of an evening without him. She was 
 paying the pretty compliment to the playwright
 
 82 The Way of Belinda 
 
 of interested discussion of his last comedy when, 
 at the end of supper, her cousin Ronalds came up 
 and took her away. 
 
 " Aunt Maud told me to bring you over to 
 her," he said explanatorily as they crossed the 
 studio, from which the little tables were vanish- 
 ing, as if by magic, and the room was rapidly re- 
 suming its normal appearance. " She's talking 
 to a chap who's taken her fancy. Wants you to 
 meet him. Blake Jerry Blake good sort. 
 Ever hear me speak of him? No? It's rather a 
 joke aunt's taking to him remind me to tell 
 you about that some time. Here he is in the 
 flesh." 
 
 They had threaded their way to a corner, 
 where, in a big, high-backed Florentine chair, 
 Madame Ronalds sat enthroned, Jerry Blake on 
 a low, long seat in front paying court to her. He 
 rose before they quite reached him. He had no 
 idea as to who the girl might be for whom, the 
 woman had sent, but instinctively he felt her 
 presence. 
 
 " Ah, Ronalds, you found her !" said his aunt. 
 " Belinda," to the girl, " I want to present Mr. 
 Blake to you my granddaughter, Miss Leigh, 
 Mr. Blake." 
 
 Conventionally they met. The glance they
 
 The Way of Belinda 83 
 
 exchanged was to one painful pleasure, to the 
 other, pleasurable pain. 
 
 Belinda flushed scarlet. Then every vestige of 
 color left her face. She had not yet spoken, and 
 Blake, to relieve the situation, summoned his 
 forces and said : 
 
 " Did you enjoy the music, Miss Leigh? " 
 which struck him as about as inane a remark as 
 he could have made. He was in nowise prepared 
 for the girl's reply. 
 
 " What I enjoy or do not enjoy is not a matter 
 that concerns you in the least," she said haugh- 
 tily, and was about to turn away when her grand- 
 mother, who had been talking to her nephew, 
 now vanishing, and had not heard this, said : 
 
 " Sit down, Belinda. I want you to know Mr. 
 Blake. I find he's the grandson of Judge Pey- 
 ton, who was a dear old friend of mine, and comes 
 from Peytonville, where I spent so much time as 
 a girl. We've pretty thoroughly dissected Pey- 
 tonville, past and present. Ancient history, eh ! 
 Mr. Blake? " with the air of one expecting to be 
 contradicted. 
 
 " Scarcely that, Madame Ronalds, with you as 
 its central figure," he said with a grace that 
 would not have done discredit to his courtly an- 
 cestor, the judge. He detested himself in this
 
 84 The Way of Belinda 
 
 role, and longed to escape from her and the girl, 
 who sat rigid in her seat, unheeding him, whose 
 one remark rankled in his soul, turning him now 
 hot, now cold. 
 
 " You have never been to Peytonville, have 
 you, Belinda? " said her grandmother, still remi- 
 niscent. 
 
 " Peytonville? " coolly; " I think not," said the 
 girl. 
 
 " I must take you some time. It is one of the 
 few truly aristocratic villages we have. Won't 
 you sit down, Mr. Blake? " to the man, who was 
 planning his escape. " Belinda will, I am sure, 
 make room for you," with a comprehensive 
 glance at the long seat which the man had 
 vacated in the girl's favor. 
 
 " Thank you," he replied, " but I think I must 
 be saying good-night." He bowed and would 
 have left without further speech, but Madame 
 Ronalds laid a detaining hand on him. 
 
 " You must come and see me," she said gra- 
 ciously; " I shall expect you next Thursday 
 our day." 
 
 " Thank you," again he said, and this time 
 escaped. 
 
 Every one was departing. Out of the corner 
 of her eye Belinda saw Blake speak to many per-
 
 The Way of Belinda 85 
 
 sons as he passed through the room. Quite the 
 prettiest girl present, a young actress who had 
 recently become the fashion, stopped him, and 
 he lingered for some time beside her, far longer 
 than was at all necessary, Belinda thought. 
 
 But what Belinda thought and what she didn't 
 think were past taking account of. Her brain 
 whirled. To be presented in her cousin's studio 
 by Nana Nana, of all people ! to a guest deep in 
 conversation and high in favor with that exclu- 
 sive relative a guest who was none other than 
 the man who had insulted her by the publication 
 of that offensive newspaper story, was, beyond 
 all words, astonishing. That this same guest 
 how did he happen to know cousin Ronalds? 
 should have the effrontery to speak to her was 
 no more astounding than that he should palm 
 himself off on her fastidious grandmother ! 
 
 Had Belinda been an older woman, or the 
 situation less vital to her, she might have seen 
 that it had its humorous side. Surely there was 
 something very nearly approaching comedy in 
 the friendliness bordering on effusion of Madame 
 Ronalds for a " common newspaper reporter;" 
 in presenting to Belinda and inviting to her 
 house a person whom she had herself designated 
 as " a man of the lowest type." Add to this the
 
 86 The Way of Belinda 
 
 offence of which she believed him guilty, and the 
 thing became farcical. 
 
 But Belinda could not laugh- could not even 
 see that she might laugh if she would. It was 
 not her misfortune to be devoid of a sense of 
 humor, but in common with many another, she 
 had only so much of it as enabled her to see the 
 ludicrous in the affairs of others. She could not, 
 as Meredith says, " be twisted to laugh at her- 
 self " not now; though the time came when she 
 could, whereby she gained in breadth and phi- 
 losophy. 
 
 On the way home from her cousin's studio she 
 was soundly berated by her irate grandmother 
 for her lack of interest in Mr. Blake. She bore it 
 meekly. What withheld her from revealing his 
 identity, why she thus chose to shield him, she 
 didn't know. She had never been able to analyze 
 her feelings toward him from the beginning. 
 For the life of her she couldn't help taking a 
 secret satisfaction in the knowledge that she had 
 not been mistaken in thinking him a gentleman 
 at least outwardly. He wore his evening 
 clothes like one to the manner born. He was to 
 the manner born. How handsome he looked 
 a Peyton of Peytonville! What a pity that a 
 man like that should fall so low ! How startled,
 
 The Way of Belinda 87 
 
 just for a second, he had looked when they were 
 presented. No wonder! At least he had the 
 saving grace of a guilty conscience and she 
 fancied she did not long leave him in doubt as to 
 how she felt. The insolence of the man at once 
 to begin again trying to draw her out about the 
 music ! How crimson, way to the ears, he went 
 at that one cutting remark of hers ! She gloated 
 over his discomfiture, at least she tried to believe 
 she did. 
 
 " Oh !" she inwardly cried, " I hate him, I hate 
 him, I hate him !" 
 
 Which shows how little this would-be-wise 
 Belinda knew.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " Controversy never convinced any man ; they 
 can be influenced by making them think for them- 
 selves ... by leading them as if by the hand, 
 without their perceiving it." 
 
 VOLTAIRE. 
 
 " BLAKE," said Castleton, " pull up to the fire 
 and make yourself at home. Will you smoke? 
 Help yourself," pushing toward him a low table 
 laden with smoking paraphernalia. " Cigar, 
 cigarette, or pipe? We'll please ourselves now 
 the rabble's gone." 
 
 Castleton had changed his evening coat for a 
 smoking-jacket, and was filling his pipe as he 
 talked. Having lighted it, he threw on the floor 
 a lot of cushions and proceeded to stretch his 
 long, lazy form on them, piling the greatest 
 number under his head and shoulders. To thus 
 sprawl before his fire was one of his chief de- 
 lights. 
 
 Blake, from the depths of a big chair, looked 
 admiringly at him.
 
 The Way of Belinda 89 
 
 " You have a talent for arranging yourself," 
 he said. 
 
 " Why not? It is to be studied like the rest of 
 the arts." 
 
 " On the principle that all things were or- 
 dained for the sole comfort of man? " 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 Each, for a long while, smoked in silence, after 
 the manner of men who do not find incessant 
 speech necessary to the enjoyment of each 
 other's society. 
 
 Blake, gazing into the fire, saw in the flames 
 mocking, fantastic shapes. The burning drift- 
 wood was shooting out tongues of violet, green, 
 crimson, brightest blue a veritable rainbow 
 leaping up the chimney. It captivated his 
 imagination. In the piled-up logs he seemed to 
 see, melting before his eyes, ships of story which 
 he had so loved as a boy. The old Ark borne 
 along on a flood of light now settling down for- 
 ever on that Ararat of ashes; the Argonaut tip- 
 pling along after the Golden Fleece; the Santa 
 Maria that little jet of fire trying hard to crawl 
 out to the extreme end of the log hitherto un- 
 touched was Columbus making the point 
 America discovered. Out of that steady, bril- 
 liant crimson flame flashed old Blake's frigate
 
 90 The Way of Belinda 
 
 heading his fleet as it swooped down on the stub- 
 born Dutch enemy. Jerry could hear his immor- 
 tal order to his crew : " If any man among you 
 flinches from his duty, throw him overboard; 
 and if I fail in my duty throw me overboard first 
 of all !" As a boy how that had thrilled him ! how 
 it thrilled him now ! And how, to the other boys, 
 he used to brag of his direct descent from the 
 great English admiral. Many a fist-to-fist tussle 
 he'd had championing his illustrious ancestor. 
 Gazing on, Jerry beheld the Mayflower toiling 
 her weary way across the Atlantic to grope at 
 last among the perilous sands and fogs of the 
 Massachusetts coast. A smouldering log, out of 
 which suddenly leaped a defiant curl of blue 
 flame, was nothing less than the sublimation of 
 the knees of the Constitution or the deck of the 
 Chesapeake. Hark to Lawrence's " Don't give 
 up the ship !" Timber feeding timber in the fire- 
 place now burst into a roaring conflagration, out 
 of which sailed a huge, old-fashioned line-of-bat- 
 tle ship spouting flame from every port, while 
 her crew what was left of them hurried away 
 in shattered boats. One little waif lingered: 
 " Father, shall I stay? " Rigging, sails, shrouds, 
 masts, yards, roared in a mass of flames. Jerry 
 actually drew back as if to secure safety. With
 
 The Way of Belinda 91 
 
 a snap the wood fell up the chimney floated the 
 spirit of the loyal Cassabianca. 
 
 Roused by unconscious movement to a con- 
 sciousness of his surroundings, Jerry blinked and 
 stretched his arms. 
 
 " Been asleep? " asked Castleton lazily. 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder," responded Blake, re- 
 lapsing into silence. He stared abstractedly at 
 Castleton beyond him, about the room fixing 
 his gaze at last upon a low, narrow seat. There 
 she had sat, there he had sat before she came. 
 There he had stood, his very heart smiling as she 
 approached; there the smile twisted into pain at 
 her cruel little speech. There with swift dismay 
 had come to him the realization that she held him 
 guilty of that miserable newspaper offence. 
 There for the hundredth time since first they met 
 had he been tortured deliciously by the thought 
 of her. He dragged his eyes from the seat and 
 turned to Castleton. 
 
 " I was an ass," he said, " to come." 
 
 "Here?" queried his host. "Thanks, old 
 man." 
 
 " To your vaudeville," explained Blake. 
 
 " Wasn't it up to the mark? Did it bore 
 you? " inquired his host with mock solicitude. 
 
 " It was mighty good, Castleton, but it's all
 
 92 The Way of Belinda 
 
 out of my line society you know that as well 
 as I do. I've no business poking my head into 
 it." 
 
 " Then why did you come? " asked his host, 
 indolently getting up on an elbow to look at him. 
 
 " Because I'm an ass." 
 
 " So you remarked before. Couldn't you be 
 a bit more explicit? though I'm satisfied with 
 your first reason if you are." 
 
 " I came," said Blake savagely, " because it's a 
 year since I've met a woman on a footing of so- 
 cial equality, and I wanted to convince myself 
 that I still had the right." 
 
 " Well? " interrogated his host. 
 
 " Well," repeated Blake, " I'm convinced. I 
 have the right, though it would be disputed by 
 two-thirds of the women to whom you were good 
 enough to present me, one of whom would deny 
 it altogether." 
 
 " Oh, come now," said Castleton; " what's got 
 on your nerves, old man? " 
 
 " Rarified air." 
 
 "Umph!" grunted Castleton; "which, being 
 interpreted, means? " 
 
 " That you're a brick, Castleton." 
 
 " And can mind my own business, eh? Have 
 a fresh cigar, Blake," said his host, ever thought- 
 ful.
 
 The Way of Belinda 93 
 
 " Castleton," said the younger man, " from a 
 purely ethical standpoint it's a rattling good 
 thing for a man like me to know a man like you. 
 You represent everything I am not." 
 
 " Hang ethics ! The personal standpoint is 
 good enough for me." 
 
 " Do you recollect the first time I came here ? " 
 said Blake, smiling down at him. " Quite six 
 years ago, wasn't it? I was a cub then, awed at 
 the thought of interviewing such a swell. You 
 were entertaining that French politician. All 
 the reporters were after him, but he couldn't 
 speak a word of English, and our French is 
 shaky. He was here in your studio when I came 
 you were more than decent helped me out 
 with my French, and between you I got a col- 
 umn, the first really good story I'd had." He 
 spoke in a nervous, rapid fashion, to which in 
 strong contrast was the lazy drawl of the other's 
 voice as he said : 
 
 " Took a fancy to you. You were such a nice 
 chap so unmistakably a gentleman." 
 
 " Why not? " asked Blake sharply. 
 
 " A gentleman? Well, you see, up to that mo- 
 ment my experience of reporters had been lim- 
 ited to the other kind." Castleton sat up and 
 knocked the ashes out of his pipe. " Now, don't
 
 94 The Way of Belinda 
 
 feel called upon to take up the cudgels in defence 
 of the fraternity, I beg of you. I know there are 
 more of your ilk." 
 
 " When I was a cub," said Blake, " I was ready 
 to fight any man, woman, or child who cast slurs 
 on my profession. I wanted to parade the streets 
 with signs placarded all over me * I am a re- 
 porter and a gentleman ' particularly the up- 
 town streets, where the women are and young 
 girls who might grow up to be less ignorant than 
 their mothers. And I used to want to get the 
 men together and ask them if in every business 
 and profession there were not men of good 
 breeding and men of no breeding whatever? Why 
 was my profession the only one stigmatized? I 
 was very young, you see," he said with a laugh, 
 " and most of us in our youth have foolish no- 
 tions of enlightening the world." 
 
 Castleton, gazing into the fire, made no com- 
 ment. He had had enthusiasms once. Presently 
 he said : 
 
 " How long are you going to keep at report- 
 ing? " 
 
 " I don't know," answered Blake; " why? " 
 
 " You can do better work." 
 
 " I don't begin to do as good work as many 
 of the men in the office."
 
 The Way of Belinda 95 
 
 " You are considered one of their star report- 
 ers. I know it authoritatively." 
 
 Blake flushed with pleasure. 
 
 " I've had my eye on you, old man. That vet- 
 eran Harmon speaks of you as a shining light. 
 You don't mean to stick to reporting forever? " 
 
 " There are the editorial places," said Blake. 
 " Most reporters regard them as goals." 
 
 "Well enough," agreed Castleton; "but I've 
 a notion, Blake, that you can afford to strike 
 out in an independent line. You've breadth, 
 originality, and a strong creative faculty don't 
 you feel it in you? " 
 
 " Yes," said the younger man with a quick in- 
 drawing of his breath, " I do." 
 
 " Try your hand at something serious, some- 
 thing you can put your name to. The stuff you 
 do now is clever, and I'd be the last man to de- 
 preciate it, but you've done enough of it, it's all 
 swallowed up in the files of your newspaper. I 
 want something with your name to it. Doesn't 
 Jerry Blake, Author, tickle your fancy? " 
 
 "Not a bit," laughed Jerry, who, neverthe- 
 less, was stirred to his depths. Then he said 
 soberly : 
 
 " I haven't time for ventures, Castleton; from 
 II A.M. till past midnight I'm working at full
 
 96 The Way of Belinda 
 
 steam except on my one off day, when I wouldn't 
 touch a pencil for a million." 
 
 " Suppose not," assented Castleton. 
 
 " It's odd this should have come up to-night," 
 continued Blake. " I was offered a job in a pub- 
 lishing house this morning. Easy work, respec- 
 table hours, good pay. They want young blood 
 in the office, I heard." 
 
 "You refused it?" 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " You young imbecile !" 
 
 " You think so? I'm sorry. It was rather 
 tempting, but, you see, I had visions of growing 
 lazy and stupid and fat. Too great a risk to run, 
 wasn't it? " Then with a swift change of tone: 
 " Castleton, I like my work, its light and shade, 
 its horrors and its pleasures every phase of it is 
 fascinating in its variedness. In the beginning 
 there were sides of it that disgusted me, but I'm 
 hardened, and the rest is pure delight. You 
 think I have the creative faculty. Perhaps I have. 
 Sometimes I think so. But what I know I have 
 is the news instinct, without which a man is not 
 worth a ha'penny in Newspaper Row. I don't to 
 this day go out on a story without the scent of 
 the battle strong in my nostrils; never enter the 
 office without a thrill of joy that I'm part of the
 
 The Way of Belinda 97 
 
 machine. Hang it, man, I'm attached to every 
 nook and corner, every dirty desk and table and 
 chair in the grimy old place." He stopped, 
 abashed at such unusual self-revelation. 
 
 "Oh, if it's like that," remarked Castleton 
 good-naturedly, " you'll stick to the job." 
 
 He got up from the fire, and going over to the 
 piano, idly struck a few chords, melting off into a 
 low, plaintive melody. 
 
 " Why don't you write? " asked Blake, turn- 
 ing on him. 
 
 " I do," from the piano. 
 
 " I know, but I mean something serious, 
 something you can put your name to," quizzi- 
 cally. " You do all things well, Castleton. Why 
 not some better? " he hazarded earnestly. 
 
 " Because," remarked the older man, playing 
 on, " it is not my role to be serious. I've no in- 
 clination for work no incentive." 
 
 " You're an indefatigable worker, in your 
 way," retorted Blake. 
 
 " The fairies at my birth," went on Castleton, 
 unheeding, " put a jester's cap on my infant 
 head, a bauble in my hand I've jingled my bells 
 ever since. It is all life exacts of me. Because I 
 threw out a sensible remark about you, Blake, 
 don't make the fatal mistake of taking me se-
 
 9 8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 riously. In certain moods I'm an ideal preacher 
 a role any babe could play but as for practis- 
 ing " He broke into a gay fantasie, impro- 
 vising as he went along, playing fast and 
 furiously, to end in a crashing chord. " There 
 you have me," turning in his seat, " set to 
 music." 
 
 Blake laughed. " You're better than your 
 vaudeville." 
 
 " Which was better than my guests, eh? How 
 did my august relative, Madame Ronalds, im- 
 press you? " 
 
 " As rather an uncommon type in this coun- 
 try she looked French, the grande dame that 
 sort of thing." 
 
 " Exactly. The old regime she's called * La 
 Marquise/ ' 
 
 " That pictures her." 
 
 " She's remarkably well preserved for a grand- 
 mother. I thought she'd interest you, you're so 
 keen on types. She took a fancy to you. Family 
 failing, isn't it? I told her you were a brilliant 
 young journalist. She has only the vaguest idea 
 what that means. If I'd said you were a reporter 
 she'd have fainted. Rather a good one on her, 
 wasn't it? " 
 
 " Yes," assented Blake, who knew it was hu-
 
 The Way of Belinda 99 
 
 morous, though he felt a sudden pressure on a 
 very tender spot ; " but I'd rather stand in my 
 own shoes." 
 
 To this his host agreed while explaining that 
 his aunt's ideas were antediluvian. 
 
 " She tried to swamp Belinda in them, but 
 somehow the girl became emancipated. There's 
 a girl of the period for you, Blake ! A bewitch- 
 ing young thing I'm in love with her and so 
 much good sense tucked away in her little head. 
 The poor child was in terrible disgrace with her 
 grandmother after that Globe story. You saw it, 
 I suppose? " 
 
 " Yes," said Blake. 
 
 " We all ignored it the only thing to do 
 but Belinda took it hard. She had confidence, 
 you see, in that cad who pretended to befriend 
 her. It was her first experience in being de- 
 ceived in human nature." 
 
 " Must be getting along," declared Blake, ris- 
 ing abruptly. 
 
 " Good-night," shaking his proffered hand. 
 " Come again," heartily. " It's months since 
 I've seen you. Once a year is not often enough 
 to meet women on a footing of social equality." 
 He laughed. " Gad ! but you're a queer one ! 
 Good-night, old chap, good-night."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " Golden wires may annoy us as much as steel bars 
 If they keep us behind prison windows." 
 
 OWEN MEREDITH. 
 
 THE announcement in February of Belinda's 
 engagement to Dan Denbeigh was of interest to 
 society and a satisfaction to those most con- 
 cerned, save only Belinda herself. She had 
 yielded to the pressure brought to bear, and was 
 about as miserable as a girl grown apathetic 
 could be. This apathy, so unnatural to her, set- 
 tled upon her like a pall. It was a source of con- 
 stant irritation to her grandmother, who, herself 
 in a state of rejoicing, saw no reason why Belinda 
 should not smile in the roseate path the gods had 
 laid for her. Belinda did smile when she could, 
 conscientiously strove to smile poor little Be- 
 linda, erstwhile all smiles ! But from having had 
 the friendliest feeling for Dan she grew, in her 
 bondage, to dislike him with an intensity that 
 frightened her. His egoism, his way of arro- 
 gating to himself her time, her occupations, her
 
 The Way of Belinda 101 
 
 thoughts, annoyed her, causing her to shrink 
 from close companionship with a man daily 
 growing more antagonistic to her. Of these 
 feelings, however, she gave no sign, maintaining 
 outwardly an indifference not difficult to assume, 
 since she truly believed she did not in the least 
 care what became of her. Now, unconcern so 
 pronounced in a young girl whose affairs and 
 whose future should be, and commonly are, mat- 
 ters of absorbing interest, is, to say the least, sus- 
 picious, and to the experienced person clearly 
 indicates deep and disturbing elements at work 
 within. Madame Ronalds should have known 
 this; but, woman of the world as she was, and 
 experienced as she thought herself to be, she 
 had actually small knowledge of human nature, 
 thereby lacking the very key of life. So, uncom- 
 prehending, she continued to widen the distance 
 between them, hurting the sensitive, silent girl 
 at every turn. 
 
 As if Dan's society were not enough, Belinda 
 saw Leila more than formerly, and the girl 
 seemed to her to have suddenly become a reflec- 
 tion of her brother. She echoed his sayings, his 
 sentiments, his opinions, more particularly about 
 girls and what they should and should not do, 
 until Belinda longed to choke her.
 
 102 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Dan says " could be counted on for Leila's 
 conversational beginnings. It was so to-day, 
 when Belinda had gone to see her. 
 
 " Dan says," announced the hostess, " that 
 girls are awful fools about men." 
 
 " Are they? " remarked the guest, accustomed 
 to his inanities. 
 
 " I told him men were just as foolish over girls. 
 I'm sure he's a living example of it idiotic over 
 you; and you positively freeze when he comes 
 near you !" 
 
 " Do I ? " regarding her indifferently. 
 
 " I told him I wouldn't put up with it. And I 
 wouldn't if I were he, Belinda. It's ridiculous 
 the way you go on as if he were the dirt under 
 your feet." 
 
 " Oh, not so bad as that, Leila. I'm culti- 
 vating a proud and haughty manner, you see, be- 
 cause it's so important in a young matron." 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! You don't need to cultivate 
 that you come by it naturally. You'll be like 
 your grandmother by and by. Dan says you're 
 the most aggravating girl he ever knew." 
 
 " Why doesn't he let me alone, then? " de- 
 manded Belinda. 
 
 " He happens to be your fiance." 
 
 " He knows I don't want to marry him," cried
 
 The Way of Belinda 103 
 
 the girl wrathfully; " I've told him so a thousand 
 times, but he will have it you're all set on it, 
 every one of you, and then you revile me when 
 I'm doing the very best I can." 
 
 " He isn't so bad," commented Leila, who 
 loved her brother, " but he will have his own 
 way. You used to be fond of him, Belinda." 
 
 " Of course I was, when we were children, and 
 I like him now well enough, when I just see him 
 around and we keep to the surface of things. But 
 the trouble is that way down deep we are too 
 absolutely different he can't see it neither can 
 any of you, because you won't." 
 
 " Well, I must say," remarked Leila, who, 
 confined to the house by slight indisposition, 
 was doing some embroidery, " that you're not a 
 very cheerful picture of a prospective sister-in- 
 law." 
 
 Belinda smiled. " I did not mean to get so ex- 
 cited," she said. " The thing is all settled, and 
 it's foolish to break out at this late day. Nana 
 says the maid-of-honor gown you're going to 
 send over to Paris for will be a dream." 
 
 As this was the first sign of interest shown in 
 any feature of the wedding, Leila felt encouraged 
 to launch into minute description. Belinda 
 listened, and was drawn into talk of her trous-
 
 IO4 The Way of Belinda 
 
 seau, which was ordered in Paris to be delivered 
 in April. 
 
 " Who knows? " said Leila facetiously; " I 
 may need a trousseau first. Dan says I'm 
 getting on like a house afire with Mr. West- 
 cote." 
 
 Belinda thought this vulgar, though many of 
 the girls in her set talked of men in this way. So 
 she stifled her desire to look disgusted and said 
 pleasantly : 
 
 " Do you see him often? " 
 
 " Rather," significantly replied Leila. " Mam- 
 ma asks him here all the time he doesn't begin 
 to accept all our invitations, because so many 
 people are after him, and then, you know, he's 
 daft about the East Side. Always poking down 
 there by himself, from all I can find out. I cate- 
 chise him, I can tell you, when he comes here, 
 and what I don't know about the ' submerged 
 tenth ' !" she shrugged her shoulders expres- 
 sively. 
 
 " Does it really interest you, Leila? " 
 
 " Interest me? It bores me to death, and I 
 haven't the faintest idea most of the time what 
 he's talking about, but I just pretend to be ab- 
 sorbed, and it goes he thinks he's enlightening 
 and converting me."
 
 The Way of Belinda 105 
 
 " Why deceive him so? " 
 
 " Because I intend to be Mrs. Westcote the 
 future Countess of Desborough you know 
 there's only an old bachelor uncle between him 
 and the title. Mamma knows all about it she 
 says he's too good to lose." 
 
 " You and your mother seem to be managing 
 the whole thing. Has he nothing to say about 
 it? " asked Belinda. 
 
 "Oh, he will," replied the girl airily; "I'll 
 lead him gently up to it." 
 
 " I should think you'd prefer he took the 
 lead." 
 
 " Now, look here, Belinda, you needn't be so 
 superior. You know perfectly well that girls 
 resort to all sorts of expedients. And as for flirt- 
 ing, you did plenty of it yourself before you were 
 engaged. For that matter, Dan says you're too 
 much inclined to the same tricks now." 
 
 A quick retort sprang to Belinda's lips, but 
 before she had uttered it a maid knocked, 
 entered, and announced that Mr. Westcote was 
 below in the drawing-room. 
 
 " ' Speaking of angels,' " laughed Leila self- 
 consciously, running to the mirror to give a 
 touch to her hair. It was a rather nondescript 
 vision that confronted her, though face and fig-
 
 io6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 ure had possibilities as yet unrealized by her. 
 The straight, brown hair would have been full of 
 pretty lights and shades if left as Nature had in- 
 tended it, instead of darkened and artificially 
 waved by curling-irons; the brown eyes, now so 
 restless and beadlike, would soften as she looked 
 deeper into the world. No one had ever told her 
 that it lies within the power of every girl to make 
 or mar her mouth. Shape she cannot alter, but 
 expression she can form, and whether that be 
 petulant, or cynical, or sweet, or merry, or " set," 
 as our grandmothers used to say, depends 
 entirely on the individual temperament and the 
 control she has over it. Leila's mouth was petu- 
 lant, for the reason that, like her brother, she 
 always sulked when she didn't have things her 
 own way. Her figure, thanks to fashionable 
 modistes, was more pleasing than her face, 
 though, in spite of well-built gowns, it lacked 
 distinction, largely owing to the fact that her 
 carriage was awkward she did not hold herself 
 erect, and, with head bent forward, walked with 
 a jerky movement which she thought fashion- 
 able. 
 
 She descended now to the drawing-room, ac- 
 companied by Belinda. Mrs. Denbeigh was out, 
 and in asking Belinda to go down with her Leila,
 
 The Way of Belinda 107 
 
 desiring a tete-a-tete with her visitor, hoped she 
 would refuse and depart; but Belinda failed to be 
 so obliging. She fancied she knew Westcote far 
 better than Leila did, and felt a natural curiosity 
 to see them together. 
 
 He greeted them in his usual quiet fashion as 
 they entered and fell to talking generalities. 
 Leila soon confided to him that they had been 
 discussing wedding trousseaus when he came. 
 Recollections of other things that had entered 
 into their talk caused her to giggle. It suddenly 
 struck Belinda that Leila was prone to giggle, 
 particularly in the society of men. Westcote, 
 seeing Belinda flush at the mention of trous- 
 seaus, hastened, with a man's dread of person- 
 alities, to change the subject. To the admiration 
 of Belinda he took the conversational reins into 
 his own hands and spoke of London, the inva- 
 sion of Americans over there, the prospects of 
 the coming summer, the enjoyment that the 
 Denbeighs were sure to find in a London season. 
 To the numerous questions pelted at him by 
 Leila, he made answer or not, apparently as it 
 suited him. Of his family or his home she could 
 draw out nothing. It impressed Belinda, who, 
 for the most part, played audience, as the per- 
 formance of an intelligent " grown-up " endeav-
 
 io8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 oring to amuse a little girl. That the little girl 
 was not altogether amused did not escape the 
 observant Belinda, and therein her surmise was 
 correct, for Leila, given to " frivolling " with 
 men, thought the conversation stupid and re- 
 sented the apparent determination on Belinda's 
 part to continue " playing gooseberry." With 
 good qualities and bad, like the rest of us, Leila 
 was one of those foolish girls who want their in- 
 tercourse with men to be always on a flirtatious 
 basis. Had she been fascinating, beautiful, or a 
 born coquette, it would have been forgiven her; 
 but being none of these, on the contrary without 
 physical attraction or personal charm, merely a 
 nice girl pleasant to many, pleasing to some 
 it was pitiable that she would take such an atti- 
 tude and mistake for spontaneous the attentions 
 she forced from men. 
 
 That she had impressed Westcote with a sin- 
 cerity of purpose which unconsciously she con- 
 tradicted at every breath, was evident to Belinda 
 half an hour after she had been in the room. 
 
 " Have you seen Miss Lovering recently? " 
 Belinda asked him, striking into the conversa- 
 tion while Leila busied herself with the tea 
 things which the footman had brought in.
 
 The Way of Belinda 109 
 
 " Rather," vaguely. 
 
 " How her work grows !" 
 
 " It isn't her sort of thing, it's the Settle- 
 ments, Mr. Westcote's interested in," corrected 
 Leila. 
 
 Belinda smiled over at him. 
 
 " You don't disapprove of her ' sort of thing,' 
 do you? " she asked. 
 
 " Not exactly," he began, when Leila, over- 
 burdened with knowledge, interrupted: 
 
 " You don't understand, Belinda. She is well 
 enough in her way, but organized work, Mr. 
 Westcote thinks, is productive of far more 
 good." 
 
 " You are not quoting me, Miss Denbeigh, 
 surely? " said Westcote, looking alarmed. 
 
 " You are my oracle," replied Leila coquet- 
 tishly; " I sit at your feet to learn East Side wis- 
 dom." 
 
 " Miss Denbeigh," he said seriously, turning 
 to the other girl explanatorily, " has been so very 
 kind as to take an interest in my hobbies. I have 
 so much to thank her and Mrs. Denbeigh for in 
 the many ways in which their interest has been 
 manifested. But I fear, Miss Leigh, I have not 
 always explained myself to Miss Denbeigh
 
 no The Way of Belinda 
 
 clearly. None the less, when I return," look- 
 ing at Leila, " it will be pleasant to remember 
 that I left behind so ardent a convert to philan- 
 thropy." 
 
 " Then you have not come in vain? " archly 
 from Leila. 
 
 He saw the lead, but did not follow. It is a 
 mistake to think Englishmen are dense. 
 
 " I have accomplished far more than I would 
 have thought possible in so short a time," he 
 said. 
 
 Belinda rose to go. 
 
 " May I go along with you? " the man asked. 
 
 But Leila had no intention of this. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Westcote," she exclaimed, " you 
 must wait until mamma comes you really must. 
 She has something very important to consult 
 you about. I think it's a model tenement or 
 something. She spoke of it this morning." 
 
 " Really I think I can't," began the man 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 " Yes, you can and must," imperatively. 
 " Mamma will never forgive me if I let you go." 
 
 Belinda laughed inwardly at the helplessness 
 of man. 
 
 " Good-by," she said to both of them. Then 
 to the man who reluctantly lingered :
 
 The Way of Belinda 
 
 iii 
 
 " Tell Miss Levering, with my love, when you 
 see her that I've made a brilliant discovery. 
 ' Her sort of thing ' is productive of far too much 
 good for you !" She went out laughing, leaving 
 behind a discomfited man and a maid sorely 
 puzzled.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " The brave man carves out his fortune, and 
 every man is the son of his own works." 
 
 CERVANTES. 
 
 THE tenement was in woful disorder. Famil- 
 iar with such scenes, Esther Levering found in 
 this nothing to amaze her. She picked her way 
 through a confusion of overturned chairs and 
 dirty clothing to the bed ordinarily shared 
 by " Lady Redbreast " with three other chil- 
 dren. To-day she was its sole occupant for 
 the simple reason that out of the four she alone, 
 that morning, had been unwilling to vacate it, 
 crying peevishly to be let alone when her mother 
 had endeavored to rout her out. Mrs. Krull, 
 who had little love for this deformed daughter, 
 allowed her to remain where she was, that being 
 to her mind a good way to be rid of her for the 
 present. Without further thought of her she 
 early went off to work for the day, leaving Susie, 
 aged ten, in charge of the family. Upon Susie,
 
 The Way of Belinda 113 
 
 oldest of the children, devolved the duty of cook- 
 ing, scrubbing, and tending babies; she was one 
 of those " little mothers " of the poor, weighted 
 down with domestic burdens. Though there 
 was between the ages of her and Janie merely a 
 difference of four years, she had mothered the 
 child from its infancy. One baby carrying an- 
 other had been the cause of Janie's deformity, for 
 one day, childish arms tiring, the baby had some- 
 how dropped on the doorsteps, bumped to the 
 street, and for weeks after, though no one knew 
 what was the matter with her, wailed pitifully. 
 Susie never knew that she was responsible for 
 this calamity, but she loved the baby sister, and 
 now loved the delicate, feeble child with savage 
 intensity. She fought all her battles, stood ready 
 to " lick " any boy in the street who called her 
 names, shared all her " treats " with her, and car- 
 ried her many a block when the weak spine gave 
 out. It was she who, frightened at the child's 
 continued moaning, had fled that morning for 
 Miss Lovering, and she now came over to the 
 bed, on the edge of which the woman sat, and 
 said anxiously: 
 
 " What's ailin' her? She ain't stoped cryin' all 
 mornin'." 
 
 Esther was feeling the child's pulse.
 
 ii4 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " I'm not sure, Susie, but I fear she's going to 
 be ill. Janie, dear, where does it hurt you? " 
 
 " Treat's hurted," moaned the child; " head's 
 hurted, too." 
 
 These were grave symptoms. 
 
 " Has she eaten anything this morning? " 
 asked the visitor. 
 
 " No, 'um," replied Susie; " I bringed her a 
 pig's feet what's ginerally her favorite but she 
 wouldn't look at it." 
 
 She ran to the table, caught up a wooden 
 plate on which the " favorite " still lay, and 
 proudly displayed it. 
 
 " I'se savin' it for her. See now, Janie," to her 
 sister persuasively, " wouldn't youse try a teeny 
 taste to please the lady? " 
 
 Miss Levering gently put the plate aside. 
 
 " I think she would better not try it just now, 
 Susie," she said kindly; " you see, it is probably 
 difficult for her to swallow anything solid if her 
 throat is sore. Suppose we try a little milk 
 heated. Have you any? " 
 
 " No, 'um, but I can git it in a jiffy," said the 
 resourceful Susie, who vanished into one of the 
 adjoining tenements, where a woman, having the 
 desired milk, lent it willingly. Had Susie asked
 
 The Way of Belinda 115 
 
 for anything else it would have been granted 
 with equal friendliness, for in all emergencies the 
 poor form a mutual help society. 
 
 Returning with the milk, she heated it under 
 Miss Lovering's direction, and Janie was per- 
 suaded to drink it all. This much accomplished, 
 Miss Levering turned her attention to the dis- 
 order of the room. Over in a corner near the 
 stove, on a bed improvised from the seats of two 
 chairs placed together, lay a baby asleep. On 
 the floor played a boy of three, who was ob- 
 viously responsible for some of the confusion, 
 for he had amused himself by turning over the 
 chairs and had managed to pull the drawer out of 
 the kitchen table, scattering its contents, which 
 served as fascinating playthings. On the table 
 itself were strewn dirty dishes, which it was evi- 
 dent Susie had been in the act of washing when 
 she had left everything to go for Miss Lovering. 
 Evidences of her industry were apparent in many 
 ways, in spite of the present chaos. 
 
 Miss Lovering took off her coat, and re- 
 spected Susie's position as head of the family by 
 asking to be allowed to assist her, beginning 
 meanwhile to pick up and straighten things out 
 so quietly and swiftly that soon she and Susie
 
 1 1 6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 had a fairly presentable-looking room. Janie, 
 soothed by the milk and the presence of her be- 
 loved Miss " Loving," was sleeping. 
 
 " What should you say," asked Esther of 
 Susie, " if I took Janie home with me? " 
 
 " Fer keeps ? " inquired the little mother. 
 
 " No, not for keeps," smiling, " but until she 
 gets well. If she is ill, and for some time, it 
 would be hard for you to manage here. Your 
 mother would consent, I think." 
 
 " Mother ain't troublin' herself," scornfully re- 
 plied the head of the family, " but I'se needin' 
 Janie." 
 
 " Yes, I know," said Miss Lovering, under- 
 standing and discussing the matter with as much 
 consideration as she would have shown an older 
 person, " but I think you would spare her a little 
 while if you knew I would take good care of her 
 and send her home well and you should come 
 and see her all you liked, Susie." 
 
 Susie was wavering. 
 
 " Would youse let her have pig's feet? " she 
 asked suspiciously. 
 
 Esther suppressed a smile. 
 
 " I'd give her whatever was best for her," she 
 said so convincingly that the alert Susie failed to 
 catch the vagueness of the answer.
 
 The Way of Belinda 117 
 
 " Let's take her now," suggested Esther, as if 
 this thought had just occurred to her. " I'll help 
 you dress her, and we'll bundle her all up and 
 carry her around, where you can help me to put 
 her to bed again. What do you say? " 
 
 She showed infinite tact in her management of 
 Susie, who would have been instantly on the de- 
 fensive had the woman thrust her aside and taken 
 complete possession of the situation. 
 
 " Janie'll take it well enough," reluctantly 
 confessed Susie, and Miss Levering knew the 
 day was won. 
 
 Together they dressed her, the child quietly 
 submitting to all the bother when she learned 
 where she was going. They wrapped her at last in 
 part of the bedding a huge red " comforter " 
 which completely enveloped her. This made of 
 her so large and clumsy a bundle that it would 
 not be possible for Susie to carry her and ques- 
 tionable if Miss Levering could at least, so 
 thought the " little mother," who said there was 
 an old granddad on the floor below who'd be 
 willing to take her. But Miss Levering refused 
 the suggested aid. She was too uncertain of the 
 nature of the child's malady to care to expose a 
 neighbor to possible contagion, preferring to 
 take all risks herself. Moreover, she was big and
 
 1 1 8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 strong and amply able to carry the grotesque, 
 human bundle. 
 
 Once in her own house, she went swiftly by 
 the room where the kindergarten was in session 
 and up the stairs to a small bedroom in the rear 
 which, until now, had not been occupied. Here 
 she left the undressing of the child to the sister, 
 and went downstairs to send for the doctor. She 
 knew it would be hours, perhaps many, before 
 the busy man came, and in the meantime she re- 
 turned and persuaded Susie to go home to her 
 duties, comforting her with the reminder that she 
 could run over again later on. Janie, bereft of 
 sister, cried herself into high fever, and finally 
 from sheer exhaustion fell asleep. 
 
 Miss Levering was bending over her, 
 anxiously studying her face, when she was in- 
 formed that Mr. Blake was below and asked to 
 see her. She went down one flight to a small 
 den, whither the man had already been con- 
 ducted. This room served in turn as office, re- 
 ception-room, and retreat. It was sanctified to 
 Esther Lovering by the presence of things which 
 had been her father's. The writing-table he had 
 used, and on it now stood an excellent, simply 
 framed photograph of him. Over in the corner 
 stood a battered old leather reclining chair, in
 
 The Way of Belinda 119 
 
 which, ever since she could remember, he had 
 been wont to snatch half an hour's rest after his 
 midday meal. She loved its depths, in which she 
 felt the spirit of her father enfolding her. His 
 books and a few miscellaneous ones of hers on 
 three sides lined the walls, hung with but three 
 pictures Burne- Jones's " Golden Stairs," Ma- 
 dame Le Brun with her child in her arms, and the 
 splendid head of Dr. Lister, whose benign face 
 always recalled her father. 
 
 Blake, who had not sat down, came quickly 
 forward as she entered, shaking warmly the hand 
 she offered. 
 
 " How are you to-day? " she asked cordially. 
 
 "Well, thank you; I'm always well. And 
 you?" 
 
 " Equally so. What can I do for you? " 
 
 It was characteristic of them both that they 
 did not waste words. 
 
 " I'm out on a tenement story," he replied, 
 looking at her in a direct, fixed way he had. 
 " That murder of a woman in a Hester Street 
 house Wednesday afternoon has called public at- 
 tention again to dark hallways and the generally 
 shocking condition of the houses. The Ten- 
 ement Commission held a meeting last night. 
 There was much discussion and some action is
 
 i2o The Way of Belinda 
 
 going to be taken. There will be an investiga- 
 tion at least.'' 
 
 " I'm glad to hear it," the woman said. 
 
 " The Commission will try to sum up the ques- 
 tion the practical side of it but I doubt if they 
 can. The tenement people won't let them; they 
 never have. Now, you get at the true state of 
 things. I want the practical side of it from you." 
 
 His words clicked out in the quick, decisive 
 manner of his calling. 
 
 She was a matter of some fifteen minutes tell- 
 ing him what she knew. He listened intently, 
 sometimes interrupting to ask a question, and 
 occasionally making notes on a small piece of 
 paper he held in his hand. 
 
 " Shall you use my name? " she asked, when 
 at length she had finished. 
 
 " If you prefer not, but the story will carry 
 more weight be of more value if it is known 
 as the result of investigations of a practical 
 worker like you." 
 
 " Then use it by all means," she replied, 
 ashamed of her inward shrinking from publicity. 
 
 " Thank you. I have just come across from 
 the Settlement, though from past experience I 
 should have known it was useless to stop there. 
 Miss Day had nothing to say."
 
 The Way of Belinda 121 
 
 " After twenty years' experience ! What a 
 
 pity!" 
 
 " Isn't it? " he agreed. " It seemed to me she 
 must for once overcome her aversion to the press 
 and see her opportunity to enlighten the public, 
 just now aroused and eager for the truth. But 
 she only took a personal view. The Settlement, 
 she said, did not desire newspaper notoriety. She 
 objected to being interviewed. I was dismissed, 
 and came to you." 
 
 " My father always said," responded Miss 
 Lovering, " that knowledge of any sort was of 
 small value unless we passed it along to keep 
 the ball rolling, you know," smilingly. 
 
 " That's what newspapers are for," replied 
 Blake, rising, " and I wish Miss Day realized it, 
 for she could make a powerful ally of us in open- 
 ing the eyes of the public to many things about 
 which it knows nothing or only hears half the 
 truth. Instead of that she systematically snubs 
 us, and we sometimes retaliate by getting in a dig 
 at Settlements when the chance offers." 
 
 " I've observed that," said Esther slyly. 
 " Good-by, and count on me whenever I can be 
 of use." 
 
 He went off with her story in his head, 
 through which ran an undercurrent of the
 
 122 The Way of Belinda 
 
 woman's personality. It was not only her re- 
 sponsiveness to what he asked, her intelligent 
 appreciation of the situation, but her frankness, 
 her earnestness, her sincerity of purpose that ap- 
 pealed to him. A faint impression of her lingered 
 with him through the day, like a strain of exalted 
 music, once heard, long remembered. 
 
 Blake made straight for the office on leaving 
 Miss Lovering, reported to the city editor, who 
 told him to write the story, which he at once pro- 
 ceeded to do. By the middle of the afternoon he 
 was off on another assignment, which took him 
 down to a big office building at the Battery, 
 where he was to ask a prominent exporter if he 
 thought American interests in South Africa 
 would be affected by the British-Boer War. He 
 reached the office just too late, learning there 
 from the boy that the merchant had gone home. 
 His residence, Blake knew, was far up on River- 
 side Drive, in the vicinity of Grant's Tomb. The 
 reporter boarded the <; L," and it was an hour 
 before he was in the street again, striding along 
 at a brisk pace, for the wind blew sharply from 
 the river down the cross street, and he found 
 himself wondering more than once how a man 
 could choose to live during the winter so far 
 from the centre of things. Jerry himself loved
 
 The Way of Belinda 123 
 
 the heart of the town, and lodged in a house in 
 old Greenwich, not so very far from the Den- 
 beigh mansion in Washington Square. His 
 early environment told in that he secretly deter- 
 mined, when taking up his abode in the metrop- 
 olis, to select no place where he could not from 
 his window see a patch of grass or at least a 
 tree. This had necessitated on his part a consid- 
 erable search, rewarded at last by the discovery 
 of a house itself boasting the desired grass-plot, 
 augmented by the equally longed-for tree on the 
 sidewalk directly opposite the house. Joys like 
 these led Jerry into the extravagance of the top 
 floor front instead of the proverbial top floor 
 back, wherein aspiring geniuses are supposed to 
 abide. 
 
 On reaching the merchant's residence, he rang 
 and was admitted, sent in his name, and was soon 
 affably received by the master of the house, who 
 was comfortably ensconced in the library with a 
 guest, whom he presented as Mr. Wynne, from 
 Johannesburg. Here, thought Jerry, was some- 
 thing worth while. 
 
 Turning to the host, Blake said at once : " The 
 Echo wants to know, Mr. Arden, what you think 
 of the danger to American business interests in 
 South Africa? "
 
 124 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Sit down," said the white-haired merchant, 
 who made it a point to be courteous to reporters; 
 " have a cigar? " 
 
 Blake declined the cigar and waited for an 
 answer to his question. 
 
 Turning to the Englishman, Mr. Arden, 
 ignoring it, launched into eulogy of New York 
 the greatest city in the world, sir which evi- 
 dently the foreigner was for the first time seeing. 
 Blake, when he could, broke in with a reiteration 
 of his question, which again the merchant 
 politely ignored, steering the conversation into 
 general channels. This, soon suspected Blake, 
 was his way with reporters to be most urbane 
 without committing himself. Immediately 
 changing his tack, Blake joined with the older 
 man in extolling the beauties of the city. The 
 Briton, who had lived most of his life in the 
 Transvaal, launched into comparative pictures of 
 South African cities, about which Blake adroitly 
 questioned. Naturally enough from this the 
 conversation drifted into business, centred in 
 Johannesburg, and in half an hour had more than 
 covered the ground Blake was seeking. Once he 
 could get at them Blake had a genius for draw- 
 ing people out. He now rose, apologized for in-
 
 The Way of Belinda 125 
 
 truding upon the merchant's time, bowed to the 
 two men and departed elated. 
 
 When the door had closed after him Mr. 
 Arden said : "Nice fellow, that reporter I liked 
 him. But I flatter myself he did not get any sat- 
 isfaction out of me." 
 
 On his way back to the office Blake stopped at 
 the favorite resort of newspaper men near Park 
 Row, where he ate a hurried dinner, washed 
 down with a stein of his favorite beer. Later in 
 the evening, he was sent uptown to report a for- 
 eign missionary meeting, an assignment com- 
 monly given to the cubs, and which would 
 have never been allotted to Jerry had not the 
 office that night been short of men. He 
 went off cheerfully, however, for sometimes an 
 unimportant thing turned out to be the story of 
 the day. 
 
 At the meeting he encountered a young 
 woman, the only other reporter present. He did 
 not know her, but they fell into talk after the 
 manner of working people, among whom there is 
 a freemasonry. The meeting was given over to 
 official business and Blake nearly fell asleep in his 
 chair. 
 
 " I was out on a story all night didn't get to
 
 126 The Way of Belinda 
 
 bed till four this morning," he explained to the 
 girl apologetically. 
 
 " What time did you report? " she asked, 
 sharpening a pencil. 
 
 " 1 1 A.M.," succinctly. 
 
 " Do that much? " 
 
 " Pretty much this week. We're short- 
 handed." 
 
 " Go to sleep," was her next remark. 
 
 " I'd like to, precious well." 
 
 " Really, I mean. Go to sleep there isn't go- 
 ing to be much. If anything does happen I'll 
 take it and give it to you." She looked at him 
 almost pleadingly. " I mean it I'd be glad to." 
 
 Never a word said Jerry, but, like an obedient 
 child, dropped his head in his hands on the re- 
 porters' table and slept profoundly for twenty 
 minutes. 
 
 Immensely refreshed, he woke just as the 
 meeting was adjourning. The girl gave him her 
 notes, while he made a mental note of the fact 
 that he wouldn't soon forget her. 
 
 There was no street or precinct in all the bor- 
 oughs of the great city Jerry had not at one time 
 or another covered in his work and knew by 
 heart. In the six years of his reporting, like a big 
 sponge, he had absorbed the town was satu-
 
 The Way of Belinda 127 
 
 rated with it, full of material destined to come 
 out of him in a manner now undreamed of. He 
 had not in his youth started out with any high- 
 flown notions of being an author, but, as Ronalds 
 Castleton suspected, the creative faculty was 
 strong within him, and all unknown was fast 
 leading him on. 
 
 He got to his room at two o'clock that morn- 
 ing, his day's work done. He immediately re- 
 tired, to sleep, but not dreamlessly. On the 
 retina of his tired brain two women clearly de- 
 fined themselves each so full of kindliness, each 
 his fellow-worker. Dreaming of them, he ceases 
 dreaming, soothed into quiet sleep.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 " As there are some flowers which you should 
 smell but slightly to extract all that is pleasant in 
 them, ... so there are some men with whom a 
 slight acquaintance is quite sufficient to draw out 
 all that is agreeable ; a more intimate one would be 
 unsatisfactory and unsafe." 
 
 LANDOR. 
 
 OF those personally interested, there were two 
 who strongly disapproved of the Denbeigh- 
 Leigh engagement Miss Lovering and the 
 debonaire Ronalds Castleton. He alone of their 
 relatives and friends refrained, upon the an- 
 nouncement of the engagement, from entertain- 
 ing them. So pointed a slight was resented by 
 Madame Ronalds, who, as usual, however, could 
 do nothing toward changing the attitude of her 
 obdurate nephew. With his customary frank- 
 ness, he said to her that Denbeigh was a cad and 
 utterly unworthy of his dear little cousin. The 
 money part of it was all right, of course, but 
 there were other men likely to be quite as rich
 
 The Way of Belinda 129 
 
 and less objectionable. Belinda was young and 
 could afford to wait. Madame Ronalds did not 
 argue that she could not afford to wait, for it did 
 not suit her to reveal to her nephew their true 
 financial condition. Like most of her conversa- 
 tions with him, it had ended where it began, leav- 
 ing her somewhat ruffled, he charmingly imper- 
 turbable as ever. 
 
 Much as he cared for her, he had never dis- 
 cussed this matter with Belinda. Inasmuch as, 
 though reluctantly, she had taken the decisive 
 step, he felt that the less said about it between 
 them the better. He watched her carefully from 
 afar, and was not slow to observe that she was 
 unhappy. Knowing her as well as he did, he 
 counted on her pride to sustain her up to a cer- 
 tain point. Meanwhile, she would remain mute. 
 Which was exactly what she did, though instinc- 
 tively feeling his sympathy. 
 
 Castleton came walking up the avenue one 
 afternoon, these things much in his mind. He 
 walked fast and with enjoyment, delighting in 
 the exercise, for he was an athletic man and had 
 been a champion at college, as sundry trophies in 
 his rooms testified. He felt the keen February 
 wind in his face and on his head when he lifted 
 his hat, as he did many times, to people on the
 
 130 The Way of Belinda 
 
 sidewalk and in passing equipages. A steady 
 stream of carriages poured up and down town, 
 the rumble of wheels an accompaniment to the 
 trot of horses' feet on the asphalt broughams 
 with the dignity of a pair and two men on the 
 box, bearing sumptuously clad occupants, of 
 whom one caught glimpses; victorias, less fre- 
 quent at that season, carrying women buried to 
 the ears in furs; an occasional dog-cart, its 
 owner driving tandem; public cabs and hansoms 
 darting in and out; clumsy stages lumbering 
 along. Whizzing by them and every other 
 vehicle, the insistent automobile, with its buzz 
 of machinery and warning gone. Endeavoring 
 to keep pace with it, to the disturbance of horses 
 and the annoyance of coachmen, the impertinent 
 bicycle, like a serpentine rocket, shot through the 
 crowd. This was Fifth Avenue on a winter after- 
 noon, and Castleton, feeling himself a part of the 
 gay panorama, rejoiced in it all, like the inbred 
 New Yorker he was. 
 
 Among a large number of persons the impres- 
 sion obtains that there no longer exists in the 
 metropolis the New Yorker born and bred, the 
 citizens being from other States and all the world 
 over. Some one recently has said : " All New
 
 The Way of Belinda 131 
 
 Yorkers have come from somewhere else. The 
 New Yorkers who were born in New York have 
 either gone West to earn their living or else they 
 have gone to Europe to live on their incomes " 
 an aphorism, by many taken more seriously than 
 was probably intended. Cosmopolitan as is the 
 great city, she, nevertheless, retains and clings fast 
 to her native sons and daughters, a large and in- 
 fluential class, who love their city with an inten- 
 sity seldom realized, though often shared in a 
 measure by her adopted children. 
 
 Half way up the avenue, Castleton, attracted 
 by some flowers in a florist's window, turned into 
 the shop and sent some orchids to Belinda, which 
 was a way he had. He then went on to his club, 
 at that hour crowded. He was greeted on all 
 sides and asked to join various groups of men at 
 small tables. Accepting one of these invitations, 
 he found himself sitting beside Gerard Westcote, 
 whom he liked and always found diverting be- 
 cause of his intense seriousness. 
 
 " How goes the world? " he asked of the table 
 generally. 
 
 " Well enough," replied one, lighting a cig- 
 arette. 
 
 " ' Speak for yourself, John,' " retorted an-
 
 132 The Way of Belinda 
 
 other; " I'm sick of the whole blooming busi- 
 ness." 
 
 " Girl gone back on him? " inquired Castleton 
 solicitously. 
 
 " That's it," said the first man. " We never 
 thought of it; he's in love." 
 
 The man alluded to did not deign to reply. 
 
 Westcote said seriously, " I don't believe he 
 likes being chaffed about it." 
 
 They all laughed, even the pessimistic man. 
 
 " Westcote," said Castleton, " you're too sym- 
 pathetic. Give it up it takes too much out of 
 you." 
 
 The Englishman, who did not know how to be 
 other than literal, said quietly, " It's all right, 
 thanks I'll manage," to the delight of Castle- 
 ton, who enjoyed nothing better than being mis- 
 understood. 
 
 " Still interested in prowling 'round the East 
 Side? " he asked him presently. 
 
 " More than ever," answered Westcote ani- 
 matedly. 
 
 " Must be some mighty big attraction down 
 there," commented one of the men. 
 
 " Cherchez la femme," suggested Castleton, 
 and then stopped. Westcote had flushed to the 
 roots of his hair. Castleton immediately diverted
 
 The Way of Belinda 133 
 
 the attention of the table from him and changed 
 the topic. Later, when the others were talking 
 together, he said : 
 
 " I'm having my yacht put in commission and 
 think of taking a run down to Bermuda. Join 
 me, will you, Westcote? I'd like immensely to 
 have you. Say you will." 
 
 " When do you go? " the Englishman asked. 
 
 " Oh, any time within a fortnight later if 
 you like, though I imagine March is a good time, 
 isn't it? " 
 
 " Fancy so," replied Westcote, pulling at his 
 mustache, which was a trick of his when think- 
 ing. " I've a young brother down there." 
 
 " Have you? Then come and have a look at 
 him." 
 
 " Just been ordered there from Jamaica sec- 
 ond lieutenant, West India Regiment," ex- 
 plained Westcote. " Restless chap itching to 
 get off to South Africa." 
 
 " You'd cheer him up," suggested Castleton 
 with more seriousness than he usually spoke, for 
 he wanted the man. 
 
 " Believe I should," assented Westcote. " I'll 
 go with pleasure," he continued, " if you're in no 
 particular hurry to be off. I'd like it uncom- 
 monly."
 
 1 34 The Way of Belinda 
 
 "Good!" exclaimed Castleton. "We'll ar- 
 range details later." 
 
 At this moment, when both men were about to 
 depart, Dan Denbeigh passed, and his eye light- 
 ing on Westcote, he drew up a chair and, un- 
 asked, pushed into the group between the Eng- 
 lishman and Castleton. Annoyed, Castleton 
 nodded coolly. 
 
 " I say," exclaimed Dan, gesticulating omi- 
 nously with the starting crank of his automobile, 
 which he held in his hand, " your d d airs don't 
 go down with a member of the family." 
 
 It was evident from his first word that the boy 
 had been drinking. 
 
 An awkward silence hung for a moment over 
 the table. Castleton, ignoring the remark, said 
 to him pleasantly : 
 
 " Saw you spinning uptown a while ago, Dan. 
 Your machine is a beauty, absolutely noiseless, 
 isn't it?" 
 
 " She's a hummer," said Dan, forgetting his 
 former speech; " beats the town." 
 
 For a few moments he talked quite intelligently 
 about the relative merits of different makes of 
 automobiles. During this time Castleton de- 
 cided that the sooner he got him home the bet-
 
 The Way of Belinda 135 
 
 ter, but would Dan go with him? He doubted it, 
 and leaning back of the boy, said a few words to 
 Westcote. That individual pushed back his 
 chair, but not before he had been singled out for 
 Dan's attention. 
 
 " Say," the boy began, " you haven't been 
 showing up at the house much lately. You're 
 spoons on Leila, aren't you? When are you go- 
 ing to pull it off? " he ended insolently. 
 
 There was a general stir of chairs. Dan in 
 this mood was not agreeable. Westcote, though 
 flushed, took his insult much as Castleton had 
 done. The boy slouched in his chair, even deeper 
 in his cups than speech indicated. Bending over 
 him, Westcote said: 
 
 " May I not go up to the house with you now, 
 Mr. Denbeigh, and pay a visit? " 
 
 " Come along," grunted Dan, hit with the 
 idea. 
 
 The automobile crank in his hand, he went un- 
 steadily out into the street, accompanied by 
 Westcote, to whom Castleton nodded approv- 
 ingly as they passed. Arrived in the street, Dan 
 forgot his machine and stumbled into the first 
 cab. Thinking it wise not to interfere with his 
 movements, Westcote said nothing and was
 
 136 The Way of Belinda 
 
 about to follow when Dan shut the door in his 
 face. " Don't care for your d society," he shot 
 out at him. 
 
 " Washington Square," said Westcote to 
 the cabby and returned to the club. 
 
 Dan meanwhile felt aggrieved. He didn't 
 know just why, but he hadn't seemed to enjoy 
 the club at all. Half way downtown he was sud- 
 denly reminded, by noticing the crank in his 
 hand, that he was not spinning along in his auto- 
 mobile. Out of a bewildered brain he managed 
 to extract the recollection that he'd left the 
 machine at the club. A peremptory order to re- 
 turn was given the cabby. Before Dan was half 
 way back he'd forgotten what he was returning 
 for. The neighborhood suggested Belinda. 
 When Dan alighted, he stood at the door of the 
 Tyrol. 
 
 Impatiently he waited in the reception-room 
 while the servant announced him. Belinda, on re- 
 ceiving his card, was tempted to send down word 
 she was not at home. She had just come in from 
 a round of afternoon receptions with her grand- 
 mother, who, leaving her at the house, had gone 
 a block further to make one more call. She 
 wished now she had gone with her, though her 
 grandmother had rather urged her returning.
 
 The Way of Belinda 137 
 
 Could she have known Dan was coming? Of all 
 things Belinda most disliked a tete-a-tete with 
 him, but she reminded herself that as her fiance 
 he undeniably had the right to be received, and 
 sent word that he was to come up. 
 
 She was arranging the flowers which had just 
 arrived from her cousin when Dan was an- 
 nounced. 
 
 " How do? Where's the old lady?" he asked 
 affably on entering. 
 
 "If you mean my grandmother," replied 
 Belinda somewhat frigidly, "she will be in 
 directly." 
 
 " Needn't hurry on my account," he said, ap- 
 proaching her and stopping part way to lean 
 against a chair. 
 
 "What's the matter? Why don't you sit 
 down? " she asked, going on with the arrange- 
 ment of her flowers. 
 
 " Come here," said her would-be lord and 
 master. 
 
 "What for?" indifferently. 
 
 " Come here," he repeated. 
 
 " I shan't," she said defiantly. " If you want 
 me you can come where I am." 
 
 He did not move, but stood watching her with 
 a cunning expression in his heavy eyes.
 
 138 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Where did you get those flowers? " he asked 
 ominously. 
 
 " They were sent to me," she answered, willing 
 enough to tell him, but annoyed at his dictatorial 
 manner. 
 
 " Some d man, I suppose," coming close to 
 her and suddenly drawing her into his arms. 
 " You'll accept no flowers from any man but me, 
 do you understand? " roughly, " any man but 
 me." He kissed her between words to emphasize 
 his royal command. 
 
 Startled by his manner, she managed to free 
 herself, realizing for the first time, with horror, 
 that he was intoxicated. Except once or twice in 
 the street she had never seen a man under the 
 influence of liquor, and hadn't the least idea what 
 he would do, or indeed what she should do. She 
 had an instant's thought of ordering him out of 
 the house, but she knew he would make a scene, 
 and good sense told her that such a course was 
 far from advisable. To turn him out was to send 
 him who knew whither? If she rang for a ser- 
 vant, it would be exposing Dan. That she could 
 not do. Any moment her grandmother might 
 come. Oh, if only she would ! And yet even to 
 her Belinda shrank from disclosing the man's 
 degradation. Dan meanwhile, after one fierce
 
 The Way of Belinda 139 
 
 outburst, had sunk apathetic into a chair and 
 dropped his head in his hand. 
 
 Presently the girl went over to him. " Dan," 
 she said persuasively, " it is very near dinner- 
 time. Don't you think you'd better be going 
 home?" 
 
 " You're cordial !" he muttered. 
 
 The girl sighed. 
 
 " Dan," she began; but not getting any re- 
 sponse touched him lightly on the shoulder, at 
 which he raised his head and said sullenly : 
 
 " Let a fellow alone, can't you? " 
 
 When Dan got ugly the girl well knew he was 
 hopeless. This led her back to persuasiveness, 
 which, under the circumstances, was of all 
 methods the one to pursue with him. 
 
 " If you'll go home now," she said slowly, and 
 as if she were bribing a little child, " I'll give up 
 the opera, and you may come back directly after 
 dinner." 
 
 Only part of this penetrated. 
 
 " Come, too," he said, rising. 
 
 " You mean you'll come to the opera? " she 
 asked of a man past answering a question. 
 
 " Come, too," he repeated, taking hold of her; 
 " cab's at the door." 
 
 He reached for his hat, still holding- her arm,
 
 140 The Way of Belinda 
 
 She, at last comprehending, stood transfixed. 
 Sick with the disgust of the past few moments, 
 she looked at him, to see, not the man who had so 
 insulted her, but Dan, her old playmate, the wil- 
 ful, obstreperous, boyish Dan of her childish 
 years. Sudden pity swept over her and her eyes 
 filled with tears. 
 
 " I'll drive down with you, Dan," she said de- 
 terminedly, and together they went out. 
 
 Once started on this strange expedition Be- 
 linda had two fixed ideas : to shield Dan and to 
 leave him safely at his father's door. Going 
 down from their rooms to the ground floor, she 
 talked incessantly in the elevator, giving him no 
 opportunity to respond. Afraid lest the servants 
 should notice his unsteady gait, she boldly took 
 his arm and guided him through the hall. He 
 was perfectly docile, and, indeed, the girl was 
 doing a far kinder and wiser thing than she knew. 
 Once in the cab, content with her hand in his, 
 he fell asleep and did not wake until roused by 
 Belinda at his father's door. 
 
 In her corner of the cab during that long ride 
 downtown, Belinda, with eyes staring into the 
 night, swiftly reviewed Dan's life and hers, out- 
 wardly flowing along together, inwardly so far 
 apart, made irrevocably so by this unsuspected
 
 The Way of Belinda 141 
 
 weakness. Would it free her? Her heart leaped 
 at the thought then sank again. Even to 
 gain her freedom she would not expose him. All 
 her life Belinda remembered that wretched drive, 
 so full of conflicting emotions. 
 
 At the Denbeigh mansion the door was opened 
 by the irreproachable James. Dan fell over him. 
 
 " The ladies aren't home, miss," the servant 
 said to Belinda. 
 
 " I'm not coming in," thankfully replied the 
 girl, whom Dan was now too far gone to notice. 
 She, seeing him safely within his father's door, 
 felt that her mission was accomplished. 
 
 It must be confessed that with true feminine 
 contradictoriness plucky Belinda cried nearly all 
 the way home. There, on her arrival, she found 
 her grandmother not yet returned and a note 
 awaiting her. She opened it curiously. 
 
 " Belinda dear," was hurriedly written in pen- 
 cil, " we despair of little Janie it is pneumonia 
 in the most acute form our hope now lies in 
 you. She cries for you unceasingly. ' Miss 
 Lady wants Miss Lady I'se her Lady Robin 
 Redbreast Miss Lady ' again and again until 
 my heart bleeds. Dr. Noble says there is little 
 hope of her recovery, none absolutely unless it is 
 possible to quiet her. I turn to you, dear, know-
 
 142 The Way of Belinda 
 
 ing you will come. Tell your grandmother no 
 harm shall befall you. Plead with her. Surely 
 she cannot refuse the cries of a suffering child. 
 Come quickly, Belinda dear." 
 
 It was not signed, but Belinda had never failed 
 when Esther Lovering called.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of 
 many things." 
 
 ALICE IN WONDERLAND. 
 
 " MY precious girl," cried Esther, kissing her ; 
 " I knew you'd come." 
 
 " Yes," said the girl; " how is she? " 
 
 " Sleeping now, dear ; worn out at last. Can 
 you stay awhile? Dr. Noble is coming in again 
 at nine. Susie is sitting with her now. That 
 child's devotion is wonderful. Any moment 
 Janie may wake and call for you. It is singular 
 with what pertinacity you haunt her mind." 
 
 "Poor little 'Lady Redbreast'! How I've 
 missed her all this time ! " 
 
 " You never told me why your grandmother 
 forbade your coming any more, dear." 
 
 " No," replied Belinda ; " it would have only 
 made you unhappy. It was bad enough as it 
 was."
 
 144 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Is this the little girl who used to share all 
 her secrets with me ? " asked the woman, gazing 
 fondly at her. 
 
 " No, you old darling," cried the impulsive 
 Belinda ; " it isn't the same at all. That was a 
 naughty little girl, who was bad all the time and 
 loved you to distraction this is a good little 
 girl, who always does what she is told." 
 
 " And doesn't like it, by the look of her, eh ? " 
 jestingly commented Esther, who felt the hidden 
 meaning in the girl's words. 
 
 Neither spoke for a moment. Esther busied 
 herself, helping Belinda off with her wraps and 
 making her comfortable in the den. 
 
 " I think," said Belinda, " I ought to send a 
 note right away to Nana." 
 
 " Certainly," replied Esther ; " sit down at the 
 table, dear." 
 
 " She doesn't know I'm here," casually an- 
 nounced Belinda. 
 
 " Oh, my dear," said the woman, " I'm sorry 
 for that." 
 
 " So am I," agreed Belinda ; " but she wasn't 
 in, and I couldn't wait, and I wouldn't be here if 
 I had," somewhat confusedly. 
 
 She began to write hurriedly, and finished the 
 note, which she handed to Miss Levering.
 
 The Way of Belinda 145 
 
 " Is there any one you can send up with it right 
 away ? " she asked. 
 
 The woman went out, in a few moments re- 
 turning. 
 
 " Well," began the girl, eying her as she 
 entered, " you might as well say it. I know you're 
 scolding me in your mind." 
 
 " I'm troubled," confessed Esther, " that you 
 came without your grandmother's permission. 
 I dread the consequences for you, dear." 
 
 " There ! " cried the girl, " I knew it. It's just 
 the same old story over again. No matter what 
 I do," vehemently, " I can't please any one. Nana 
 scolds me about nothing, Dan finds fault with me 
 the whole blessed time, and now you begin! I 
 might as well die, and be done with it ! " She 
 burst into hysterical sobbing, startling to Esther, 
 who had never seen her like this. 
 
 " Dear, dear," soothingly cried the woman, 
 putting her arms around her, " I didn't mean to 
 scold you it was like my plucky little girl to 
 come at once. Under the circumstances, I'm sure 
 your grandmother will forgive you." 
 
 " I don't care whether she does or not," sobbed 
 the belligerent Belinda. 
 
 " You're all tired out, dear," comforted Esther, 
 smoothing her hand over the wavy, bowed head.
 
 146 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Come and sit in father's big chair and tell me 
 all about it." 
 
 Belinda dug her handkerchief viciously into 
 her eyes. " I guess I'm that naughty little girl 
 again who was bad all the time," she said with 
 an attempt at playfulness. 
 
 " And who used to crawl into a certain stern 
 old governess's lap to ' fess ' ? Would you like 
 that, Belinda?" 
 
 " Oh, wouldn't I ! " exclaimed Belinda, aching 
 for sympathy. 
 
 Esther sat down in the big chair and took the 
 girl in her arms. " Talk, dear, or not, as you 
 like," said this mother to all children ; " you need 
 a little rest." 
 
 Belinda heaved a sigh, and lay very still. All 
 the unrest of the past weeks seemed to drop from 
 her in that loving embrace. Thus holding her, 
 the woman, exhausted by long days and nights 
 of nursing, felt her own tired nerves relax; and 
 with head thrown back and eyes closed half dozed 
 in the quiet room, body passive, mind inactive, 
 except as dreamily it reverted to those old days 
 at the Tyrol, so happily recalled. 
 
 After a long time the girl said, " Peggy" 
 that being her pet name for her governess 
 " Peggy/' quite softly, " are you asleep ? "
 
 The Way of Belinda 147 
 
 " No, dear/' replied the woman, turning her 
 head toward Belinda ; " is the naughty little girl 
 going -to ' fess' ? " 
 
 " Dan Denbeigh drinks," Belinda said abruptly. 
 It was out at last. 
 
 " Oh, I hope not ! " exclaimed Esther, who 
 strongly disliked him. 
 
 Whereupon, having blurted out the fact, Be- 
 linda followed it with a full account of what had 
 happened. 
 
 "Wasn't it terrible, Peggy? But I wouldn't 
 have Nana or his people know for the world." 
 
 " Why ? " asked the woman curiously. 
 
 " Because it's so awful, so degrading. I'm 
 sure Dan will feel so when he's himself; and if 
 only I know about it, he needn't be so frightfully 
 humiliated." 
 
 " You're a staunch friend, Belinda. Not many 
 girls would be inclined to shield him. On the 
 contrary, in your position they'd make it a power- 
 ful weapon against him. I'm glad you used your 
 wits to manage him and did it so successfully. 
 It is a great thing in life, dear, to rise to the 
 occasion to be equal to the emergency. I like 
 to feel that you always will." 
 
 " Don't you remember," said Belinda, glowing, 
 feeling well repaid by this praise for what she
 
 148 The Way of Belinda 
 
 had done, " how I adored that story " The Emer- 
 gency Mistress" in an old St. Nicholas when I 
 was a child ? I used to make you read it over and 
 over again." 
 
 She suddenly sat up, and reaching over for 
 a low stool, pulled it to Miss Lovering's feet, and 
 sat down upon it. 
 
 "I'm a selfish pig to make you hold me when 
 you're probably ten thousand times more tired 
 than I am, you blessed old thing." She rubbed 
 her face against the woman's knee affectionately. 
 
 " I shall never marry Dan," she said emphati- 
 cally. " Up to now, Peggy, I thought it didn't 
 matter nothing mattered but all the way going 
 down with him in the cab I was filled with such 
 loathing that it turned me sick. I never had such 
 an ugly feeling before. I wanted to scream, it 
 was so dreadful." 
 
 " Don't judge him too harshly, dear, for what 
 was, perhaps, only momentary weakness," ad- 
 monished Esther. 
 
 " I wouldn't at least, I don't think I would" 
 trying to be fair ; " but it isn't that," continued 
 Belinda. " I know now the loathing has been 
 there for ages, growing, growing, until all of 
 a sudden it nearly strangled me. I hate him, I 
 hate him ! It is terrible to hate a person."
 
 The Way of Belinda 149 
 
 The woman laid her two cool hands on the 
 girl's hot forehead. 
 
 " Get it all out, Belinda. You won't feel so 
 bitter then." 
 
 " I want to feel bitter," persisted the girl ; " I've 
 felt that way inwardly so long." 
 
 Miss Lovering did not aggravate her by telling 
 her that these were reprehensible feelings that 
 to hate a fellow-creature was wicked, and that 
 she must bring herself to a better state of mind. 
 To moralize was not Esther's way. She knew 
 the girl's mood was the natural outcome of trying 
 weeks, culminating in the miserable experience 
 of the afternoon a mood justifiable enough. 
 And she sought only to comfort her, seeing full 
 well for this child of her heart threatening 
 breakers ahead. 
 
 To divert her, she talked about the Kinder- 
 garten Club, various children Belinda had known, 
 how they were getting on, and how often they 
 asked for her. Some of the little girls were trying 
 to learn to knit, Esther told her, and one of them 
 the one farthest along in her work said her 
 white strip was going to be a neckscarf for the 
 pretty Miss Lady when she came back. At this 
 Belinda smiled through wet eyes. Then in her 
 low, sweet voice the woman talked of Janie
 
 150 The Way of Belinda 
 
 how she had found her the morning Susie took 
 her there. Even dragged from the recesses of 
 her memory the incident of the pig's foot, which 
 caused Belinda to smile again. Then she told 
 how the fever had possessed Janie, gaining force, 
 until from day to day she seemed being swept 
 from them by the dread disease. She spoke of 
 the many offers of assistance she had had from 
 the neighbors; her endeavor to keep on uninter- 
 ruptedly with her customary work; the kindness 
 of Mr. Westcote, the Englishman, who called 
 every day to offer his services ; the thoughtf ulness 
 of Mr. Blake, who had been useful to her in a 
 dozen ways. 
 
 " Mr. Blake ! " repeated Belinda, suddenly 
 lifting her head. 
 
 " Yes, dear, a newspaper friend of mine." 
 
 " I remember now," almost inaudibly ; " he 
 said he knew you." 
 
 " Do you know him? " asked Esther. 
 
 "I thought I did," the girl answered; "but 
 I was mistaken." Then in swift resentment she 
 added : 
 
 " Peggy? ne was the cause of my not coming 
 any more to see you ! " 
 
 "Mr. Blake?" cried the astonished woman.
 
 The Way of Belinda 151 
 
 " But I thought you just said you didn't know 
 him!" 
 
 " I did ; but I do, and I don't, and I don't want 
 to. He's the most contemptible man on earth! 
 ' The lowest type,' Nana says." 
 
 "Belinda!" gasped Esther; "you make me 
 feel as if something were going round in my 
 head. Do say what you mean." 
 
 Nothing loath to free her mind, Belinda ex- 
 plained to the puzzled woman that which seemed 
 inexplicable. It all lay so near the girl's heart 
 that she poured it out in trembling words, half 
 choked with sobs. 
 
 " I trusted him, Peggy trusted him. How 
 could I help it? he was so good and kind and, 
 oh, how he abused it ! " 
 
 " It's odd that no knowledge of this ever came 
 to me," soliloquized Esther. " What paper was 
 it in, Belinda?" 
 
 " That dreadful Globe. Oh, I'm so thankful 
 you never saw it, I hoped you wouldn't I would 
 have died if you had. I never wanted you to 
 know about it, Peggy, I was so dreadfully 
 ashamed." She hid her face in the woman's lap 
 with a childish movement. 
 
 " Dear," Esther said, " Mr. Blake has no more
 
 152 The Way of Belinda 
 
 connection with the Globe than you have. There 
 is some mistake, even admitting he would be 
 guilty of such a thing, and of that nothing could 
 convince me. How did you know who he was? 
 Did he introduce himself ? You say he mentioned 
 knowing me ? " 
 
 Belinda told of her meeting him at the Den- 
 beighs'. 
 
 " I didn't know his name," explained the girl 
 in a tense voice, " until one night long after. I 
 met him at a vaudeville in cousin Ronalds's 
 studio. Nana herself presented him to me. 
 Cousin Ronalds had presented him to her. You 
 can fancy how that astonished me, and how I 
 snubbed him. I suppose he was reporting the 
 party, and I longed to take cousin Ronalds aside 
 and tell him it wasn't safe to have a man like that 
 about." 
 
 " Why didn't you ? " Esther asked, amused in 
 spite of her deep interest. 
 
 " I don't know," faltered Belinda. 
 
 " Mr. Blake doesn't do society reporting, dear ; 
 and do you think it likely that a relative of yours 
 would present to your grandmother an undesir- 
 able person ? " 
 
 " I don't know," again she faltered. 
 
 "You're usually such a reasoning little body
 
 The Way of Belinda 153 
 
 that I'm astonished. You evidently haven't 
 thought, dear," continued Esther. 
 
 " I've thought of nothing else all winter 
 nothing else morning, noon, and night ! " 
 burst from her. " Peggy, now you know every- 
 thing!" 
 
 Her confession filled the little room. Esther 
 held the silence sacred. For some moments 
 neither moved, then she stooped and kissed the 
 wavy head. 
 
 " My precious little girl," she whispered and 
 left her. 
 
 This, then, was what had been troubling Be- 
 linda produced the change so noticeable to 
 Esther the few times during the past months she 
 had been able to get up to the Tyrol to see the 
 girl; accounted for her indifference to things 
 transpiring, her acquiescence in an engagement 
 against which she had long protested. She had 
 built for herself a wall around shattered illusions, 
 among which she dwelt alone. Thus thought the 
 loving, reasoning Esther, while the girl she had 
 left seemed to have almost ceased breathing, so 
 immovably did she continue to sit on the little 
 stool, her head against the chair. Her back to the 
 door, Belinda was unaware of the entrance of a 
 man, and unconscious of his presence until a
 
 154 The Way of Belinda 
 
 strangely familiar voice, that set her heart throb- 
 bing, said : 
 
 " I I beg your pardon ; they told me I should 
 find Miss Levering here." 
 
 She sprang to her feet, every nerve tingling. 
 
 " Mr. Blake ! " she exclaimed with a startled 
 cry; and then with some attempt at dignity, 
 " Good-evening," not knowing whether she were 
 going to be civil or not. 
 
 He started to go out to relieve her of his hated 
 presence, when she said, as if she had suddenly 
 made up her mind to say something, every word 
 of which was a painful effort, "Mr. Blake, did 
 you may I ask you a question ? " 
 
 Her embarrassment pained him. 
 
 " Any question you like, Miss Leigh," he re- 
 plied earnestly, praying she would ask the one 
 he most longed to answer. 
 
 She twisted her hands nervously together, but 
 looked squarely into his face. He liked that. 
 
 " Did you you write that thing about 
 me in the Globe?" slowly dragging the 
 words out one by one. 
 
 " I did not," he said emphatically, face lighting. 
 
 " Oh," she cried, " why didn't you tell me, why 
 didn't you?" 
 
 "You gave me no opportunity, Miss Leigh;
 
 The Way of Belinda 155 
 
 and if you had, I would not have availed myself 
 of it. It seemed to me if you could believe me 
 guilty of a vulgar, sensational story like that, 
 it ought not to make any difference to me what 
 you thought. It has, though," under his breath, 
 "gad, it has!" 
 
 The girl sank trembling into a chair. 
 
 " I can't say anything," she began brokenly ; 
 " I don't know what to say." 
 
 " There is nothing to say," he hastened to 
 reassure her. " It was a natural mistake one I 
 might easily have rectified but for my confounded 
 pride." It was characteristic of the man to shift 
 the blame to his own shoulders. 
 
 " When the story came out I thought it more 
 than likely you would not see it then if you did, 
 I hugged the faint hope that you'd know I never 
 would so abuse your confidence as if you'd 
 know whether I was that sort or not! It was 
 absurd of me to expect it. I knew it, so I fell 
 back on the possibility of your realizing that the 
 story was altogether too incorrect and distorted 
 to have come from me. This consoled me 
 up to the time I met you at Mr. Castle- 
 ton's; then I knew you thought the worst of me 
 and, of course, after that Madame Ronalds 
 must, too."
 
 156 The Way of Belinda 
 
 ",Why not cousin Ronalds also?" asked the 
 girl. 
 
 " Because he knows me and my work he 
 knows I have never had any Globe connection." 
 
 Miss Lovering's words of a few moments 
 before ! 
 
 " Don't newspaper men write for all the 
 papers ? " she asked curiously. 
 
 " No," with a smile ; " reporters don't. They 
 write only for the paper which employs them." 
 
 " Oh ! " she exclaimed ; then, " I never told 
 my grandmother or any one that it was you 
 or, I mean," she corrected, " that I thought it 
 was you who wrote it." 
 
 " Thank you," he said simply. 
 
 " I wanted to that night at the studio," went 
 on Belinda, " when I saw you talking to my 
 grandmother. I longed to expose you I thought 
 it would be fun to give her the shock but some- 
 how I didn't," she ended lamely, suddenly 
 growing embarrassed again. 
 
 " Thank you again," he said gravely. " May 
 I sit down ? " he asked, for all the while he had 
 been under cross-examination he had been stand- 
 ing, like a man in the witness-box. She nodded ; 
 and dropping into the chair by the table, he con- 
 tinued :
 
 The Way of Belinda 157 
 
 " If it does not annoy you, Miss Leigh, I will 
 wait here until Miss Levering comes down. I 
 stopped in a moment to see if I could be of 
 service." 
 
 " Oh, yes," she said, suddenly remembering 
 what Esther had said about his attentiveness. 
 
 For a moment neither spoke, he fearing to 
 thrust himself upon her, she wishing he would 
 say something anything until, at last, the 
 silence growing awkward, she asked : 
 
 " Do you remembei Janie ? " and then flushed, 
 remembering the train of thought to which it led 
 back. 
 
 " Yes," I remember Janie," he said quietly, 
 looking away from her and then back again, his 
 eyes resting gravely on her face; "but the nice 
 part of it is that once or twice when I've run 
 across her on the street Janie remembered me." 
 His eyes now smiled, but his face remained grave. 
 " I have sometimes taken the liberty," he con- 
 tinued " a great liberty, I fear you will think it 
 of calling her ' Lady Redbreast.' ' 
 
 "She liked that, didn't she?" said Belinda 
 appreciatively. " She's such an imaginative little 
 thing. Sometimes when I called her that she'd 
 get very shy, and other times she'd get very vain, 
 and strut around like a veritable robin."
 
 158 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " It has pleased her very much lately when 
 she has known anything," he exclaimed, charmed 
 with her graciousness. 
 
 "You have seen her?" 
 
 " Several times. Miss Lovering thought it 
 wise when she asked for me." 
 
 " She asked for me, too," said Belinda jeal- 
 ously, beginning to feel as if he had usurped her 
 place, though liking him none the less for it. 
 
 " It was good of you to come," he told her. 
 
 " You may laugh," she said earnestly as if 
 he would laugh while she gazed at him with that 
 troubled look in her pretty, serious face ! " You 
 may laugh, but you've been responsible for keep- 
 ing me away all this while." 
 
 " I ? " wonderingly. 
 
 " Yes. After that that article," hesitatingly, 
 " my grandmother never allowed me to come 
 down here." 
 
 " I see." 
 
 "And, of course, it wasn't your fault; now, 
 was it ? " with a rising inflection he thought fasci- 
 nating; "but I've hated you just as much as if 
 it had been," she added complacently. 
 
 The conversation was swinging into dangerous 
 channels. The man, more on guard than she, was 
 realizing this, when they were interrupted by the
 
 The Way of Belinda 159 
 
 entrance of Susie bringing a tray. She put it 
 down on the table, and pulled a note out of her 
 apron pocket, which she handed the girl. Then 
 turning to Blake, she said : 
 
 " Miss ' Loving ' sez will you please step down 
 to see her in the kindergarten room, sir." 
 
 The man, longing to remain, excused himself 
 and at once followed her downstairs. 
 
 The girl looked curiously at the tray, and then 
 lifting the linen cloth covering it, beheld a simple, 
 dainty, cold supper, attesting to thoughtful, 
 loving hands. 
 
 " That blessed old Peggy," she said to the 
 air, though desire to eat was farthest from her 
 inclination. She then opened her grandmother's 
 note, and read: 
 
 " BELINDA : Since you choose wilfully to dis- 
 obey me and take advantage of my absence to 
 carry out a well-laid scheme, you may remain 
 where you are at present. I do not wish you to 
 return to-night or to-morrow or until I give you 
 permission. When that may be concerns me 
 alone. That you should prove a traitor and im- 
 peril your life for a Hebrew child, who might 
 better die, is what I now see too well I could but 
 expect from your association with your former
 
 160 The Way of Belinda 
 
 governess, whose name henceforth is dead to me. 
 If you do not desire to share her fate, you will 
 make no attempt to communicate with me. For 
 the present you are to remember that to me you 
 have ceased to exist. 
 
 " MAUD CASTLETON RONALDS." 
 
 The signature as much as the context froze the 
 girl's soul. She crumpled the note to get the 
 cruel words out of sight, and clutched it in both 
 hands convulsively. 
 
 Esther's head peered in at the door. 
 
 " Belinda, dear, will you come ? " she said. 
 " Janie is calling for you."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 " That father may truly be said miserable, that 
 holdeth the affection of his children tied unto him 
 by no other means than by the need they have of 
 his help, or want of his assistance, if that may be 
 termed affection." 
 
 MONTAIGNE. 
 
 BEFORE a large, mahogany writing-table in the 
 library of the Denbeigh mansion sat Josiah Den- 
 beigh alone, his wife and daughter having gone 
 to a ball to which they had been unable to per- 
 suade him to accompany them. Society, in its 
 limited sense, having been unknown to him in his 
 youth, middle age did not dispose him favorably 
 toward an order of things which robbed him of 
 wife and daughter, likewise son, who never spent 
 an evening at home. Josiah Denbeigh rarely 
 spent an evening away from it. Clubs had little 
 attraction for him after dinner, though fre- 
 quently late in the afternoon he went up from 
 Wall Street to one of the several to which he be- 
 longed and had a game of billiards with a crony. 
 Billiards was a game he early taught Dan, in the
 
 1 62 The Way of Belinda 
 
 fond belief that they would play many a string 
 together. But, bless me! the boy thought bil- 
 liards slow when there was nothing up on the 
 game, and foughc shy of his father's clubs, which 
 he had no hesitancy in declaring were fit only for 
 fossils. Nevertheless, Mr. Denbeigh, in spite of 
 this castigation, found them suited to him and 
 continued, though without his son, to enjoy 
 there his favorite game. Even billiards, how- 
 ever, failed to entice him out in the evening, un- 
 less, indeed, it might happen he had been drawn 
 into an exciting match with an opponent whom 
 he was anxious to defeat. Then directly after 
 dinner he would hasten to the club, where he 
 would spend so delightful an evening that he 
 would wonder why he didn't go more often. At 
 rare intervals he consented to dine out with his 
 wife, and always appeared when she entertained. 
 These functions, so numerous during the season 
 of Leila's debut, had so bored him that this win- 
 ter he had stoutly put his foot down on excessive 
 entertaining, thereby securing the desired peace. 
 His evenings, nevertheless, were lonely. He 
 never read books, and soon exhausted the even- 
 ing papers. An amusement which it would have 
 puzzled his brother brokers to understand some- 
 times occupied an hour, being nothing less than
 
 The Way of Belinda 163 
 
 poring over the colored prints of an old atlas he 
 had owned for years. It amused him to see how 
 much of the world there was beyond that which 
 was bounded by the horizon of his family, and it 
 interested him to realize how much there was 
 beyond the world which he had conquered. 
 Sometimes tired out, he slept in his chair; for out 
 in the business world, where he was a power, he 
 labored throughout the day at unceasing high 
 pressure. 
 
 This library, the sanctum of the man, was by 
 the rest of the family unfrequented. Like him, 
 none of them had any love of books or any ar- 
 tistic appreciation of the rare old editions of the 
 classics and splendid miscellany collected by Mr. 
 Ronalds, whose wife had sold the library with 
 the house. Mr. Denbeigh, having paid for them, 
 knew their commercial value, and regarded them 
 as a good investment. Mrs. Denbeigh at the 
 time thought the price stipulated scandalous, but 
 was now proud of possessing them, and never 
 failed, when occasion offered and Mrs. Den- 
 beigh had a talent for making occasion when 
 none offered to boast of the library, where, she 
 would say complacently, she found rest from her 
 arduous social duties in the quiet companionship 
 of her books. She had once heard this sentiment
 
 164 The Way of Belinda 
 
 uttered by a ^Ma^'-intellectual woman, and treas- 
 ured it up to use it with great effect for years 
 afterward. 
 
 It was distinctly a man's room, this library, by 
 all odds the most attractive and individual in the 
 house, for Mr. Denbeigh had insisted that it 
 should not be remodelled with the rest of the 
 house, but retained as Mr. Ronalds had used and 
 left it. Great, deep-seated, luxurious, leather 
 chairs betokened a love of ease; a few cushions 
 strewn on a leather seat running round the bay- 
 window invited indolence, never indulged in by 
 the present occupant. Near the window stood 
 the large and commodious writing-table, where 
 Mr. Denbeigh now sat and which was his chief 
 delight, for in it he kept numerous account 
 books, bills, and memoranda of household and 
 family expenditure, no detail of which was too 
 small to command and engage his attention. A 
 few well-chosen pictures on the wall and the nu- 
 merous busts of illustrious men that topped the 
 book-shelves attested to a love of art as well as 
 of literature. Mr. Denbeigh's eyes never rested 
 on these things that he did not experience a feel- 
 ing of satisfaction that he, by his own endeavor, 
 had achieved the right to surround himself with 
 the best the world offered.
 
 The Way of Belinda 165 
 
 To-night, with a sigh of relief, he closed the 
 account book over which he had been poring for 
 the past hour in search of an error, and, opening 
 a drawer, put in the book, closed and locked it. 
 He then leaned back in his chair, put his elbows 
 on the arms, the tips of his fingers together, and 
 wondered how Dan, a son of his, could have so 
 little understanding of figures. Little under- 
 standing of anything seemed characteristic of 
 Dan. The father sighed heavily and tapped his 
 fingers nervously together. He hardly knew the 
 boy whom he had left to be brought up by his 
 mother, and sometimes when he tried to know 
 him the conviction was forced on him that the 
 more he knew him the less he cared to, for the 
 boy was not the son of his father. And Leila! 
 whose child was she? Not his nor her mother's, 
 unless, indeed, she were the child of the mother, 
 who had grown so worldly that he sometimes 
 had difficulty in recognizing in her the wife of his 
 youth, whose tastes and whose mode of life had 
 been simple like his own. Josiah Denbeigh 
 thought a man should be worldly it was his 
 business to be, else how could he push to the 
 front and come out victor in the fight down- 
 town? For Ambition is the world's chief hand- 
 maiden, to whom Josiah had all his life paid as-
 
 1 66 The Way of Belinda 
 
 siduous court, and who now lifted him high 
 above his fellows. But a woman, he thought, 
 should be simple, unspoiled by great wealth "a 
 gem of purest ray serene," outshining her riches. 
 His mother, though of humble origin, had been 
 of this high, gentle type, illumining a narrow, re- 
 stricted life. His wife, so he thought, had been 
 like her; indeed, that was the chief reason why, 
 among the girls in his native home, she had been 
 chosen to share not his " house and home," for 
 at that time he possessed none, but the house and 
 home he meant she should have eventually. And 
 now that she had it she did not seem to care for 
 it in the way his mother had cared for his boy- 
 hood home, in which she had been wife and 
 mother, mistress and maid, like many another 
 gentlewoman of her generation. Measured by 
 his mother, his wife fell far short of his ideal. 
 Thus mused Josiah Denbeigh, forgetting 
 changed conditions. 
 
 When his mind wandered back again to Leila 
 it was to test her, too, by old standards. What 
 would his mother think of the fashion plate who, 
 calling him " pupper " through her childhood, 
 now said " papa " like a wax doll pinched hard 
 on the second syllable? Now that he thought of 
 it, the girl herself had a look as of being pinched.
 
 The Way of Belinda 167 
 
 There was no freedom in her movements how 
 that walk of hers irritated him! her voice had 
 no depth or resonance, but apparently had its be- 
 ginning and end in her throat; her laugh was 
 a giggle, which seemed to pop out of her head 
 somewhere, and was always to the fore when she 
 talked. That she did talk, and to most people 
 incessantly, he knew, but of what he was un- 
 aware, as she rarely addressed her conversation 
 to him, and when he overheard it, expletives and 
 slang appeared to form a large part of a cackle to 
 him unintelligible. Occasionally in the summer, 
 at their country place, where he was more often 
 at leisure, he joined Leila and a girl or man friend 
 or a group of young people on the piazza., feel- 
 ing a desire for young companionship. But his 
 efforts in this direction were not crowned with 
 success. If it was a case of Leila and a girl 
 friend, their conversation would at once cease 
 and a certain constraint in them become evident ; 
 if it were Leila and a man, the father was treated 
 to an exhibition of silliness which disgusted him; 
 if it were Leila and a group of friends, the young 
 people would giggle and chatter over their 
 affairs, completely ignoring him. Wistfully he 
 would turn away. After a few such experiments 
 he gave it up, believing he must be an old man,
 
 1 68 The Way of Belinda 
 
 since such a gulf lay between him and his chil- 
 dren. Sometimes he wondered if this were an 
 experience common to other fathers if many of 
 them were made to feel so old and undesired and 
 out of it all as he? And sometimes he felt a 
 strong desire to ask them, but never did. Loy- 
 alty forbade discussion of his children with his 
 friends. Instinctively he shrank from intimating 
 that they failed to be what he expected. 
 
 If some night, in a conclave of fathers, the bar- 
 riers formed by family pride and masculine reti- 
 cence were swept away, what an outpouring of 
 grievances there would be! No wailing or 
 lamentation, but honest, deep-seated grievances 
 would come out from their long hiding, and rais- 
 ing earnest, sorrowful voices chorus together the 
 hurt of the years. Like little gnomes emerging 
 from dark recesses, they would put their heads 
 together and cry aloud how the slights of sons 
 and daughters had stunted their growth and kept 
 them in dark places. Were such a conclave to 
 occur, no good, except the satisfaction of having 
 spoken one's mind, would come of it, unless that 
 Grievance Chorus swelled out to the ears of sons 
 and daughters mothers as well. 
 
 Mr. Denbeigh was still sitting before the writ-
 
 The Way of Belinda 169 
 
 ing-table, when an opening of doors and a rustle 
 of skirts announced to him that his wife and 
 daughter had returned from the ball. 
 
 He went out to meet them. 
 
 " Have you enjoyed yourselves? " he asked 
 genially. 
 
 Leila jingled a lot of baubles she held in her 
 hand, and waving them before him said boast- 
 fully: 
 
 " I got fourteen favors in the cotillion !" 
 
 She had methods, pursued by some girls, as 
 all girls know, for " working " favors, but her 
 father didn't know this, and concluded she'd 
 been a great belle. 
 
 " Leila received a great deal of attention," in 
 furtherance of this thought, said the mother pea- 
 cock. 
 
 " That must have been pleasant," commented 
 the father. " I presume girls like to dance all the 
 time." 
 
 " You didn't suppose I'd be a wall-flower, did 
 you?" snapped the girl, who thought sarcasm 
 a form of cleverness. 
 
 Her father did not reply, and they all went up- 
 stairs together, separating in the upper hall. Ar- 
 rived in her bedroom, Mrs. Denbeigh's maid be-
 
 170 The Way of Belinda 
 
 gan to divest her of jewels and gown. Presently 
 Mr. Denbeigh in the adjoining room heard her 
 call him, and reached his door to hear her say : 
 
 " A perfectly dreadful thing has happened," 
 holding her breath between words to facilitate 
 the unhooking of her gown. " Dan has " 
 
 " Dismiss Martha," he commanded, detesting 
 the freedom with which she discussed family 
 matters before her maid. 
 
 Just at this critical juncture Mrs. Denbeigh 
 could not obey him, even had she been so in- 
 clined, but his words had the effect of silencing 
 her for the moment, and when the tight bodice 
 was off and the skirt pulled down she stepped out 
 of it, and wrapping her voluminous form in a 
 loose robe, sent her maid away. 
 
 " What about Dan? " asked her husband, en- 
 tering. 
 
 " Belinda has jilted him." 
 
 There was no response, which aggravated his 
 spouse. 
 
 " Well," she exclaimed, " did you hear what 
 I said? Belinda has jilted him." 
 
 " Um," said the man. 
 
 " For pity's sake do say something it's 
 enough to kill me." 
 
 " Where is Dan? " he asked slowly.
 
 The Way of Belinda 171 
 
 " I don't know." She began to sniff sus- 
 piciously. 
 
 " Where have you seen him? " 
 
 "At the ball he showed me her note he 
 wouldn't come home with us." 
 
 " Her note? " he repeated. " It would be more 
 like her to tell him." 
 
 " She's staying down at Miss Lovering's and 
 wrote him from there," she explained, not notic- 
 ing his observation. " She says she doesn't love 
 him, never has, that he knows it as well as she, 
 and that she can't try or pretend or go on with 
 it any longer. It's an idiotic, schoolgirl epistle, 
 and she winds it up by saying that he needn't 
 come down there, for she shall refuse to see him. 
 I don't see how she happens to be down in that 
 awful place herself." 
 
 " She gave no specific reason for terminating 
 the engagement? " asked Mr. Denbeigh, his face 
 grave. 
 
 "Of course not," bristled his wife; "what 
 specific reason would she have? " she asked, her 
 voice rising. 
 
 " I happen to know that she knows he drinks 
 she drove down here with him the other after- 
 noon when he was drunk in the cab." 
 
 " How do you know that? " sharply, more re-
 
 172 The Way of Belinda 
 
 sentful that he should know something she didn't 
 than of the fact itself. 
 
 " I was in the library, and saw her help him 
 up the steps. She did not come in, and James 
 took him up to his room. I wondered then if it 
 wouldn't be the finishing straw." 
 
 " She's a fool a little fool !" angrily cried Mrs. 
 Denbeigh. 
 
 " I've always thought her above the average, 
 and am now convinced of it," he said firmly. 
 
 " You would take her part against your son !" 
 fairly screamed Mrs. Denbeigh. 
 
 " Hush, Alice, hush !" admonished her hus- 
 band; " there is no need of confiding in the entire 
 household. I have never believed Belinda would 
 marry him, though I sometimes fancied it might 
 be the making of him if she did. She hadn't 
 much influence over him though she didn't 
 love him. It was evident enough to one who was 
 interested." 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me you think she's 
 thrown him over because she happened to see 
 him in ' in his cups,' as you men say? " she 
 asked. " That would be ridiculous all young 
 men drink more or less." 
 
 " Some do few as much as Dan the habit 
 grows on him."
 
 The Way of Belinda 173 
 
 " Didn't you drink when you were young? " 
 demanded the mother, instantly on the defensive. 
 
 " Yes," he replied; " it's a phase most young 
 men go through, but it didn't happen often, and 
 I always had the grace to be ashamed of it." 
 
 " You're hard on Dan," cried the mother with 
 acerbity, "you always have been; you don't 
 understand his temperament," she said, having 
 just acquired this worn-threadbare word. 
 
 " If by temperament you mean his disposition 
 and his character," replied her husband, " I think 
 I understand them far better than you. But I 
 have no influence over him, I never tried to have, 
 and now I see to my sorrow it is too late. He's 
 a man twenty-four years of age, and he resents 
 the interference of his father. You have no in- 
 fluence over him either, Alice, except in small 
 things. In all big ones he has his own way he 
 is wilful, stubborn, dissipated. The most hopeful 
 sign I've seen was his wanting to marry Belinda; 
 but I doubt if he ever forgot that he loved him- 
 self more than her." 
 
 " Go on, you're killing me," said the woman, 
 now sobbing violently. 
 
 " You say I'm hard on him, but I'm not," con- 
 tinued Mr. Denbeigh. " For the follies of youth 
 I can make excuses times without end, My
 
 174 The Way of Belinda 
 
 mother did it for me, and I'd do it for my son, 
 ten times over. But the follies must not become 
 habitual. The sowing of wild oats is just as much 
 a part of the experience of a healthy boy as cut- 
 ting his teeth in infancy." He stopped a mo- 
 ment, as if trying to find the right words. " But 
 the crop mustn't be allowed to grow it must be 
 cleared out before it becomes too rank." 
 
 As a rule, so busy was Mrs. Denbeigh airing 
 her own opinions, that she seldom heard those of 
 others, least of all her husband's, who so rarely 
 entered into discussion of family affairs. Im- 
 pressed, therefore, by unsuspected eloquence, she 
 listened intently, and when he had finished, be- 
 tween sobs said, not unreasonably : 
 
 " If you knew so much about it, Josiah, why 
 didn't you look after him? " 
 
 " That's it, that's it," he repeated. " I don't 
 know why I didn't. The children seemed to 
 grow up without my realizing it. Before I knew 
 it Dan was what he is. Until then I gave little 
 thought to him; now I see, however much 
 thought I may give it won't be of much use." 
 
 "Josiah Denbeigh," said his wife, suddenly 
 sitting erect, and frowning at him, red-eyed, 
 " you're the most unnatural father I ever heard 
 of, talking like that about the only son you have
 
 The Way of Belinda 175 
 
 in the world ! I'm thankful now little Willie died 
 the precious lamb " sobs breaking out afresh. 
 " I brought Dan up the darling and it's a 
 mercy I did, for he'd have had a hard time of it 
 with you. It's wicked to be severe with children, 
 they never love stern parents my children love 
 their mother, and I'd like to know what you've 
 slaved all these years for if it wasn't that your 
 children should have every wish gratified. I've 
 never denied Dan a thing he asked me," she said 
 triumphantly, as if she were flaunting a virtue in 
 his face, " never ! And what if he does drink a 
 little that's nothing you just said yourself 
 that all boys sow their wild oats. Besides," 
 proudly, " you seem to forget he goes in the 
 smart set." Her tirade ended in a high, shrill 
 key. 
 
 Her husband sighed wearily. " Yes," he said 
 hopelessly, " I feared he'd make a virtue of it." 
 
 " I don't understand you, Josiah," retorted his 
 wife, who rarely did understand what was not 
 couched in the language of the primer. 
 
 " Dan," he avowed, " is the result of an indul- 
 gent mother, a careless father God forgive 
 him !" under his breath " and gives himself 
 up to dissipation in the belief that he is posing as 
 a man of the world. I could forgive him "
 
 176 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Who wants you to forgive him? " broke in 
 his wife in a frenzy of rage. " He didn't ask you 
 to, did he? I didn't ! He's done nothing to be for- 
 given for. He's the sweetest boy in the world. 
 He's got my disposition there's nothing of the 
 Denbeigh in him, thank Heaven !" She was scar- 
 let with anger and weeping, though her sobs had 
 been swallowed in her rage. " He's my darling 
 boy, Josiah Denbeigh, and you ought to go 
 down on your knees before me for daring to talk 
 about him as you do." 
 
 Mr. Denbeigh let the storm burst, and then 
 said quietly, and without realizing the fresh 
 squall he was stirring up. 
 
 " I suppose we shall not see Belinda here any 
 more," his tone conveying deep regret. 
 
 But the spirit of his remark escaped Mrs. Den- 
 beigh, to whom the substance was sufficient. 
 
 " Belinda ! Certainly not ! Don't mention 
 her name. I never want to hear it, unless Dan 
 does what he says he will and brings her to 
 reason," said his mother, reluctant to believe 
 there was no further hope of a Ronalds connec- 
 tion. Then her wrath rose again, lashed to fury : 
 
 " She's a perfect little fool a perfect little 
 fool !" she repeated several times, as if she loved 
 to roll the words under her tongue. " If Dan
 
 The Way of Belinda 177 
 
 goes to the dogs she will be entirely responsible " 
 a fresh handkerchief was resorted to " en- 
 tirely responsible," she repeated in its folds. 
 
 " She will not," sternly said the master of the 
 house, who was not always master, " and I shall 
 allow neither you nor any other person to lay 
 any blame whatever in this matter on her. Do 
 you understand? " He rose and looked threat- 
 eningly at her. " I mean what I say." And she, 
 having one other time in their experience seen 
 him like this, knew that he did. " If Dan ' goes 
 to the dogs,' as you say, I shall be to blame, and 
 he. He has not one clean, honest, manly im- 
 pulse in his whole nature !" 
 
 " What !" shieked the woman. 
 
 But the man had passed into his own room and 
 closed the door.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 " Love came by, and having known her 
 
 In a dream of fabled lands 
 Gently stooped and laid upon her 
 Mystic chrism of holy hands." 
 
 MRS. BROWNING. 
 
 To Belinda the weeks that followed were 
 critical, anxious, happy, crowded with new ex- 
 periences, and marked by the greatest upheaval 
 of her life. 
 
 Her first entrance into the sick-room had been 
 attended with signal success. Little Janie, tossing 
 wildly with fever, screaming under the doctor's 
 touch, pitifully moaning inarticulate words, saw 
 her the moment she entered ; and with a gasp that 
 showed how she struggled for breath, cried, 
 " Miss Lady ! " The next second the feeble, hot 
 arms were around Belinda's neck, and a flushed 
 little face rubbed against hers where she had 
 dropped by the cot, kneeling. Dr. Noble had at 
 once taken advantage of the moment to adminis- 
 ter the medicine against which the child had so 
 stubbornly rebelled, and still would not have
 
 The Way of Belinda 179 
 
 swallowed had not Belinda come to his assistance 
 by encouraging her with soothing words. Thus, 
 it came about that Janie would take her medicine 
 from no other than " Miss Lady." 
 
 On that first night, long after Janie had 
 dropped into tranquil sleep, Belinda remained on 
 her knees beside the little cot. The rush of recent 
 events whirled in her consciousness; so much 
 that was startling had been crowded into the past 
 few hours. Vaguely she thought of Dan. Within 
 four hours she had seen him, yet already he 
 seemed to belong to some part of her life so 
 remote in her mind that she wondered if it were 
 really she who had lived it. When, clearly de- 
 fined, the figure of another man crossed her 
 vision, she buried her head deep in the bedclothes, 
 as if to shut him from view. And the pressure 
 of her body against the bed crackled the note 
 thrust hurriedly into her belt, causing her to re- 
 member with anguish its terrible import. "To 
 me," Nana had written, " you have ceased to 
 exist ceased to exist." The words burned into 
 her. " Dear God," inwardly cried this suffering 
 child at the side of another, " help both your 
 children." 
 
 Miss Levering, who remained all the while in 
 the room, had at length taken Belinda away ; and
 
 i8o The Way of Belinda 
 
 leading her to her bedroom, which she was to 
 share, had undressed her and put her to bed, just 
 as many a time in the old days she had done when 
 far less tired was the little girl than now was the 
 grown-up one. 
 
 The following day Belinda found herself estab- 
 lished in Miss " Loving's" house, sharing with 
 her the duties of nursing. Acting on the advice 
 of Esther, to whom she had shown her grand- 
 mother's note, she accepted its ultimatum, and 
 made no attempt at the moment to communicate 
 with her grandmother. Esther, deeply troubled, 
 deemed this the wisest course, believing from 
 what she knew of Madame Ronalds's nature that 
 the cruel tone of the note was due to momen- 
 tary rage, which would soon spend itself, after 
 which Belinda might attempt to make overtures. 
 With this theory Belinda had to be content, if 
 to be content were possible in her perturbed state. 
 To one thing she made up her mind absolutely, 
 that she would once and for all break with Dan ; 
 and having come to this determination, she was 
 impatient to act on it. So one day, with the 
 impulsiveness which was part of her natural 
 heritage, she wrote briefly to Dan, telling him 
 that their engagement was at an end, and by the 
 same post, in a few words, she announced the
 
 The Way of Belinda 181 
 
 news to her grandmother. Esther, not having 
 been consulted, knew nothing of this until the 
 notes were gone ; when, it being too late to recall 
 them, she refrained from comment. 
 
 For five days Dan besieged the house without 
 gaining admittance. Esther's maid of all work, 
 who had strict orders, stoutly stood guard at the 
 door. One day he made such a scene on the steps 
 that Esther was forced to go down to the door 
 and remind him that there was illness in the house. 
 He replied to her in an impudent, sullen manner, 
 and departed, but vented his ire on the gong of 
 his automobile, which he clanged so viciously and 
 persistently all the way along that the whole 
 neighborhood took alarm at the thought of fire, 
 and poured out to follow in his wake, until one, 
 more enlightened than the rest, said, " Naw, it's 
 only one of them buzz machines," at which they 
 had all turned about and gone home again. After 
 this Dan ceased his fruitless visits; but he perse- 
 cuted Belinda with notes, which, unopened, she 
 put in the fire. 
 
 In the meantime Janie had taken the hoped-for 
 turn for the better. Esther and Belinda and little 
 sister Susie, working, watching, and praying 
 over her, had the infinite satisfaction of seeing 
 her suffer less acutely, sleep more naturally,
 
 1 82 The Way of Belinda 
 
 breathe more freely from day to day. Waking, 
 she called always for " Miss Lady ; " and Miss 
 Lady, waking or sleeping, was never far away. 
 Blake, who had the freedom of the sick-room, 
 quietly entering one night, found Belinda sitting 
 in a big rocking-chair, softly singing " The North 
 Wind Doth Blow" to " Lady Redbreast" in her 
 arms. She had wrapped the child in a blanket, 
 and to screen her from the light, sat with her back 
 to the table, on which stood a lamp burning low. 
 At sight of him, with an impulsive gesture she 
 raised her finger to her lips to warn him that 
 the child was asleep. The momentary cessation 
 of her voice roused Janie. " More," she de- 
 manded, opening heavy eyes. 
 
 " ' The North wind doth blow, 
 And we shall have snow, 
 And what will the robin do then ? ' " 
 
 sang the girl softly. 
 
 " ' He'll sit in the barn, 
 And keep himself warm, 
 And tuck his head under his wing, poor thing.' " 
 
 "Poor thing!" drowsily echoed "Lady Red- 
 breast," never tiring of her favorite song. 
 
 The girl rocked to and fro, now crooning a
 
 The Way of Belinda 183 
 
 lullaby. The man stood aside, feasting his eyes 
 on the scene. Unknown to her, manifold sides 
 of her deep nature were being revealed to him. 
 
 Under intense and unusual conditions they 
 were meeting with perilous frequency these days. 
 Busy reporter as he was, Blake rarely let a day 
 pass without stopping at the house, which, fortu- 
 nately for him, was in a quarter of the town 
 where his work frequently took him. He came 
 at all hours, stopping when he could, sometimes 
 for a moment, at the most for ten minutes, not 
 always seeing Belinda ; but when he did Lifted 
 to heaven at the sight of her, he knew the danger 
 and the rapture of it, little realizing its effect on 
 her. To live for this short time close to the gates 
 of Paradise was a joy for which he would cheer- 
 fully pay when inevitably the gates closed in his 
 face. And he justified his visits by the fact that 
 he had made them before she came, while with 
 ever-recurring persistency he forced himself to 
 remember that she was the fiancee of a millionaire 
 and soon to depart to a world in which he had 
 no being. 
 
 Belinda, in a world new and strangely sweet, 
 drifted with the tide. Subtle influences were at 
 work in the girl's soul. Heart possessing her, 
 carried her so gently down the stream that she
 
 184 The Way of Belinda 
 
 little dreamed she was being swept into the broad 
 river of Happiness, the eddies and currents of 
 which were to make all the future lights and 
 shadows of her life. 
 
 One day, thinking of Jerry, Belinda thought 
 of Westcote, which caused her to turn to Esther, 
 who was in the room, and say, " What has be- 
 come of Mr. Westcote, Peggy? He doesn't seem 
 to come any more." 
 
 To which Esther, without looking up from her 
 work, replied, "No; he hasn't been here for 
 several days." 
 
 " Perhaps he's gone away," she suggested. 
 
 " Perhaps he has," said Esther, industriously 
 plying her needle. 
 
 " Perhaps you sent him ! " suddenly scenting 
 romance. " Peggy," seeing her blush, " did 
 you?" 
 
 " Perhaps I did," replied the woman, cornered. 
 
 " Perhaps you shouldn't have. Oh, Peggy ! " 
 She shook her finger at her, and going up to her 
 chair, took the sewing out of her hands and said, 
 " Now will you stop work one single minute and 
 tell me all about it?" 
 
 " There isn't much to tell ; I don't know that 
 I ought to " remonstrated the woman. 
 
 " Peggy," severely, " cjid I ever have secrets
 
 The Way of Belinda 185 
 
 from you? Besides, I know all about it already," 
 with great superiority. 
 
 " Belinda ! how could you ? " 
 
 " Put two and two together? Easily. Didn't 
 you teach me, you goosey? Two and two make 
 four one and one make two. You're one, Mr. 
 Westcote's another, that's two. Two together 
 make one. Isn't that beautiful arithmetic? " 
 
 Esther laughed. " You're incorrigible. It's 
 neither good arithmetic, nor logical, nor true." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " cried Belinda, " is it two together 
 still makes two? I never could get the answers 
 right." 
 
 " Indeed you couldn't," agreed Esther. " I 
 remember once in fractions, when the question 
 was something about a farmer's cows, you in- 
 sisted that the answer was half a cow. It seemed 
 to me rather hard on the farmer," she added, 
 hoping to distract the girl's attention. 
 
 Belinda laughed merrily, but though she loved 
 all such allusion, was not now to be diverted from 
 the subject uppermost in her mind. 
 
 " Peggy," she said, kneeling down before the 
 woman and gazing up in her face, " did he love 
 you and you didn't love him? Was that it? " 
 
 The woman nodded. 
 
 " I don't wonder he's in love with you, you old
 
 1 86 The Way of Belinda 
 
 darling," impetuously hugging her. " He isn't 
 half good enough for you, though he's nice," 
 condescendingly ; " and, oh, Peggy," giving her 
 a little shake, " you might be a countess think 
 of that! Peggy Loving, the Countess of Des- 
 borough. What would Nana say to that ! " 
 
 " I fear I should be a very unsatisfactory 
 countess, dear. I " 
 
 " But you're so congenial," broke in Belinda, 
 not waiting for her to finish. " Why, Peggy, 
 you know you are! He's so philanthropic and 
 good and has exactly your ideas you know he 
 has," triumphantly. 
 
 " He thought so, too," replied Esther, " until, 
 as we talked, I undeceived him, or at least tried 
 to do so. We have the same purpose, dear, rather 
 than the same ideas." 
 
 " I don't understand," said Belinda, a puzzled 
 look in her eyes. 
 
 " In many things he agrees with me, dear, but 
 he is more theoretical than practical. Do you see 
 what I mean ? He believes, as I do, in the neces- 
 sity of knowing conditions before attempting to 
 alter them; but the deeper he goes into things, 
 the more he will require some one to do the* 
 probing." 
 
 " Why not you? " asked Belinda.
 
 The Way of Belinda 187 
 
 " I wouldn't be a good tool, dear." 
 
 " Leila Denbeigh would give her boots to be 
 his tool or anything else, I can tell you. She'd 
 be wild if she knew he was in love with you ! " 
 
 " Leila ? She brought him here. Does she 
 care for him ? " 
 
 " She cares to be Countess of Desborough." 
 
 " Belinda ! " reproved the woman, " don't say 
 such things. They're unworthy of you." 
 
 " Peggy," penitently, and no one could be more 
 sweetly penitent than Belinda, " forgive me ; but 
 it is no use your trying to make a saint out of me. 
 I'm bad I always shall be. I like to be bad. I 
 will say this, though, for Leila, that lately I've 
 thought, perhaps, she really was getting serious 
 about Mr. Westcote. She's acted so queerly. 
 But then, you know, she always is a perfect idiot 
 over men." 
 
 "Belinda!" 
 
 " There I am again ! But, Peggy dear, if you 
 could hear her talk ! " 
 
 " I have, dear. She was a silly little girl, and, 
 no doubt, she's a sillier big one; but you must 
 be fair and remember that she grew up under 
 influences that tended to make her so." 
 
 " Without the superior advantages of a govern- 
 ess like you, you mean ? You conceited Peggy !
 
 1 88 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Seriously, though, there are lots of nice things 
 about Leila." 
 
 " Of course, there are," heartily responded 
 Esther. " She's full of good traits that she is 
 half ashamed of and that are all choked down 
 under a tangle of superficialities." 
 
 " How do you know so much ? " wonderingly. 
 " I believe that's true." 
 
 " All she wants is a chance," continued the 
 woman, " and she'd develop into a very different 
 girl. I'm sure of it, dear. I wish Mr. Westcote 
 would get interested in her." 
 
 " But he's in love with you ! " exclaimed Be- 
 linda, who, being twenty, scoffed at the time-worn 
 adage that the heart is often caught on the re- 
 bound. 
 
 " Esther smiled ; and following out a train of 
 thought, said : " Leila is the sort of girl who is 
 likely to be made or marred by the man she 
 marries. A thoughtless, inexperienced young 
 husband would never advance her a step. She'd 
 be a second edition of her mother. But if she 
 cares for Mr. Westcote, and he loved and married 
 her, she'd strive with all her might to live up to 
 his ideal of her. A girl like that, way down in 
 her heart, knows perfectly well she doesn't begin 
 to be all the things her lover fondly pictures her ;
 
 The Way of Belinda 189 
 
 but if she has the beginnings of those things in 
 her, unconsciously they come forth, unsuspected, 
 to mould her character." 
 
 " I see," said Belinda earnestly. Then after 
 a short silence, during which she had sat very still 
 with her forehead all wrinkles, she announced 
 tentatively, " She would be a good tool." 
 
 " To do Mr. Westcote's probing? I think she 
 would, dear. He's the sort of man who would 
 form his wife, and do it well; and she'd play the 
 Countess very prettily when she's a little older. 
 Mr. Westcote will never make philanthropy his 
 life-work. Other things will have greater interest 
 for him by and by ; but he will always do a great 
 deal of good, and Leila would learn to help him." 
 
 " Peggy* you're wonderful ! " said Belinda 
 lightly. " I seem to see them married and sailing 
 away to foreign climes." 
 
 " Don't let your imagination run away with 
 you, dear." 
 
 " How Leila would adore you if she knew what 
 you thought! I shan't tell her, though," mis- 
 chievously ; " but when I see Mr. Westcote again 
 I'm going to tease him." 
 
 " Oh, don't! " cried Esther; " you mustn't, and 
 please, Belinda, dear, don't ever speak of this to 
 Leila or any one. You mustn't."
 
 190 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Of course not," replied the girl with a laugh. 
 " Did you think I really meant to? I was only 
 teasing you." 
 
 It was Saturday afternoon, and a glance at the 
 clock reminded Esther that it was nearly half 
 after three, and time for the arrival of a sewing 
 class. Janie being asleep, and Belinda having 
 nothing special to do, had volunteered to assist 
 Miss " Loving." They were about to go down 
 together to the kindergarten room, where all such 
 classes were held, when Susie appeared, and said 
 that Mr. Blake had come in with her, and was 
 below in the den. Ascertaining from the child 
 that most of the club members had arrived, Miss 
 "Loving" turned to Belinda, and said : 
 
 " You go down and excuse me to Mr. Blake, 
 will you, dear? And, Belinda, give him these 
 letters, will you, please, and ask him to be kind 
 enough to post them when he goes." 
 
 Belinda took the letters and went down. 
 
 The man, with hands behind his back, was 
 standing before the picture of Burne-Jones's 
 " Golden Stairs," absorbed in contemplation of it, 
 apparently, for he did not hear her until she stood 
 beside him. Then he turned swiftly. 
 
 " You like that? " she asked, looking up at the 
 picture.
 
 The Way of Belinda 191 
 
 " So much," he replied. " It feeds the imagina- 
 tion." 
 
 She nodded appreciatively, conscious that he 
 frequently put into words her unexpressed 
 thoughts. 
 
 " Won't you sit down ? " she said. " Miss 
 ' Loving ' has a sewing class, and asked to be ex- 
 cused." 
 
 " Thank you," he replied. " Am I keeping you 
 from anything ? " 
 
 " Oh, no," was her response; "I haven't a thing 
 to do." 
 
 " Nor have I," he rejoined. " I'd like to stop 
 a while, if I may. It's my off day," he explained, 
 refraining from telling her that it was the longest 
 " off day" he had ever spent, since interminable 
 had seemed the hours between his waking and 
 the time when he thought it would be permissible 
 to make an afternoon call at the little house in 
 Rivington Street. 
 
 " What do you do on your off day ? " she asked 
 curiously. "Sleep? I should think you would. 
 You seem to have to prowl around so much at 
 night that I should think you'd prefer to sleep 
 above everything." 
 
 " Oh, I manage to make it up one way or an- 
 other," he replied. " A good deal of it, I confess,
 
 192 The Way of Belinda 
 
 on Saturdays, but not always," with some embar- 
 rassment, remembering how on that particular 
 Saturday the consciousness that he was going to 
 her in the afternoon had awakened him at day- 
 light. 
 
 " Do you know if Mr. Westcote has gone 
 away ? " she asked, fancying she had made a 
 mistake in asking him such personal questions. 
 
 " No," he replied ; " but he is going shortly 
 with Mr. Castleton to Bermuda." 
 
 " On the yacht? " queried the girl. 
 
 " Yes. In a week or so." 
 
 " Oh," she exclaimed, puckering her lips, " I 
 wish he wasn't ! " And then, realizing more fully 
 what she had said, " I don't want cousin Ronalds 
 to go away ! " 
 
 The man did not reply. He said to himself 
 that he had no right to intrude on family matters. 
 
 She, a little disappointed at his unresponsive- 
 ness, said, " It seems odd to be hearing news of 
 my family through you." 
 
 He, not understanding, but longing to share 
 every thought in her mind, looked questioningly 
 at her. 
 
 She, flushing under his intent gaze, moved in 
 her chair uneasily. 
 
 " I suppose you will soon be leaving us ? " he
 
 The Way of Belinda 193 
 
 said, not knowing what to say. The " us" slipped 
 from him unconsciously, but no sooner was it 
 spoken than he would have given worlds to recall 
 it, hating himself, poor fellow, for his presump- 
 tion. 
 
 " Shall you miss me?" asked the girl, prompted 
 by mischief, yet longing to hear what he would 
 say. 
 
 " Miss you ! " His voice thrilled with a deep 
 chord. With a supreme effort at mastery he 
 walked to the window, turning his back to her. 
 
 She, on the brink of the great river, trembled 
 with the joy his tone invoked. 
 
 Turning, he caught a look in her half-averted 
 face. 
 
 " Belinda ! " he cried, leaning over her. 
 
 The girl hid her face in the arm of the chair. 
 
 This action instantly recalled the man to him- 
 self. 
 
 " I I beg your pardon," he faltered ; " I 
 Miss Leigh I did not mean to to annoy you." 
 He still bent over her, every muscle tense, his 
 heart in its wild beating suffocating him. 
 
 She lifted her head; and, not trusting herself 
 to look at him, laid one hand gently on his, and 
 in a voice scarcely audible said : " You you 
 couldn't annoy me."
 
 194 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Thus disarmed, the whole torrent of his love 
 broke loose, reason abandoning him. 
 
 " Belinda, Belinda," he cried, the name sound- 
 ing to her a caress, " I love you love you love 
 you. I never meant to tell you. Hundreds of 
 times I've said over and over, ' She shall never 
 know, she shall never know.' But you see how 
 weak I am. I must tell you. For days I've known 
 I must tell you, and yet I had not the strength to 
 stay away. Oh, my dear, my dear, let me say it, 
 this once, and I shall never again annoy you. I 
 love you love you love you." 
 
 Like celestial music, the words rang in her 
 ears, but she made no sign; and he continued, 
 love sweeping him on : 
 
 " You shall not be ashamed of my love, dear. 
 Not feel it wrong that I have told you. It shall 
 not trouble you. I have never forgotten that you 
 belong to another, but a woman so sweet as you 
 is not loved by only one man. I ask nothing, 
 expect nothing. It is enough to have breathed 
 the same air with you, to be willing ever after 
 to stand aside with bowed head as you pass by." 
 
 " And if I stood aside, too ? " came in a tremu- 
 lous whisper, which he had to bend lower to 
 hear.
 
 The Way of Belinda 195 
 
 " It would be like you, sweet, to stop to say 
 a word to cheer me on. How I should treasure it 
 as I gazed after you ! " 
 
 She lifted her head and turned lustrous eyes 
 up to his. " But if I stopped to stay? " queried 
 eyes, lips, and heart in unison. 
 
 " Belinda ! " senses swimming. 
 
 She put her arms about his neck, and he dropped 
 on his knees at her feet, laying his head against 
 hers, doubting the evidence of his senses. 
 
 " I do not belong to to any one," she faltered. 
 " My engagement is broken." 
 
 "You are free?" with a jubilant cry, lifting 
 his head. 
 
 " Yes ; that is, not exactly," said the mis- 
 chievous Belinda, who even in the most solemn 
 moments of her life could not refrain from 
 teasing. 
 
 " You have broken it because you love some 
 one else better than Mr. Denbeigh ? " savagely 
 asked the man, jealousy consuming him. 
 
 " Yes," murmured the girl, " that was why," 
 a suspicious gleam in her misty eyes. 
 
 " Oh," he cried bitterly, " forgive me, forgive 
 me. I was mad to forget for a moment that you 
 never could belong to me ! "
 
 196 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " But if I do ? " leaped from her heart to his. 
 
 Transported from despair to joy, he kissed 
 her; and she nestled close in his arms. 
 
 " How dared you tell me you were not free ! " 
 in his new authority he demanded with pretended 
 severity. 
 
 " Well, am I ? " looking up with dim eyes. 
 
 " No, no, no, a thousand times no ! " holding 
 her close. 
 
 The clock on the mantel shelf ticked warningly. 
 Out in the street rose the shouts of playing chil- 
 dren. A cab stopped at the curb in front of the 
 house, and the door-bell rang with a quick, per- 
 emptory clang, but they heeded it not. 
 
 " Isn't it wonderful ? " the girl said presently. 
 
 " That you love me ? Yes. So wonderful that 
 a lifetime will not fathom it. Belinda," earnestly, 
 " do you know what it means ? "
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 " But grant me still a friend in my retreat." 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 VOICES were heard outside; and Esther, with 
 Ronalds Castleton, entered. 
 
 " Hello, old man," he said genially to Blake 
 after greeting Belinda. " Didn't expect to find 
 you here." 
 
 " Mr. Blake drops in often," said Esther, 
 coming to the rescue, instinctively feeling there 
 was something in the air. 
 
 The girl's eloquent eyes had telegraphed " Go" 
 to her lover. 
 
 " Miss Lovering is very good to me," said the 
 younger man. " You're off soon, I suppose, to 
 Bermuda." 
 
 " Yes," assented Castleton; " won't you come? 
 Make you comfortable on the yacht." 
 
 " Impossible," declared Blake. " I'd like it of 
 all things." 
 
 " Rough trip, I fancy, but good climate. I'm 
 going to take this little girl along."
 
 198 The Way of Belinda 
 
 "Me?" cried the astonished Belinda. 
 
 "Why not?" queried her cousin. "It's just 
 occurred to me, but can you think of anything 
 nicer to do? " imperturbably. 
 
 "Is Nana going?" asked the girl, perplexed 
 at this turn of affairs. 
 
 " Oh, as to that," smiled her cousin, " I can't 
 say. I haven't asked her." 
 
 Knowing it was Belinda's wish, Jerry took his 
 departure, Esther going down to the door with 
 him. 
 
 " Miss * Loving/ " he said, using the name they 
 had all adopted, " may I come soon again? " in 
 a beseeching voice that betrayed him. 
 
 " Why, of course you may," not unmindful 
 of the new look in his face. " You are always 
 welcome." 
 
 " Thank you," he said, " thank you," and 
 bolted out the door. 
 
 Upstairs, Castleton, getting Belinda's permis- 
 sion to smoke, had ensconced himself comfortably 
 in the old big chair, and was unfolding to the 
 girl his plans about Bermuda if arrangements 
 always made on the impulse of the moment could 
 be dignified by the name of plans. 
 
 " Did Nana send you down here to talk to 
 me?" asked the girl suspiciously.
 
 The Way of Belinda 199 
 
 " I have not the honor to be envoy extraordi- 
 nary to her highness." 
 
 " No ; but, seriously, did she ? " 
 
 " She did not. I cannot remember, Belinda, 
 that I ever before knew you to display so literal 
 a mind." 
 
 " How is she? " the girl queried. 
 
 " As usual when I last saw her. That was 
 several days ago." 
 
 " Has she talked to you about me ? " 
 
 " Freely and to the point. She puts things 
 a bit forcibly, you remember, Belinda." 
 
 The girl, with many speeches of her grand- 
 mother's rankling in her heart, was not likely to 
 forget this characteristic. 
 
 " I'm going home," she said abruptly. 
 
 " Come now with me," half rising. 
 
 " No, not now. I don't want you to take me. 
 I want to go by myself." 
 
 " As you like," said her cousin. " I'm not sure 
 you'll be admitted." 
 
 " Oh," piteously, " you don't think she'd refuse 
 to speak to me to let me in ? " 
 
 " No mortal knows what she would do, Be- 
 linda. You know that as well as I. You must 
 take your chances. But if there's trouble well, 
 you come to me."
 
 2oo The Way of Belinda 
 
 She longed to go to him now and tell her secret, 
 the marvellous thing that within an hour in that 
 very room had transformed her life; but desire 
 jealously to guard the new and precious thing 
 withheld her. She ventured to say, grateful for 
 his kindness, " You wouldn't force me to marry 
 Dan." 
 
 " I should not. I'm thankful you've broken 
 with him. The last time I saw him he was 
 drunk." 
 
 "When was that?" 
 
 " About the time you came down here. Haven't 
 seen him since, and don't wish to. Your grand- 
 mother hasn't alluded but once to that part of 
 your iniquity. She knows my sentiments about 
 Dan." 
 
 " How thankful I am," cried the girl, " that 
 you understand about him ! The only word I've 
 had from Nana except the note forbidding me to 
 return was a line saying I was distinctly to under- 
 stand that my engagement could not be broken. 
 That my trousseau was ordered, and I was as 
 much bound as if I were married. I think she 
 must have told that to Dan, too, to pacify him, 
 for he's stopped coming or writing any more. I 
 am not bound, am I ? " she pleaded.
 
 The Way of Belinda 201 
 
 " Rubbish ! Of course not. I'll stand by you. 
 What has suddenly determined you without 
 permission to go home? " 
 
 She turned crimson under his gaze, which 
 caused him to say nonchalantly, " Consider it 
 answered. I detest persons who ask questions. 
 Think I'll be getting uptown, little girl. Just 
 dropped down to have a look at you." 
 
 " But you said you came to tell me I was going 
 to Bermuda with you," exclaimed Belinda. 
 
 "I didn't come for that," he laughed; "the 
 idea struck me after I got here. Will you come ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, at least I don't know," confusedly, 
 the mere thought of leaving Jerry striking terror 
 to her heart. 
 
 " I said I was going to take you, and end by 
 asking you, do I not, little girl ? Ah, well, that's 
 the way you women manage us ! Think it over, 
 Belinda. If worse comes to worse, worse might 
 happen, eh ? " in his bantering way. 
 
 " How good you are ! " eyes shining. 
 
 " Keep me in touch with your movements. 
 You can count on me," he said, rising. " And, 
 my dear," he called, blowing her a kiss from the 
 threshold, " if she and Dan are too much for you, 
 say the word, and I'll elope with you myself."
 
 2O2 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Jerry had not gone half a dozen blocks from 
 Miss Lovering's when he fell in with Westcote, 
 who, deprived of sight of his divinity, haunted 
 the neighborhood where she lived. The men, 
 though slightly known to each other, were dis- 
 posed to be friendly, the Englishman particularly, 
 having heard much of the reporter through 
 Esther. But in his present mood there was no 
 one whom Blake so little cared to see. To his 
 questions about Miss Levering, Belinda, and 
 Janie he answered in monosyllables, and another 
 time would have been quick to note how persis- 
 tently those questions were carried on, Westcote 
 as they walked along returning again and again 
 to the subject with bulldog pertinacity. But 
 Jerry was too absorbed in his own affairs to take 
 observations. He longed to shake the man liter- 
 ally and metaphorically, but Westcote, who was 
 feeling desperately blue and sorely in need of 
 companionship, clung to the man who was a 
 friend of hers. On the verge of being rude to 
 him, Jerry, who had the kindest heart in the 
 world, repented, and was polite; barely more 
 than that, however; but of this the Englishman 
 was unaware, and serenely revolved in circles 
 about the household in Rivington Street. 
 
 Against the inclination of one, together they
 
 The Way of Belinda 203 
 
 went uptown and dined. Jerry readily acquiesced 
 in the suggestion that they walk up, but regretted 
 it when made conscious that the Bowery and 
 streets through which they passed opened up 
 endless possibilities in the way of questions to the 
 inquisitive Englishman. Lips answering mechani- 
 cally, while inwardly longing to consign him to 
 oblivion, Jerry had about determined to break 
 away, when he was forced to admit that as he 
 had accepted the man's invitation, it would be 
 a nasty thing to do. So, like a lamb led to the 
 slaughter, he went on; and, in spite of being 
 engrossed by love, brought with him a keen appe- 
 tite to the restaurant table. 
 
 Accustomed to the noise and clatter of the 
 places he commonly frequented, the fastidious 
 Jerry thawed in the delightful atmosphere of the 
 fashionable restaurant where he now found him- 
 self. They were early arrivals, and the head 
 waiter, recognizing Westcote, who nodded to him 
 as they entered, came at once to their table, and 
 hovered solicitously about, homage paid by these 
 functionaries to a chosen few, or those who make 
 it worth while. Few tables were occupied; but 
 such waiters as were busy moved noiselessly 
 about, alert and deft, serving the more experi- 
 enced of them 'With eyes ever watchful to antici.-
 
 204 The Way of Belinda 
 
 pate the slightest wish or movement on the part 
 of the diners. 
 
 Westcote, after some study of the menu, was 
 about to give the order when he saw Ronalds 
 Castleton enter the room, cross to a small table, 
 and sit down alone. 
 
 "Wonder if he'd join us?" said Westcote. 
 " Do you mind if I ask him ? " 
 
 " Delighted," replied Jerry. 
 
 In a few moments Westcote returned with 
 Castleton, who beamed upon them with his genial, 
 quizzical smile. 
 
 " I'm in great luck," he said, tearing up a tele- 
 gram and laying it on the table. " Man went 
 back on me, and see what springs up in his 
 place!" 
 
 " The law of compensation," laughed Jerry. 
 
 " Do you believe in it ? " asked Westcote of 
 Castleton in his serious way. 
 
 " Could I doubt it," lightly replied the older 
 man, " with such evidence at hand? " 
 
 " No; but, really, I mean in regard to serious 
 things," urged the host. 
 
 " My dear fellow," responded Castleton re- 
 proachfully, " nothing could be more serious to 
 me than my dinner. As to applying it to other 
 things, ask Blake here; he's a student of life."
 
 The Way of Belinda 205 
 
 " Oh, yes, I believe in it thoroughly," replied 
 the man, thus adjured. 
 
 " Why do you ? " persisted Westcote, who had 
 a genius for questions. 
 
 " Many reasons," replied Blake, to whom 
 this hardly seemed the place for serious discus- 
 sion. 
 
 " Probably for as good a one as I at this 
 moment," retorted Castleton, surveying with 
 satisfaction the oysters being put before him, and 
 led the talk into another channel. 
 
 But Westcote was not satisfied. He had very 
 good reasons of his own for desiring to be con- 
 vinced of the law of compensation. He tugged 
 at his mustache between the first courses, and 
 took no part in the conversation of the other men, 
 which touched mainly on topics of the day. 
 
 " Do you believe," he presently began, so very 
 solemnly that Castleton could not refrain from 
 raising one eyebrow at Blake, " do you believe 
 that women ever know their own minds ? " He 
 looked so desperately in earnest that the men 
 stifled their inclination to laugh, and with well- 
 assumed gravity Castleton replied: 
 
 " Ah, there you have us, my dear Westcote ! 
 It's my opinion that women never know their 
 own minds."
 
 206 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " All women, you mean? " more earnestly than 
 ever, " or yours over here ? " 
 
 " All women. They're pretty much alike the 
 world over." 
 
 " How do you feel about it, Blake? " 
 
 " Far be it from me," replied Jerry, his heart 
 stirring, " to give an opinion on the sex." 
 
 " They're an unknown quantity to him," said 
 Castleton to Westcote with pretended compas- 
 sion. " You'll have to be satisfied with my 
 opinion." 
 
 For the first time Westcote smiled. Whether 
 this smile, which dispelled his gloom, was merely 
 punctilious, or was the outward manifestation of 
 lightness of heart produced by Castleton's words, 
 neither of his guests knew. It was enough that 
 he smiled, and the rest of the dinner passed off 
 delightfully; Castleton brilliant, Westcote appre- 
 ciative, while Blake, always stimulated by the 
 quick, ready wit of the older man, got himself 
 well in hand and surpassed them all in clever 
 anecdote and repartee, causing the Englishman 
 inwardly to speculate in his solemn way as to 
 whether or not the reporter had not a strain of 
 Celtic blood in him. 
 
 And while one of them listened, and two of 
 them discussed the affairs of the nation in their
 
 The Way of Belinda 207 
 
 jocular way, the thoughts of all three, if it had 
 been permitted one to look deep down in their 
 hearts, were centred in a little frame house in 
 Rivington Street. At last Jerry got away and to 
 the Park, where, late into the night, he tramped 
 about, feet beating time to the tune in his heart, 
 brain whirling with the events of the afternoon. 
 
 In the meantime, to her Peggy Belinda was 
 then " 'fessing" the greatest secret of her life. 
 The older woman, without interruption, heard 
 her out to the finish, her great, generous nature 
 throbbing in sympathy with the whole gamut of 
 emotions through which the girl passed as she 
 sobbed, laughed, trembled, and in exquisite con- 
 fusion as she talked hid her face against the 
 woman's knee. Esther was thinking as the girl 
 poured out her happiness, how ever since that 
 first solemn confession of Belinda's in the den, 
 when the girl had intimated to Esther that 
 " morning, noon, and night" the thought of 
 Blake absorbed her, Esther had prepared herself 
 for a second one, which must be the inevitable 
 outcome of the first ; a natural sequence of events 
 for which, she was well aware, she alone would 
 be held responsible. 
 
 Belinda on that first night had laid bare her 
 heart, never after to be reminded of it by her
 
 208 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Peggy, who, studying Blake in a new aspect, 
 quietly set to work to help Belinda to her heart's 
 desire. She knew she was taking on herself 
 grave responsibilities, for which she would be 
 taken to task, but she did not shrink from what 
 she believed the circumstances justified. She 
 knew her Belinda every fibre of the girl's 
 character, as did no other person; as Madame 
 Ronalds never dreamed of her, as none of them 
 had any conception save, possibly, Ronalds 
 Castleton, who sometimes seemed to Esther to 
 be studying the girl with something of her own 
 watchfulness out of the corners of his quizzical 
 eyes. And she knew the man Blake; knew and 
 thoroughly trusted him; and having once seen 
 him and Belinda together, she knew this greatest 
 of all things, that she could no more have sepa- 
 rated the threads that were binding them together 
 than she could have unravelled the strands of 
 a steel hawser. 
 
 For from the first they were drawn together 
 by the irresistible, intangible force of magnetic 
 attraction a force at once so strong and so 
 elusive that it spun about them an invisible web, 
 which bound them heart to heart as long as they 
 lived. 
 
 It was the consciousness of this that sustained
 
 The Way of Belinda 209 
 
 Esther in her mode of procedure; that fortified 
 her to prepare to do battle for the girl so dear 
 to her. 
 
 " Peggy/' Belinda was crying, " he loves me, 
 loves me. All the while I've been thinking about 
 him I've been loving him and longing for him 
 all the while. And I never knew it, Peggy, think 
 of that ! and all the while he's been loving me ! " 
 Her voice rang out jubilantly. 
 
 "Did he speak of the future, dear?" asked 
 the woman gravely. 
 
 " No," tremulously Belinda answered ; " there 
 wasn't time, Peggy, dear. We had just just 
 begun talking when you and cousin Ronalds 
 came in." 
 
 " Not very welcome visitors, I fear," smiled 
 the woman ; " but I'm glad Mr. Castleton came 
 down to see you. He may prove a ' friend in 
 need.' " 
 
 "Oh, yes, he will," acquiesced Belinda; "I'm 
 sure of it! He said I could count on him; and 
 that if Nana and Dan proved too much for me, 
 he'd run away with me. Wasn't that a dear, 
 funny thing for him to say ? " 
 
 Esther, who was wondering if there had not 
 been far more seriousness in this proposition than 
 was commonly attributed to the speeches of the
 
 2 1 o The Way of Belinda 
 
 man, did not at once reply ; and Belinda, looking 
 wistfully at her, said, " Don't you think he will 
 stand by me when when he knows ? " 
 
 "About Mr. Blake? I hope so, dear; but so 
 much depends, I should think, on what Mr. Blake 
 himself has to say as to the future his ambitions 
 and his prospects. I'm not a worldly woman, but 
 I am a practical one; and there is much to be 
 considered. I doubt, dear, if as yet," speaking 
 very gently, " you realize what it means." 
 
 " Those were just his last words, Peggy ' Do 
 you realize what it means ? ' when you came in ; 
 and then I sent him away, because I knew if he 
 stayed cousin Ronalds would suspect something. 
 He's the greatest man in the world for knowing 
 all about everything, and I didn't want him to 
 know that not quite yet," wistfully. 
 
 " I understand, dear." 
 
 " It means I we I," stammeringly, " shall 
 be poor, I suppose," she hazarded. 
 
 " Poor from your grandmother's standpoint. 
 Yes, dear, impossibly, irretrievably, unpermissi- 
 bly poor. But of that I think we will not talk 
 until Mr. Blake has had an opportunity to talk 
 to you. To throw over a prospective millionaire 
 for a reporter is hardly a thing you can expect
 
 The Way of Belinda 211 
 
 your grandmother to countenance, Belinda. You 
 realize all that means, do you not ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the girl firmly, heart quivering. 
 " I think if you and Janie can spare me, I will 
 go home." 
 
 " To-day? I strongly approve of it." 
 
 " No ; not to-day. I I want to see Mr. Blake 
 again." With a swift, pleading look, " You don't 
 mind, Peggy ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, dear, I think it wise and 
 best that you should." 
 
 " You blessed, blessed Peggy," she gratefully 
 sighed, kissing her. 
 
 " Shall I go with you when you go home, 
 Belinda ? " asked the solicitous woman. " Do you 
 want me to? What blame there is rests on my 
 shoulders." 
 
 " Oh, no, no," cried the girl ; " no one shall 
 blame you ! And I don't want you to come, please, 
 Peggy, dear. You will understand," pleadingly, 
 won't you? I want to go all alone. I left that 
 way, and I want to return that way. It's my own 
 happiness and my own future, and I must face it." 
 
 " ' Your very own self,' as you used to say 
 when you were little," said Esther, finishing her 
 sentence.
 
 212 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Yes," faltered the girl, picturing the scene 
 with her grandmother in her mind. " But, 
 Peggy," eloquently, " I shall want you." She 
 clasped the woman's hands tight in hers. " Am 
 I a coward, am I ? Tell me I'm not. But I am. 
 Oh, Peggy!" with just such a cry as she had 
 sobbed out the terrors of her childhood, " I'm 
 afraid! "
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " Then welcome each rebuff 
 That turns earth's smoothness rough, 
 Each sting that bids us sit nor stand but go ; 
 Be our joys three parts pain 
 Strive and hold cheap the strain; 
 Learn, nor account the pang ; dare, never grudge 
 the throe." 
 
 BROWNING. 
 
 WHEN Blake realized that in order to get 
 even a glimpse of Belinda on the following day 
 he would have to make his visit between his 
 goings to and from the newspaper office, he felt 
 inclined to revile an unfeeling public that, in 
 order to have a Monday morning edition of the 
 Echo, kept him working on Sunday. 
 
 As he dressed for the day he felt a sudden envy 
 of those men who, intending to make an after- 
 noon call, not to mention going to see The Only 
 Girl in the World, could don a frock coat, wear a 
 top-hat, carry a stick, and otherwise array them- 
 selves according to the mode. Jerry, poor fel- 
 low, could do none of these things, but was
 
 2 14 The Way of Belinda 
 
 forced to content himself with his business 
 clothes, not even compromising with a cutaway, 
 which he might have worn on a pinch, and likely 
 would had he not known that he would be guyed 
 at the office. After all, he thought, what did it 
 matter what he wore so long as he carried his 
 clothes well? This he undeniably did, there not 
 being in Belinda's own exclusive set a better 
 groomed man, which was saying a good deal of 
 one whose work took him from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba among all sorts and conditions of men. 
 
 In spite of his reasoning, he illogically put on 
 three ties before he decided on one good enough 
 or was it becoming enough? to satisfy him, 
 and even then would have jerked this off for fur- 
 ther experiments had he not been filled with the 
 disquieting sense of the ridiculousness of attach- 
 ing so much importance to minor things. 
 
 He decided at last to stop at Rivington Street 
 on his way to the office. He found Miss " Lov- 
 ing " just entering the house when he reached it, 
 and taking him in with her, she stopped for a 
 moment's chat before she sent Belinda in to him. 
 
 The girl entered shyly, but with a wondrous 
 welcome in her eyes shining straight into his. 
 Seeing it, the man's heart leaped to his throat 
 and he took her in his arms. No word of greet-
 
 The Way of Belinda 215 
 
 ing was spoken between them. No word was 
 necessary. 
 
 " Dear," at length he said caressingly, " dear 
 dear," a wealth of love in the simple word. 
 
 She put her hands on his shoulders, and, push- 
 ing him away a little, gazed long and earnestly in 
 his face. " Oh," she cried tremulously, her eyes 
 filling, " how strange it is. I " but unable to 
 finish, she hid her face on his shoulder. 
 
 " Dear," he said, shaken to the depths of him, 
 but struggling for quiet mastery of himself, " will 
 you come and sit down? I can only stay a short 
 time, and there are so many things I must say to 
 you." 
 
 He led her to a sofa, where he sat down beside 
 her, and taking her hands fast in his, said: 
 " Your grandmother will never consent," sum- 
 ming up the situation in his opening sentence, 
 as was characteristic of a newspaper man. " We 
 must make her," he added contradictorily. 
 
 " Yes," said Belinda, " we must." 
 
 " Dear one," he continued, " may I talk to 
 you plainly? Have you the courage to hear the 
 bald facts? Do you realize them? " 
 
 " I want to realize them," she said in a stead- 
 fast, sweet voice that was music to his ears. 
 
 " You precious little thing," he murmured.
 
 2 1 6 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Then he told her of his life, his work, his hopes 
 of the future, a future which until she had entered 
 into it had given him little thought. In rapid 
 sentences he reviewed to her eager ears his life, 
 going back to those early days when, living in 
 Peytonville with his widowed mother, he had 
 first felt the pinch of poverty, hidden from the 
 village because of family pride. Told her how in 
 his boyish heart he had resented the unceasing 
 talk about Peyton blood, which never seemed to 
 do anything for him except keep him in constant 
 warfare with his playmates, who jeered at his 
 good manners, his carefully patched clothes, and 
 empty pockets. How he and his little brother, 
 six years his junior, equally sensitive but less of a 
 fighter than he, grew up in close companionship, 
 banded together by common hatred of the 
 enemy. How the aristocratic atmosphere, so 
 exclusive, so painfully poverty stricken, choked 
 him, causing him to love with fervency all things 
 democratic. 
 
 How, at sixteen, in spite of his mother's pro- 
 tests, he had at last gone to work, earning his 
 first stipend as the doctor's office boy. Well he 
 remembered, he told her, how, in spite of his de- 
 sire to be democratic, his pride rebelled against 
 sweeping the sidewalk in front of the house. It
 
 The Way of Belinda 217 
 
 wasn't the doctor, but the doctor's wife, who ex- 
 acted this of him, and for quite five minutes he 
 had stood sullenly defiant before he took the 
 broom and did as he was bid. It was amusing 
 now to look back upon, but at the time he had 
 waged an awful inward conflict, and even when 
 submissive had longed to hit the offending lady 
 on the head with the broom. From the doctor's 
 he went into a printing-office and learned to set 
 type. He hated it, but preferred it to the doc- 
 tor's wife, who always seemed to be watching 
 him lest he have a happy, idle moment. And all 
 the while he was working at tasks " beneath a 
 gentleman," as his mother bewailed, he was 
 dreaming about college and how without money 
 other than the small amount he earned he was to 
 get there. 
 
 In his leisure moments browsing at will in the 
 library of the judge, his grandfather, whom he 
 barely remembered, one day the impressionable 
 boy, fast growing into manhood, fell in with the 
 essays of Emerson, which, reading, he read again 
 and again, saturating himself with the Concord 
 philosopher, who exerted a strong influence on 
 his life. The great truths compressed between 
 the pages of one volume opened up a new world 
 to him, and he determined to go out and find
 
 2 1 8 The Way of Belinda 
 
 that world, where there was room to breathe; 
 where there were people not cramped by the nar- 
 row conventions like those he knew, but high- 
 thinking, high-living people; where " The only 
 reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a 
 friend is to be one." Going down the pages of 
 the wonderful essay on Self-Reliance one night, 
 he came to that place where the philosopher as- 
 serts that the sturdy country lad who takes a 
 turn at everything that comes to hand, and al- 
 ways, like a cat, falls on his feet, is walking 
 abreast with his days and need feel no shame in 
 not " studying a profession," for he does not 
 postpone his life, but lives it already. 
 
 Over this, so fraught to him with meaning, he 
 pondered, fitting it to the restless longing now 
 possessing him to get into the world and test his 
 strength. Because of the new thought and the 
 zest it gave him, he abandoned all idea of college 
 and ran away from home to the nearest city, fifty 
 miles distant, where he worked at type-setting, 
 which was the only trade he knew. This work 
 was on the printing-presses of a newspaper. 
 There he was soon employed in carrying copy to 
 the presses from the editorial rooms, where he 
 picked up all sorts of information. It had the 
 effect of developing him rapidly and also inciting
 
 The Way of Belinda 219 
 
 him to try his hand at writing, in imitation of his 
 betters. In a year he was on the staff of the 
 paper, and three years later he came down to join 
 the staff of the Echo, where ever since he had 
 been. 
 
 With closest attention Belinda had followed 
 this narrative, and now urged him to go on. 
 
 " Dear," he said irrelevantly, " will you marry 
 me?" 
 
 The question so startled her that she blushed 
 furiously; and he said again: 
 
 " Will you? It would be so sweet to hear you 
 say you would, and then when I finish, if you 
 like, you shall unsay it all again." 
 
 Her reply was not audible, but it seemed to 
 satisfy him, for presently, taking up his story, he 
 continued : " My people are dead, dear, all but 
 my brother Peyton. When my mother died we 
 inherited the place, which was about all there 
 was. She had struggled all her life to keep it free 
 from mortgage, and we sold it as soon as we 
 could. It brought more than we dared hope for. 
 It happened that a New York man had long 
 coveted the property for a summer home. I in- 
 vested the money, and the income is putting Pey- 
 ton through college. I was determined he 
 should go. He is different from me organi-
 
 22O The Way of Belinda 
 
 cally delicate, more sensitive, never could buffet 
 the world, but he's hard working, industrious, 
 has good stuff in him, though he'll be very slow 
 to develop. Some people are like that, dear, you 
 know." 
 
 " Are they? " asked the girl, gazing with lov- 
 ing pride at him. " Didn't you use any of the 
 money yourself? " 
 
 "I? Oh, no. I didn't need it. I was all right. 
 I had a steady job, a place to sleep and plenty to 
 eat. I didn't ask any more then. But now," 
 with a quick indrawing of breath, " now it's dif- 
 ferent, so different, and yet not; for I want so 
 much, yet am no richer, and Peyton will not be 
 through for another two years." 
 
 " No richer? " from the girl in well-feigned re- 
 proach. 
 
 " Richer than all others, you little tease," his 
 eyes devouring her. " If you give yourself to 
 me," he continued earnestly, " it means, dear, a 
 year and perhaps more of waiting." 
 
 " I would wait a lifetime," she said. 
 
 " Ah, sweetheart, how good that is to hear ! It 
 means, too, dear," striving to keep to the sub- 
 ject, " that you would have to leave your world 
 and come into mine. This I shall never ask you 
 to do until I can provide for you suitably. I've
 
 The Way of Belinda 221 
 
 seen too much of poverty to cherish any illusions 
 about it. By suitably I mean, dear, all the com- 
 forts which might seem to you pretty poor sub- 
 stitutes for the luxuries to which you are accus- 
 tomed, and which I'm desperately afraid are as 
 necessary to you as the air you breathe." 
 
 " Oh, no, they're not," she hastened to assure 
 him; " you've no idea how much I know about 
 economy. I haven't been accustomed to all the 
 luxuries like the other girls I know. I never had 
 them. Nana isn't rich, though we live as if we 
 were. I don't know how we just live, that's all 
 there is to it. I wear extravagant clothes, I 
 know," looking down at her dainty crepe gown 
 apologetically, " but they're always charged. 
 Perhaps it takes all Nana has to pay the bills. 
 Anyway, I never spend any money never have 
 any to spend, hardly car fares. I'm supposed al- 
 ways to ride in cabs, you know, and they're 
 charged, too." 
 
 He smiled, rilled with joy at this unexpected 
 information, so naively told. " If you'll promise 
 not to take cabs," he said, " I'll agree to keep you 
 in car fares." 
 
 " What condescension !" smiling back at him. 
 " I supposed you'd offer to buy me a cab." 
 
 " If it's a question of cabs, Belinda Leigh, all is
 
 222 The Way of Belinda 
 
 over between us!" And then seriously he said, 
 " When may I go to see your grandmother, 
 dear? " 
 
 " Not until I have seen her first," she 
 answered. " Of course, you don't know, but she 
 was so annoyed at my coming that she's forbid- 
 den my return until she gives permission, and re- 
 fuses to recognize that my engagement to Dan 
 Denbeigh is broken." 
 
 " Belinda ! This is far worse than I imagined." 
 
 " It's pretty bad," she admitted; " but when a 
 thing can't get worse it has to get better. I 
 shall go back to-morrow." 
 
 " But, Belinda, sweetheart," he exclaimed, " I 
 cannot let you take the brunt of things. I should 
 take it, or at least be there too. You must let me 
 go with you." 
 
 " No, dear, no," she protested; "you mustn't 
 come. Don't you see she doesn't know you, has 
 only met you that night at the studio, and she 
 would resent your coming a stranger; regard it 
 as an impertinence. I know Nana ! Leave it to 
 me, dear," she pleaded, " trust me. I will go, 
 and you mustn't come until I send you word," 
 she ended in a tone that carried conviction. 
 
 " What a wise little woman you are !" he said 
 tenderly. " I believe you're right. Diplomacy
 
 The Way of Belinda 223 
 
 sometimes wins where more direct methods fail 
 utterly. But it is you you you of whom I'm 
 thinking. To think it must all fall on you ! Are 
 you sure I'm worth it, sweetheart? " reading her 
 assurance in her eyes. " And what if you send 
 me no word? if she forbids you to? " 
 
 " I should do it just the same," said the girl un- 
 falteringly, " and I should tell her so, but I 
 should not ask you to come without per permis- 
 sion." 
 
 " My precious little girl," he said to this girl, 
 nearly as tall as he; " was ever any one so cour- 
 ageous ? " 
 
 " Some run away," she reminded him, her 
 thoughts racing on, " but I never want to have 
 to do that." 
 
 " Nor I to ask you, though I might," he ad- 
 mitted honestly. " One never knows what one 
 might do under stress of circumstances." 
 
 " Cousin Ronalds has offered to do that al- 
 ready," she said lightly, glad to relieve the ten- 
 sion. 
 
 " The dickens he has ! How dared he !" from 
 her future lord and master. 
 
 " Oh, he wasn't really in earnest ; he never is, 
 you know," smiling ravishingly, " though I don't 
 see," with a pretty pout and a display of dimples
 
 224 The Way of Belinda 
 
 that made him long to kiss her that very min- 
 ute, " I don't see why you have any right to ob- 
 ject." Then, before he could put his longing 
 into execution, she said, " How did you happen 
 to know him? You seem to be very good 
 friends." 
 
 He told her all about it, and how he had been 
 at dinner with him the night before. 
 
 " I should like to go to him and talk over our 
 affairs with him, dear. May I? It seems to me 
 proper and desirable that I should. He has al- 
 ways seemed to like me, and he may understand 
 how I cannot help loving you wouldn't if I 
 could." 
 
 " I believe he'll take our part," enthusiastically 
 cried the girl. " He hates Dan, and never wanted 
 me to be engaged to him, and he likes you and 
 will understand he always understands. Oh, do 
 go to-morrow, dear, when I go home, and I'll 
 write him a note do you mind taking it with 
 you, so he will hear the news from both of us at 
 once? telling him I'm the happiest girl in the 
 world." 
 
 " Belinda, you darling !" and then with sudden 
 and wretched consciousness that he had long 
 outstayed his time, " I must be going, dear." 
 
 " I suppose so," reluctantly.
 
 The Way of Belinda 225 
 
 " And do you know, Belinda, that all the while 
 I've been here you've never once spoken my 
 name? " 
 
 " I didn't know it the first time I saw you or 
 the second," evasively. 
 
 " But you do now, do you not, sweetheart? " 
 
 Both had risen, and taking her in his arms, he 
 tipped back her face and looked deep in her 
 heart. " Isn't it there? " he asked softly as she 
 did not speak. 
 
 " What? " she murmured, a pink flush betray- 
 ing her. 
 
 " My name, dear one. Isn't it somewhere 
 there in your heart? " 
 
 " Way down deep." 
 
 " Could you find it, do you think, for me? " 
 
 " You might take it away from me, I'm 
 afraid," she pretended. 
 
 " That I'd steal what is yours? Oh, Belinda !" 
 And then putting his face down to hers said 
 penitently, " I didn't mean to tease you to say 
 what you don't want to, sweetheart." 
 
 " Jerry," she cried, "Jerry!" 
 
 And for many days and weeks after that 
 tremulous " Jerry " sang in his ears.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 " She had gone through her crisis in the antici- 
 pation of it. That is how quick natures ... are 
 prepared for astonishing leaps over the gradations 
 which should render their conduct comprehen- 
 sible to us, if not excusable." 
 
 MEREDITH. 
 
 THERE are persons who never meet the crises 
 of life with philosophy, and Madame Ronalds 
 was one. 
 
 In spite of her years, her experience was not 
 so vast nor so deep as she imagined, and out of it 
 she had learned little. She thought she had had 
 more than her share of sorrow and perplexity, 
 but it was perplexity tempered by moderation; 
 sorrow alleviated by compensating conditions, 
 which, like sentinels, always stood guard about 
 her. Of the tremendous and awful depths of 
 human emotion she had no conception, except as 
 she found it in novels and on the stage, where 
 she resented it as most exaggerated, vulgar, and 
 bad form. 
 
 Carefully reared in a conventional atmosphere,
 
 The Way of Belinda 227 
 
 and married young to a man whom she had 
 always known, was undeniably to make a pleasant 
 beginning in life. Her first grief came with the 
 death of her boy and elder child, at ten years of 
 age a bereavement against which she so violently 
 rebelled that her mourning, though genuine in its 
 way, seemed not to be grief so much as a wail 
 against the workings of Providence. Her first 
 crisis came through her daughter Ethel, who, 
 against rhyme and reason, protests and pleading, 
 insisted on marrying Donald Leigh, the man of 
 her heart. This left the mother vanquished and 
 bitter, hardening the crust already formed by 
 hide-bound conventions. The death of Donald 
 Leigh, so quickly followed by that of Ethel, who, 
 bereft of him, seemed mortally stricken, and died 
 in giving birth to Belinda, appeared to Ethel's 
 mother but the retribution that overtakes the 
 wilful. If Ethel had listened to reason, she 
 thought, she would still have been living happily 
 with her instead of having become the central 
 figure in a series of tragic events. When she 
 took the little Belinda to her home it was not to 
 take her to her heart, for the baby was a constant 
 reminder of things she desired to forget. Later, 
 sorrow over the loss of Mr. Ronalds was, to his 
 wife, merged in the necessity of confronting finan-
 
 228 The Way of Belinda 
 
 cial conditions so perplexing and vexatious that 
 they engrossed and ever after held her fast in 
 a sordid clutch. And except as it affected her 
 mode of living she did not truly mourn her hus- 
 band, for he had grown morose and irritable with 
 years and unpleasantly refractory toward a wife 
 who attempted to dominate him ; all of which did 
 not tend to broaden her nature or give her much 
 comprehension of the turning-point in the life of 
 Belinda, which she down in Rivington Street 
 was already inwardly confronting. 
 
 One exasperatingly unpleasant talk during 
 Belinda's absence Madame Ronalds had with 
 Mrs. Denbeigh. The sole subject was the girl's 
 attitude toward Dan, which the doting mother 
 said was outrageous and not to be tolerated. 
 She whipped herself into such a fury that for 
 once in her life she forgot her awe of Madame 
 Ronalds, and dealt out the smothered irritation 
 of years in such bristling invectives that the other 
 woman turned on her, and dropping all veneer, 
 said it was astonishing to her how she ever could 
 have considered for her granddaughter an alli- 
 ance with a family so hopelessly plebeian. Mrs. 
 Denbeigh went off in high dudgeon, leaving 
 behind a ruffled but complacent adversary, who, 
 however, immediately regretting her indiscre-
 
 The Way of Belinda 229 
 
 tion, dispatched a soothing note to Dan, in 
 which she told him to be patient; that Belinda's 
 freakishness would pass; that it was only a girl's 
 vagaries. 
 
 And Madame Ronalds, for days infuriated by 
 these vagaries, which had emboldened Belinda to 
 depart without permission and further cross her 
 will, was concluding that to hold Dan she must 
 certainly allow the girl to return where the boy 
 could see her, when early one morning, without 
 warning, Belinda walked in. 
 
 As she entered, Madame Ronalds, who was 
 reading, looked up, shot one piercing glance at 
 her, and continued to go on with her book. 
 
 " Nana," said the girl, approaching, " I have 
 come." 
 
 " You were not asked," escaped the woman, 
 who had not intended to speak. 
 
 " I didn't ask, for fear you wouldn't want me." 
 
 " A proper inference," in her most precise tone. 
 
 " But I'm here, Nana. I've come to stay," the 
 sound of her words giving her confidence. 
 
 " You may stay," responded the woman, look- 
 ing fixedly at her, " on one condition. That you 
 listen to reason in regard to Dan." 
 
 Prepared and fortified as she was, the girl 
 trembled from head to foot; but with head erect
 
 230 The Way of Belinda 
 
 said steadily : " I cannot, Nana. I love some one 
 else." 
 
 Madame Ronalds raised her eyebrows incredu- 
 lously, and with sarcastic inflection said : " And, 
 pray, who may this some one else be ? " 
 
 " Mr. Blake," bravely, strengthened by the joy 
 of speaking his name. 
 
 " And, pray," with unpleasant emphasis, " who 
 is he? " 
 
 " You met him at cousin Castleton's studio," 
 she said hurriedly. " You presented him to me." 
 
 " Ah, yes, I believe I recollect ! A young prig, 
 who boasted of his family connections." 
 
 " You liked him," the girl couldn't help re- 
 minding her, " and asked him to call." 
 
 " Which he never had the civility to do. Or 
 is it possible he did come, but only presented 
 himself at times when, informed by you, he knew 
 I was to be absent ? " still coolly sarcastic. 
 
 The girl gasped, bereft of speech. 
 
 " The depths of your duplicity it is evident I 
 have not yet sounded. I " 
 
 " It is not true," broke from Belinda in a tense 
 voice, the lines about her mouth drawn. " I have 
 never deceived you in my life. Mr. Blake has 
 not been here. I have been seeing him at Miss 
 Lovering's. I "
 
 The Way of Belinda 231 
 
 " So that has been the scene of your romance," 
 derisively. " Why leave the slums, since you find 
 the environment so congenial, where, no doubt, 
 you can see your new lover every day ? " 
 
 " Yes," unflinchingly, " I could," in a tone so 
 like her father's that Madame Ronalds winced. 
 " But I shall stay here, Nana. This is my rightful 
 place, my home. I've done nothing to forfeit it." 
 
 Her cool, inflexible demeanor under rapid fire 
 amazed her grandmother, not knowing how the 
 girl had schooled and drilled herself for this 
 dreaded scene. 
 
 " It is imperative," bluntly declared the woman, 
 " that you marry Dan Denbeigh. For years I 
 have withheld from you the fact that we were 
 living on credit. I ran more deeply in debt that 
 you might make a proper debut, and have kept 
 you going on nothing ever since. I cannot hold 
 out six months longer. All the trades-people 
 were pacified by the announcement of your en- 
 gagement to a prospective millionaire. Throw 
 Dan over, and they'll be down upon us like a pack 
 of wolves. The ignominy would kill me ! " 
 
 Humiliated by this confession to the very depth 
 of her being, the girl felt like some wretched slave 
 bartered in the market-place. 
 
 " I cannot," she said, " I cannot. Why, Nana,
 
 232 The Way of Belinda 
 
 you want to sacrifice me! There must be some 
 other way." And then with sudden inspiration, 
 " Cousin Ronalds would help." 
 
 "You talk nonsense. What does a child 
 like you know of these things? Do you want 
 to face poverty? change your whole mode of 
 life? " 
 
 " Yes," said the girl, " I do. I want to marry 
 Mr. Blake." 
 
 " What ! " cried the woman, who up to this 
 time had not regarded seriously anything Belinda 
 had said about the man, " you want to marry 
 him? A man about whom I know nothing, and 
 whom you've known two weeks ? " 
 
 " It is just as if I had known him all my life," 
 responded Belinda, eyes glowing, but face set. 
 " I've loved him all winter long. He is the man 
 who was so kind to me down in Rivington Street 
 that day the boys behaved so badly, and " 
 
 " Who published the adventure for the benefit 
 of the town? That man, a common reporter, 
 a person not fit to associate with the servants? 
 You must be losing your mind," she gasped, with 
 flashing eyes. 
 
 "Yes, he is a reporter," Belinda said slowly; 
 " but he didn't do that. It was all a mistake.
 
 The Way of Belinda 233 
 
 And he is a gentleman," drawing herself up 
 proudly in his defence " far more of a gentle- 
 man than many of the men in my set. And I'm 
 not afraid to trust myself to him." 
 
 It was Ethel all over again facing the woman. 
 
 " He is poor," went on the dual voice in 
 Madame Ronalds's ears ; " you would call him 
 so, but he isn't poor as you tell me I am, and I 
 should feel rich to share his life." 
 
 " Spare me sentimental utterances. I should 
 no more consider allowing a granddaughter of 
 mine to marry a newspaper reporter than I should 
 think of giving her to the butler. He's a low, 
 scheming adventurer, who thinks he has cleverly 
 hoodwinked a rich girl. He began by hoodwink- 
 ing me. I don't believe he is any more related 
 to the Peytons of Peytonville than you are," 
 nevertheless knowing that the judge's youngest 
 daughter had married an impecunious young 
 fellow named Jerry Blake. 
 
 " Ask cousin Ronalds, he knows ! " replied 
 the tortured girl, betraying no emotion. " Miss 
 Levering knows, too." 
 
 " So this is of her making ! Never mention 
 that person's name to me as long as you live ! " 
 cried the woman, livid with rage. " It was an
 
 234 The Way of Belinda 
 
 unfortunate day when she crossed my threshold. 
 She is perfectly demoralized; and not satisfied 
 with that, sets about to demoralize you. You're 
 hypnotized! completely hypnotized! She has 
 only to say ' Come,' and you go like one bereft 
 of will. She has turned you from a sensible girl 
 into a crazy edition of herself; filled you with 
 sentimental twaddle, surrounded you with low 
 associates, upheld you in defying me. Go back 
 to her go back ! You are no granddaughter of 
 mine!" 
 
 Having thus relieved her mind, reconciliation 
 was a step nearer, though this neither of them 
 knew. 
 
 The girl cast piteous eyes about, but stood 
 motionless with hands tight clasped. One falter- 
 ing step, one burst of passion and everything 
 would be lost. " Steady, steady," whispered her 
 heart, strengthening her to do battle. 
 
 Ignoring her grandmother's command, she 
 said, summoning her forces, " May Mr. Blake 
 come to see you, Nana ? " 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " May I see him if I stay? " 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " I am going to stay, though, Nana ; you shall 
 not force me out. You have no right," following
 
 The Way of Belinda 235 
 
 out the path on which she had determined before 
 she came. 
 
 " Sit down," commanded the woman ; " your 
 attitude is irritating." 
 
 Belinda did as she was bid, feeling she had 
 gained a concession. The resolution in her eyes, 
 the drawn mouth, the fixed purpose in her young 
 face began to make some impression on the 
 woman, not gifted to discriminate. 
 
 " Was the child very ill ? " she asked. 
 
 So seemingly irrelevant a question startled the 
 girl. 
 
 " Very," she replied, her voice for the first time 
 trembling. 
 
 " I trust you're not coming down with some 
 contagious disease." 
 
 " I ? Oh, no," regaining her composure. " It 
 was pneumonia. She is fast getting well. May 
 I go to my room, Nana? " 
 
 " As you like," indifferently. As the girl rose 
 she said, fixing her with penetrating eyes : " Since 
 you are so determined, you may stay, Belinda; 
 but you must accept my conditions. This discus- 
 sion we will not renew until your mind is more 
 normal, but I absolutely forbid you to hold an)' 
 communication whatever with that newspaper 
 person. Do you understand ? "
 
 236 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Yes, Nana," determined not to be crushed 
 into despair. 
 
 " You will give me your promise ? " 
 
 "Yes," thinking it best to obey, in spite of 
 what she had said to Jerry. 
 
 " That is my command, and I expect absolute 
 obedience. If you deceive me again " 
 
 The threat was not uttered, for the girl 
 said : " I have never intentionally deceived you 
 nor disobeyed you except that once, when I 
 thought, under the circumstances, you would 
 have consented to my going down to Miss 
 Lovering's, and so went without your permis- 
 sion." 
 
 " That is past. I have your promise now to 
 do nothing clandestine ? " 
 
 " Yes," firmly, with steadfast eyes ; " I will do 
 nothing that I do not tell you first" 
 
 Slowly she went to her room, heart protesting, 
 mind holding her to the conviction that having 
 gained so much, she must be content to wait. 
 She was in her home, and permitted to remain. 
 Lingeringly her eyes traversed the little room 
 where she had slept ever since she could remem- 
 ber. All the dear old familiar objects reminded 
 her of a thousand things now seeming to belong 
 to a remote period which she had dreamed, but
 
 The Way of Belinda 237 
 
 never lived. Life had begun for her in Rivington 
 Street. 
 
 It was her girlhood beckoning in the little 
 room; but her eyes, swimming, turned wistfully 
 to the window. Voices within, exquisitely 
 strange and sweet, were carolling her woman- 
 hood.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 " Love is a faith, and one faith leads to an- 
 other." 
 
 AMIEL. 
 
 BLAKE, on the day following his talk with Be- 
 linda, presented himself at Castleton's studio 
 with the conviction that what he was about to 
 say would be listened to with consideration. 
 Castleton was his friend; but whether his friend- 
 ship would stretch to contemplation of taking 
 him into the family, Blake wondered. Even to 
 him the idea was so astonishing that he scarcely 
 knew how to adjust himself to it. Of Belinda 
 during the past months all his thoughts, though 
 so engrossing, had been visionary, taking no 
 definite form because of the ever-present realiza- 
 tion that she was something altogether apart 
 from his life. And of a sudden she was life itself. 
 
 He shook hands with Castleton, his mind fully 
 made up as to exactly what he should say when 
 they had exchanged the usual courtesies. But 
 before he began, as he promised Belinda, he gave 
 her cousin her note.
 
 The Way of Belinda 239 
 
 Castleton read it through and stared at him. 
 " The little minx !" he exclaimed. 
 
 With simple directness Jerry told him the his- 
 tory of the affair from the beginning, Castleton 
 pulling away at a pipe, listening without inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 " There'll be the dickens to pay with her 
 grandmother," was his first comment. " Does 
 she know? " 
 
 " Yes," responded Blake. " Belinda you 
 don't mind my calling her Belinda to you? " with 
 some embarrassment. 
 
 " That's all right, old chap." 
 
 " She was going back to-day, and she wouldn't 
 let me go with her; said she didn't want me; that 
 her grandmother wouldn't like it; that it was bet- 
 ter for her to tell her alone." 
 
 "Plucky child!" 
 
 " Of course, Castleton," said the younger 
 man earnestly, " as the world regards these 
 things she is far above me, but I've never looked 
 at things just like that." 
 
 " Should hope not," was the comment. " The 
 question is, are you in a position to marry? " 
 
 " I am not," said Blake, " but I intend to be." 
 
 He told him his financial status; of his early 
 poverty; the Peytonville property, and how it
 
 240 The Way of Belinda 
 
 had been turned to account. He spoke of his un- 
 willingness to touch his share of it until he had 
 put his brother through college; but how, small 
 as it was, he now regarded it as something to fall 
 back on one plank in the substantial platform 
 he meant to build for Belinda. Continuing, he 
 said that he wished for no engagement; he would 
 not have Belinda bound; but if Castleton and 
 Madame Ronalds would trust him he hoped to 
 be in a position to ask her to marry him in an- 
 other year. I shall never be rich," he added, 
 " but I believe in time I can get a moderate in- 
 come out of my earning capacity." 
 
 " What do you propose to do? " Castleton 
 asked. 
 
 " Drop the Echo and go into a publishing 
 house. Take the job I told you this winter was 
 offered me. They have never filled the place. I 
 can have it to-morrow." 
 
 " Good idea. But your paper can you give 
 it up? At last account, if I recollect, it was as 
 the breath of your nostrils. Blake, reporter, was 
 good enough for you." 
 
 " But it isn't good enough for her," replied the 
 man, stifling the keen consciousness of what it 
 would mean to him to give it up. " I couldn't 
 support her properly on what I now earn, and
 
 The Way of Belinda 241 
 
 the life is uncertain at best. I'm a fairly good re- 
 porter, but I'd never make a good editor if I got 
 the chance. It is better to break away now and 
 make a new beginning. Thanks to you, I'm 
 more confident of some ability to strike out in a 
 new line." 
 
 " Why to me? " 
 
 " You stirred my vanity that night, Castleton. 
 You've forgotten the talk, of course." 
 
 " On the contrary, I recall every word of it." 
 
 " Do you? " looking boyishly pleased. " You 
 urged my trying my hand at something serious, 
 something I could put my name to. I went off 
 and did it in sheer bravado. It will be out next 
 month." 
 
 " What? " asked the other, intensely inter- 
 ested. 
 
 " A story in magazine signed Jerry 
 
 Blake." 
 
 " Good ! I felicitate you. Thought I knew 
 my man." 
 
 " While I was writing it," the young author 
 went on, " so many other stories came cropping 
 up in my head that I was dumbfounded. Believe 
 I could have worked out a dozen if I'd kept go- 
 ing, but perhaps I couldn't have. Anyway, I'd 
 no time, so "
 
 242 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " They'll come out. You can't escape your 
 creative faculty. It's stronger than you are," re- 
 marked the man, gratification evident in the look 
 he gave Jerry. " Like the way you talk, Blake; 
 it's sound common sense. Glad you've no fool- 
 ish notions of cutting loose from everything and 
 setting up for an author pure and simple. You'll 
 get there, old man, but you want a salary to feed 
 the machine. Take the job at the publisher's and 
 push ahead there, and hang on to a salary always, 
 no matter how successful in a literary way you 
 may be. Do that, old chap, and I'll not worry 
 about your earning capacity." 
 
 " Castleton," said the younger man, " have I 
 your permission to go to Madame Ronalds? " 
 
 " Yes, Blake," feelingly, " you have. I've al- 
 ways liked you. You're good stuff and you've 
 got a future. I'd trust Belinda to you. If she 
 loves you and the little minx declares she does 
 I'll do what I can to help you. Count on me," 
 putting out his hand. 
 
 Blake took it in a strong grip. " Thanks, Cas- 
 tleton," he said, too much moved to speak fur- 
 ther. 
 
 " My aunt, Madame Ronalds, is no small mat- 
 ter to tackle. You realize that, Blake? " 
 
 " Yes."
 
 The Way of Belinda 243 
 
 " My opinion is she'll refuse to see you." 
 
 " I'm afraid of that." 
 
 " Think I'll drop in there this afternoon, and 
 see how the wind blows. Wish I could take you 
 along, old chap, but " an idea occurring to him 
 " will you come? " suddenly testing him. 
 
 " No; I shouldn't care to seem to be under 
 your protection." 
 
 This was the answer Castleton wanted to hear, 
 and mightily pleased, he said : " Should advise 
 you to wait until you hear from Belinda," which, 
 as he so rarely gave advice, was a further mark 
 of great favor. 
 
 " That was what she said. If Madame Ron- 
 alds refuses to see me, I shall write. You don't 
 think that would be an impertinence, do you? " 
 anxiously scanning the other's face. " I must 
 present myself in some form to Madame Ron- 
 alds. You see that, don't you, Castleton? " 
 
 " Perfectly. You owe it to Belinda and your- 
 self." 
 
 When, stopping in at the Tyrol to inquire that 
 day for Belinda, Leila found she had returned, 
 she was more than delighted. Madame Ronalds 
 thinking she would plead for Dan, and believing 
 the girl's gossip more quickly than anything
 
 244 The Way of Belinda 
 
 would link Belinda to her old life, urged her to 
 remain to lunch with her granddaughter, she 
 herself having an engagement. 
 
 It was not until Madame Ronalds had de- 
 parted that Belinda began to talk, though Leila 
 had kept all the while a steady chatter. 
 
 Belinda, with the recent conversation with 
 Esther fresh in her mind, was looking at her 
 curiously where she sat, regarding her in a new 
 light. She stared so intently that Leila moved 
 uncomfortably and finally said : 
 
 " For pity's sake, is there anything the matter 
 with me, Belinda? " 
 
 " No," replied the girl, still preoccupied. 
 
 " I believe there is, and you won't tell me," de- 
 clared the irate Leila, going over to the mirror. 
 Reassured by the glass, she sat down again. 
 
 " What in the world has made you stay down 
 at Miss Lovering's? " she asked. " Were you 
 afraid of Dan? " 
 
 " No," replied Belinda. 
 
 " I shouldn't much blame you if you were," 
 Leila admitted. " Heavens, but he's in a rage. 
 Tears about like a lunatic. He says he'll make 
 you pay for all this," looking to see what effect 
 these words had.
 
 The Way of Belinda 245 
 
 Belinda shuddered. " Don't talk about Dan," 
 she said. 
 
 " Why shouldn't I talk about my own brother 
 when you're breaking his heart ? " 
 
 " I'm not breaking his heart, I'm thwarting his 
 will. It's a very different thing. Dan isn't in 
 love with me, as you'd know perfectly well if you 
 had the faintest idea what love is." 
 
 A slow flush crept into Leila's colorless face, 
 and she looked away from the other girl. " Have 
 you seen Mr. Westcote lately? " she suddenly 
 said. 
 
 Belinda, reading her thoughts, decided to be 
 non-committal. 
 
 " Rather," she answered evasively; " have 
 you?" 
 
 " No," replied Leila. " I thought you might 
 have run across him down around the East Side 
 somewhere," glancing furtively at her. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I did, once or twice, I remember. 
 He seemed rather fond of prowling around." 
 
 " I should think he was," revelling in this op- 
 portunity to discuss him. " Dan says he's East- 
 Side crazy. He told me the other day he'd bet 
 two to one there was some girl attraction down 
 there."
 
 246 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Of course Dan always knows !" derisively, 
 but inwardly amused. 
 
 " Of course he does not," sharply retorted 
 Leila, for once acknowledging his fallibility; 
 " Mr. Westcote isn't the sort of man to flirt with 
 a girl of the slums." 
 
 " I should think not," agreed Belinda, sup- 
 pressing a smile. " He doesn't impress me as the 
 sort of man to flirt at all." 
 
 " Well, you ought to know," with disagreeable 
 emphasis. " You tried your hand at him the 
 first night you met him." 
 
 Formerly Belinda would have resented this, 
 but she now reminded herself that Leila couldn't 
 help these silly remarks she didn't know any 
 better. So she made no reply, and presently 
 Leila, forgetting her animosity, said : 
 
 " Do you suppose I have done anything to of- 
 fend him, Belinda? " 
 
 " Who? " pretending not to understand. 
 
 " Mr. Westcote. Do you think that's why 
 he doesn't call any more? " 
 
 " Doesn't he? " with raised eyebrows. 
 
 " No. Not since that day you were there," 
 reluctantly. 
 
 Belinda, feeling really sorry for her, said 
 kindly, " I don't believe you offended him,
 
 The Way of Belinda 247 
 
 Leila. Probably he has been very much oc- 
 cupied with something;" and then remembering 
 how very true this was, hastened to add, " Per- 
 haps he's busy getting ready to go home. You 
 know he said he was going," which wasn't much 
 of an improvement. 
 
 " You don't think he'd go without coming to 
 say good-by? " the girl asked dolorously. 
 
 " Oh, no," Belinda avowed emphatically; 
 " I'm sure he wouldn't do that." 
 
 For a while nothing was said, each girl intent 
 on her own thought. From time to time, as the 
 silence lengthened, Leila stole stealthy glances at 
 Belinda, and several times was on the verge of 
 speaking, but apparently changing her mind re- 
 lapsed into abstraction. As she sat with drooped 
 head, nervously twisting her handkerchief in her 
 hands, her dejected mien distressed Belinda, who 
 longed to comfort her. 
 
 Leila looking up, and catching the sympathy 
 in the other's eyes, said, with a suspicious break 
 in her voice, " I'm ashamed to have talked about 
 him as I did that day." The next instant she had 
 buried her face and was sobbing violently. 
 
 Belinda did comfort then in real earnest. She 
 sprang to Leila's side, and putting one arm 
 round her neck, said gently : " Don't feel badly
 
 248 The Way of Belinda 
 
 about it, Leila. Please, Leila dear. I knew you 
 didn't mean anything." 
 
 " I said I was going to be the future Countess 
 of Desborough," sobbed the girl; " I said worse 
 things than that. But, then, I didn't really care, 
 and now now I do." 
 
 The girl, unaccustomed to self-control, had 
 suffered acutely in the weeks she had hidden this 
 secret, and now with infinite relief opened her 
 heart. 
 
 " You love him, Leila dear? " 
 
 " Yes, I do," in a smothered voice; " and I 
 don't care if you do know it," defiantly. 
 
 " It will come out all right," soothed the girl, 
 knowing full well how precious a thing is sym- 
 pathy. " Perhaps all the time he cares for you." 
 
 "Oh, do you think so, really?" catching at 
 the straw. 
 
 " One never can tell, Leila. Things happen in 
 such a curious way," her mind far off in Riving- 
 ton Street. 
 
 " If I never saw him again as long as I 
 lived," fervently, "I'd be glad I loved him; 
 I would, Belinda," not expecting to be under- 
 stood. 
 
 " And I reviled you a while ago for not know- 
 ing what love is]"
 
 The Way of Belinda 249 
 
 " Yes," with a tearful smile, " I almost told 
 you then." She raised her head, and wiping her 
 eyes, submitted to having her face bathed with 
 cologne, which Belinda had brought her. 
 
 " There, you feel better, don't you? " solici- 
 tously asked Belinda, dabbing on the cologne. 
 
 " Yes, I do, but I must be a pretty object to 
 think of going down to lunch." 
 
 " Oh, you'll soon look all right, if you won't 
 be bad and go crying any more," in a bantering 
 tone she had never used to Leila. Then sud- 
 denly remembering something, she said : " I 
 know one thing for certain. Mr. Westcote isn't 
 going home just yet. He is going with cousin 
 Ronalds to Bermuda on the yacht." 
 
 " Are you sure? Who told you so? " 
 
 Belinda flushed. " Perfectly," she replied, in 
 answer to the first question. 
 
 " That is something," thankful for this re- 
 prieve. 
 
 " Leila," said Belinda after a while, idly watch- 
 ing the girl as she stood before the mirror, re- 
 arranging her disordered hair, " can you under- 
 stand now," speaking slowly, " why, not loving 
 Dan, I don't want to marry him? " 
 
 " Yes," honestly admitted the new-born Leila; 
 " I want to be loyal to Dan, but I cannot."
 
 250 The Way of Belinda 
 
 A look of utter thankfulness radiated Belinda's 
 face, and her eyes filled suddenly. 
 
 Seeing this in the mirror, Leila turned swiftly, 
 a comb poised in her hand. 
 
 " I believe," she gasped, " I believe you're in 
 love yourself, Belinda Leigh !" 
 
 Thus accused, Belinda's pretty color deepened, 
 and she quickly averted her face. 
 
 Leila, with sharpened intuitions, excitedly 
 pounced upon her and gave her a little shake. 
 " You can't deceive me," she cried, " I know it as 
 well as if you'd told me !" 
 
 Quoting her, Belinda looked up through 
 misty eyes, and said, half laughing, " ' I don't 
 care if you do know it !' ' 
 
 " Heavens !" ejaculated Leila in a high, rasp- 
 ing voice, " if I'd had any sense I'd have known 
 it all along." And then, less excitedly, but with 
 equal volubility, " May I know? Will you tell 
 me, Belinda? " 
 
 Caught unawares, Belinda unhesitatingly told 
 her everything all that concerned Blake and 
 her. Deprived of Esther, as glad as Leila was 
 she to have a confidant. For the girl who loves, 
 reserved though she be to her friends at large, 
 will to the chosen one talk freely, and find in so 
 doing a happiness inexpressible.
 
 The Way of Belinda 251 
 
 " It's the most romantic thing I ever knew in 
 all my life !" cried Leila. " To think of your first 
 meeting him in the slums." 
 
 Half expecting her to take offence, Belinda 
 said : " Please don't call the East Side the slums. 
 I wish you wouldn't, if you don't mind. It 
 sounds so horrid, and nobody does who goes 
 down there." 
 
 " All right," acquiesced Leila, too interested 
 to be annoyed. " But what are you going to do 
 now that your grandmother refuses to receive 
 him, or even let you write? I'd run away. I 
 think girls are perfectly justified in doing it when 
 their parents act so. I'd do it, I can tell you, and 
 I'll help you." 
 
 This generous offer was not unappreciated by 
 Belinda, though she replied quietly, " I shan't 
 run away, Leila, not " probing down deep for 
 lingering doubts " at least, I don't think I shall. 
 I will wait a while and see what happens." 
 
 " How can you be so calm about it, Belinda ! 
 One would think you were an old woman to hear 
 you talk." 
 
 Belinda smiled wistfully. " I have to be calm," 
 she explained, " or I should be desperate. There 
 is so much at stake, and it's worth waiting for," 
 her voice swelling.
 
 252 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " Well, I should write him anyway," cried 
 Leila, who had a predilection for mutiny. 
 
 Belinda shook her head. " I've just written 
 Miss Levering," she said, " just how it all is, and 
 she will tell him." 
 
 She picked up the letter, which she had just fin- 
 ished addressing when Leila came, and turned it 
 over speculatively, wondering if she had omitted 
 anything she had to say. " It's hard," she con- 
 tinued, thinking how wretched the news would 
 be to Jerry, " but when I think of him, I can bear 
 anything." 
 
 " So could I," said the responsive Leila, " if 
 only Somebody loved me."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 " Remember that what pulls the strings is the 
 force hidden within; there lies the power to per- 
 suade, there lies the life, there, if one must speak 
 out, the real man." 
 
 MARCUS AURELIUS. 
 
 MADAME RONALDS lived by a ritual, casting 
 out those who were not of her belief. Of the 
 many symbols of this ritual none was more 
 significant than the luncheons comprised of the 
 chosen of her set. With almost daily regularity 
 in one house and then another these luncheons 
 took place, at which assembled fashion's leaders 
 to discuss and make laws inviolate, in conclave 
 gay. Important as were these rites, there was 
 no need to sit in solemn assemblage, for their 
 lightest breath was like unto the laws of the 
 Medes and Persians, and their most inflexible 
 beliefs were frequently thrown out airily, a bubble 
 off the conversational froth. Easily pricked 
 might have been these bubbles, had there been 
 one not living by their ritual there to see; but 
 no such anomaly ever happened. With ultra-
 
 254 The Way of Belinda 
 
 exclusiveness they lunched only one another, 
 these weavers of the social fabric who took them- 
 selves so seriously. 
 
 Dame Gossip whipped the froth whence the 
 bubbles came, and all the chosen spirits lent a 
 hand. 
 
 Madame Ronalds, devout upholder of the 
 creed, rarely failed to contribute her share to the 
 brew from which she extracted the very essence 
 of delight. She loved, not in the world, but with 
 other devotees in the seclusion of the sanctuary 
 to dissect her friends, who were, likewise, her 
 friends' friends, with a tongue so pointed, so 
 incisive, so delicate that it surpassed all instru- 
 ments. 
 
 But to-day, though a highly entertained lis- 
 tener, she remained mute a role she had never 
 been known to play. The truth was, she was 
 tired. No longer a young woman, she had been 
 exhausted by the recent talk with Belinda, so full 
 of astonishing revelations. The new phases the 
 situation opened up kept presenting themselves 
 with such ever-recurring persistency that her 
 appetite was quite taken away, and she had no 
 relish even for the canape lorenzo, usually so 
 agreeable to her epicurean taste. 
 
 So haunted was she by her granddaughter that
 
 The Way of Belinda 255 
 
 she felt an imperative necessity to discuss her 
 in order to relieve her mind. But as she never 
 touched on personal affairs, even in the sanctuary, 
 when the luncheon was over she drove from the 
 house to the apartments of Ronalds Castleton. 
 She had anticipated him by half an hour, for he 
 was just starting out to see her. 
 
 " Belinda has returned," she announced as he 
 received her. 
 
 " Has she ? " was his response. 
 
 " She might better have stayed where she was. 
 She's obdurate about Dan. Fancies herself in 
 love with another man. It's preposterous ! " 
 loosening the feather boa round her neck as if she 
 felt choked. 
 
 " Afraid I don't agree with you, Aunt Maud." 
 
 " What do you know about it ? " sharply. 
 
 " Something. Blake has been here to see me." 
 
 " The impudence of the fellow ! It's what one 
 might expect. What presumption! I knew he 
 wasn't a gentleman." 
 
 " He is a gentleman," avowed Castleton, " of 
 the best sort. Quite Belinda's equal in birth and 
 breeding; and he did what any gentleman would 
 came to me, it being impossible, under the 
 circumstances, to go to you, and laid the case 
 frankly before me."
 
 256 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " He seems to have won an advocate very 
 easily," sneeringly. 
 
 " He has. I've known and liked Blake for 
 years. I would prefer he had money, of course; 
 but he has other things as important." 
 
 " Why not say more important ? " sarcastically. 
 " Pretty sentiments are for rich men like you 
 they don't oil the machinery of a poor one." She 
 tapped her foot impatiently, annoyed to find a 
 discordant element. " I shall hold her to her 
 engagement to Dan." 
 
 " Look here, Aunt Maud," roused out of his 
 usual placidity, " let Dan drop. It will be a blow 
 to your ambition, I know, but you'll not regret it. 
 He's a cad of the worst description, tied to his 
 mother's apron strings. Do you want that infernal 
 Denbeigh woman buzzing round you the rest of 
 your life ? " 
 
 Assuredly she did not, but she said with 
 offended dignity, " Your language is rather 
 stronger than is necessary, Ronalds. I see no 
 reason why I should let Dan drop nor why Be- 
 linda should. It is of no consequence that she 
 does not love him. She's too young to know 
 anything about love." 
 
 " She's in love with Jerry Blake." 
 
 " Mere infatuation," retorted the woman.
 
 The Way of Belinda 257 
 
 " She met him under unusual conditions, which 
 have cast a sort of halo over him in her eyes. It 
 smacks of the romantic, and makes her feel like 
 a girl in a novel. Her mother was just the same 
 way. She'll get over it. It's not to be regarded 
 seriously." 
 
 " It might be so with some girls," admitted 
 Castleton, " no doubt would be ; but Belinda is 
 no child of that sort, and you've no right to treat 
 her like one. She's a sensible, reasoning woman, 
 old for her years always has been. She loves 
 this man; and once loving him, she'll cling to 
 him through life and death, like her mother 
 before her. You may drag her to the water, but 
 you will never get her to drink ; and if you try to 
 force it down her throat, you will strangle her 
 just as surely as if you tied a rope around her 
 neck and strung her up." 
 
 " How dare you presume to know more about 
 Belinda than I do ! " she cried angrily, yet ponder- 
 ing over what he said. 
 
 " Far be it from me to presume anything," 
 lightly returning to his old manner. " Facts are 
 facts. Belinda's one, Blake's another. By the 
 way, it pleased your ladyship to be most gracious 
 to him here one evening. If I remember, he is 
 indebted to you for his formal introduction to
 
 258 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Belinda. You sent me to fetch her that she might 
 meet the grandson of your old friend, the judge 
 Peyton, was it not, of Peytonville ? You recol- 
 lect, Aunt Maud ? " with charming insouciance. 
 
 She writhed under the words and the mocking 
 smile with which he was regarding her. 
 
 " Blake asks nothing unreasonable," went on 
 Castleton ; " he wishes only your consent to love 
 and work for Belinda. No engagement, nothing 
 binding, but permission to ask you for her when 
 he is in a position properly to support her, which 
 he expects to be at the end of a year." 
 
 " A pretty poor man's wife she'd be ! She 
 couldn't live without society. Imagine her drop- 
 ping from her set ! " suggested the woman, who 
 couldn't imagine such a thing. 
 
 When Castleton took the trouble to explain to 
 her that he had never thought Belinda wedded 
 to society, that she'd enjoyed her first plunge, but 
 many times during the past season had confided 
 to him that she didn't care for it as she used to, 
 and was far happier when she was with the few 
 people she loved, or doing out-of-door things, or 
 quietly at home reading, the woman looked at him 
 as if she thought he, too, had lost his mind, and 
 only said in reply: 
 
 " It is imperative that she marry Dan."
 
 The Way of Belinda 259 
 
 " Are there financial reasons ? " suspiciously. 
 
 " That is my affair." 
 
 " I beg pardon." 
 
 As is common to some, Castleton had long 
 made use of a light and flippant manner to hide 
 a nature the depths of which were unsuspected 
 by the world. Aroused, these depths were capable 
 of striking out at his hearer with a poignancy the 
 more forceful because of the astonishment his 
 intensity created. He had not yet done pleading 
 for Belinda. 
 
 " Look here, Aunt Maud," he began again, " is 
 Belinda to be persecuted ? Are you going to stop 
 caring for her? " 
 
 " Not when she listens to reason and comes to 
 herself again." 
 
 " She is herself never more so, never so much 
 so as now. That is what is troubling you. Fact 
 is, Aunt Maud," imperturbably, " you've never 
 loved Belinda because she was herself, but because 
 she was your granddaughter." 
 
 " What ! " fairly shrieked the woman. 
 
 Castleton repeated it. " As a matter of fact, 
 you don't like her because she's herself," 
 continued the man. " If she wasn't your 
 granddaughter, you wouldn't care for her at 
 all."
 
 260 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Unaccustomed to analysis, Madame Ronalds 
 gasped uncomprehending. 
 
 " I don't think I have ever failed in affection 
 toward Belinda," she said with dignity. 
 
 " Of course not," he assented, " grandmotherly 
 affection the affection of kin." 
 
 " What other sort would I be apt to have ? " 
 she asked angrily. " She is my granddaughter, 
 is she not? You talk senselessly, Ronalds." 
 
 " She is your granddaughter, but what you 
 don't realize is, she is herself, besides. It's herself 
 I want to have you care for. You don't really 
 know her at all." 
 
 "You speak as if there were a new Belinda," 
 wrathfully. " You forget I've lived with her 
 twenty years." 
 
 " So there is a new Belinda," he cried, eagerly 
 catching at the phrase ; " new to you, to her, too. 
 Forces born in the child have been developing 
 they were bound to come out. She has always 
 felt them herself without recognizing them. See 
 what her father was ready to burn at the stake 
 for an ideal! If he'd lived in the Middle Ages, 
 he would have died a martyr. You know that. 
 And Ethel, her mother didn't she die for love 
 of him ? And Belinda, our Belinda, their child ! " 
 His voice rose in an impassioned wave, and he
 
 The Way of Belinda 261 
 
 crossed nearer to her chair. " Don't you see she 
 can't help being what she is whether you like her 
 or not?" 
 
 She covered her face with her hands. 
 
 " Love her as she is," he said gently. " She 
 is our Belinda." 
 
 While this talk was taking place Leila had 
 returned home; and running across her father in 
 the hall, a sudden impulse, prompted by her newly 
 awakened desire to help Belinda, caused her to 
 follow him into the library, and hint in a round- 
 about way which exasperated him that she feared 
 Dan was going to make trouble for Belinda. 
 Endeavoring to pin her down to facts, he discov- 
 ered she had none, but a vague apprehension that 
 trouble was brewing. Of Dan's conduct at this 
 time he learned from her more than he had 
 known or than she was conscious of telling, for 
 she meant to be loyal to the brother whom she 
 had shielded all her life. Her father gleaned 
 from her a pretty clear impression that Belinda 
 was being persecuted all around, and with the 
 promptness characteristic of him when action 
 was his intention, he put on his hat and went 
 straight to Madame Ronalds. 
 
 He had never called on her before. She was 
 a woman whom he regarded with a certain inter-
 
 262 The Way of Belinda 
 
 est, but with a suspicion which precluded any 
 possibility of agreeable intercourse. His blunt, 
 honest nature recoiled at the suavity of this 
 woman of fashion, whose graciousness seemed 
 to him the outer shell of a nature not sound at 
 heart. Through the years she had patronized his 
 family he carefully avoided her; and when that 
 was not possible got along with few words, for 
 she had the effect of greatly discomposing him. 
 Courtesy forbade his saying to her what he 
 thought, and to thrust and parry was an art he 
 had never studied; subterfuge was abhorrent to 
 him. 
 
 Now, however, he did not feel ill at ease in her 
 presence. He had something definite to say, and 
 when he could talk straight out from the shoulder 
 he was never at a loss for words. He told her he 
 had come to inform her that Belinda's engage- 
 ment to Dan should never be renewed with his 
 consent. The boy was worthless, and he was 
 going to send him out on a ranch at once to see 
 if he could make a man of him. It was time he 
 took him in hand. He had heard of the threats 
 of vengeance on Belinda, but he'd stop that pretty 
 quick. He'd make it his business to see that Dan 
 didn't persecute her. He said it was hard for 
 a man to go back on his own son, but the boy
 
 The Way of Belinda 263 
 
 drank, and was no more fit to marry than a baby. 
 Belinda was more of a man than Dan was; too 
 good for him altogether. Madame Ronalds, of 
 course, knew that Dan had not a cent of his own ; 
 and he should put him down on a small allowance 
 until he tested him on the ranch, and decided 
 what was best to do with him. He had intended 
 to settle a suitable amount on him when he mar- 
 ried Belinda, and give him an income besides; 
 but now he would not, were the engagement 
 renewed, make such provision for him. He had 
 never thought Belinda would marry Dan, and 
 was glad she'd made up her mind in time. He 
 knew when he saw her bring his son home drunk 
 that day that the end had come. 
 
 Madame Ronalds, widening her eyes, indicated 
 that she did not quite comprehend to what this 
 last sentence had reference. 
 
 He explained. 
 
 Her incredulity was evident. 
 
 " Of course, this is no news to you, ma'am," 
 said the father, believing the incredulity feigned. 
 
 It was news, but she did not care to admit it, 
 so said suavely : " Do you feel quite sure that he 
 was intoxicated that day ? " 
 
 " Ma'am, a man's drunk or he isn't. Dan was 
 drunk," the man replied bluntly. " The girl's
 
 264 The Way of Belinda 
 
 kept her mouth shut about it never told on him. 
 Doubt if Dan himself remembers it, but it's my 
 opinion a young girl wouldn't soon forget it." 
 
 " No, I fancy not," temporizing; " yet Belinda 
 is not of a vindictive nature," she asserted, though 
 beginning to have doubts as to what she knew 
 about Belinda. 
 
 The object of his visit accomplished, Mr. Den- 
 beigh departed as suddenly as he had come. 
 
 Madame Ronalds long after his departure sat 
 wrapt in thought. 
 
 Square pegs do not fit into round holes easily.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 " Droops the heavy-blossomed bower, hangs the 
 
 heavy-fruited tree, 
 
 Summer isles of Eden lying in dark purple 
 spheres of sea." 
 
 TENNYSON. 
 
 FAR off in an exquisite azure sea lie the green 
 isles of Bermuda. Like a serpent, the main 
 island stretches its length in undulating curves, 
 gracefully reaching out to encompass the harbor 
 dotted with miniature islands, one for every day 
 in the year. 
 
 In the brilliant sunshine of a March afternoon 
 the little whitewashed town of Hamilton blinked 
 sleepily along the water's edge. Around and 
 above it the luxuriant foliage, through which 
 gleamed the white roofs of houses, formed a mass 
 of green against the vivid blue of sky. Here and 
 there the dense growth of cedars was broken by a 
 huge clump of cacti or a tall palmetto waving in 
 the breeze. The balmy air, laden with the aromatic 
 perfume of the pines and the strong brine of the
 
 266 The Way of Belinda 
 
 sea, b.lew in delicious fragrance across the bow 
 of the steam yacht Iris as she was being piloted 
 past perilous coral reefs and through the narrow 
 channel which is the entrance to the harbor. 
 
 " Isn't it perfectly entrancing? " with indrawn 
 breath said Belinda, leaning on the rail of the 
 yacht, to Westcote at her side. " Did you ever 
 before see water so transparent and such a tur- 
 quoise blue? I long to get my hand into it." 
 
 " It's tropical, I suppose," replied the man. 
 " In Italy it is not so extraordinary as this. What 
 a pity Madame Ronalds and Miss Denbeigh are 
 missing it ! Won't they get out now that we're 
 in? " he asked. 
 
 " The poor things !" exclaimed Belinda. 
 " What a wretched time they've had of it ! Nana 
 says in all her crossing to Europe she never ex- 
 perienced anything so rough. I doubt if we'll 
 ever persuade her to return. But Leila's all right 
 now. She will be on deck presently. Cousin Ron- 
 alds," she called to that individual, who was idly 
 taking in the scene, " what are those queer big 
 white things on the hills? " 
 
 " Water tanks, possibly," replied the man, who 
 knew nothing whatever about it, but thought he 
 might venture on that explanation. " If you're 
 going to ask questions, Belinda, I'll bury you in
 
 The Way of Belinda 267 
 
 guide books the moment we land," he warned. 
 " They'll tell you all about the absence of fresh 
 water on the islands and the exact number of 
 drops the natives catch when the heavens open." 
 
 " I don't want to know," laughed the girl; " I 
 hate guide books." She looked at him affection- 
 ately. " How you love to pretend you don't like 
 to be obliging!" 
 
 " Doesn't he? " agreed Westcote, who was 
 just beginning to have some understanding of 
 the man. 
 
 The yacht glided on through the blue water, 
 passed the hotels, a steamer lying off the dock, 
 and dropped anchor opposite the little town at 
 the head of the harbor. 
 
 " Fancy you'd like to get ashore and look up 
 that young brother, eh? " said Castleton to 
 Westcote. 
 
 " Thanks, yes; if it's convenient." 
 
 " Perfectly," giving an order to the captain. 
 " Believe I'll go ashore with you." 
 
 The gig containing the two men had barely 
 put off when Leila poked her head up the com- 
 panionway and asked in a stage whisper if Be- 
 linda was alone. Being reassured, she emerged 
 a pale and dejected-looking creature. 
 
 " I heard them talking," she said, dropping
 
 268 The Way of Belinda 
 
 into a steamer chair, " but I wanted to be sure 
 they'd gone. I wouldn't have them see me like 
 this for worlds. Oh, Belinda," with a pathos 
 that was comical, " when you got your cousin to 
 invite me to come, I thought it was the most 
 heavenly thing in the world, but now " 
 
 " It is heavenly. Look at the place, Leila. 
 Cheer up. You've had a miserably ill time, I 
 know, but you'll be all right in a day or two. You 
 know people get over seasickness so quickly 
 that they forget it entirely. Nana says there 
 wouldn't be much ocean travel if they didn't." 
 
 " Do I look very dreadful? " questioned Leila 
 dolorously. 
 
 " You wouldn't if you'd get a cheerful expres- 
 sion and take off that pea-green blouse," was the 
 frank reply. " You're a little yellow, but that 
 won't last. Go put on a pale yellow shirt-waist. 
 Got one? If you haven't, I'll lend you one. That 
 will take the yellow out of your face." 
 
 " Will it ? " gratefully. " I'll go down and do 
 it as soon as I drink the coffee Elise is going to 
 bring up to me." 
 
 " Wasn't cousin Ronalds thoughtful to bring 
 her along for us? " said Belinda, an abstracted 
 expression on her face. 
 
 She was thinking how in far more important
 
 The Way of Belinda 269 
 
 ways he had been thoughtful during the first 
 anguish of the separation from the man she 
 loved, which nearly broke her heart. She had 
 not seen Jerry before sailing, nor since that Sun- 
 day morning when they parted at Miss " Lov- 
 ing's," nor written nor received a single word. 
 
 When her grandmother, two days after her re- 
 turn to the Tyrol, had informed her that she was 
 considering this trip which they were urged to 
 take by Castleton, Belinda had stood aghast at 
 the thought of putting an ocean between her and 
 Jerry. Though she did not see him, it was 
 something to feel that the same city harbored 
 them. Then cousin Ronalds came and told her 
 much that comforted; spoke freely of Blake's call 
 on him; made her aching heart glow with his 
 praise of the man. Spoke, too, but less freely, of 
 his talk with her grandmother, who, he said, 
 must be pacified, and met more than half way if 
 she suggested any sort of compromise. Talked 
 of Bermuda, and said she might find a change 
 more endurable than she imagined. It would 
 mean escape from Dan and social engagements 
 and something novel to occupy her mind. West- 
 cote, he thought, would be a pleasant companion. 
 At this Belinda thought how much Leila would 
 give for her opportunity, and this caused her to
 
 270 The Way of Belinda 
 
 ask if he would mind inviting Leila, too. Seeing 
 her show signs of wavering, he assented at once, 
 though laughingly reminding her that he was 
 not overfond of the Denbeighs. This she well 
 knew, and explained to him that Leila under- 
 stood about Dan, had been very kind to her 
 lately, and that she'd be glad to have a girl friend 
 with her. He scolded her for considering an ex- 
 planation to him necessary, and said he would 
 be happy to invite the giggling Miss Denbeigh 
 when she said the word. The outcome of which 
 was that when, that evening, her grandmother 
 made a final proposition, Belinda listened quietly 
 and accepted it without argument, her heart 
 throbbing rebelliously, her mind dull with pain. 
 
 The sop thrown to her was not calculated to 
 send her off light-heartedly, but it contained a 
 minimum of hope. 
 
 Madame Ronalds said this: That if Belinda 
 would go to Bermuda without seeing or com- 
 municating with that " objectionable person " 
 she did not condescend to call his name and 
 without spoken or written intercourse with Miss 
 Levering, either here or in Bermuda, she would 
 waive Dan for the present, and on their return, 
 if Belinda was still of the same mind and had not 
 recovered from this idiotic infatuation, she would
 
 The Way of Belinda 271 
 
 consent to hear it discussed and determine then 
 what course she would pursue. In the mean- 
 time the girl was distinctly to understand that 
 the subject was not to be referred to in any form 
 whatever, and her grandmother would expect 
 from her a cheeful demeanor and a re-establish- 
 ment between them of the conditions existing 
 before this unpleasant contretemps. No other 
 basis of intercourse was tolerable or to be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 Heart might dictate to Belinda, but head 
 would rule. 
 
 They sailed on Saturday at the end of the long- 
 est week the girl had ever known. 
 
 Blake hearing these things through Castleton 
 inwardly raged that he was begirt by circum- 
 stances which debarred him from claiming the 
 girl of his heart. On the morning of their de- 
 parture he longed at least to send some flowers 
 down to the yacht to her, but denied himself even 
 this, remembering he must keep to the spirit as 
 well as the letter of Madame Ronalds's decree. 
 Such satisfaction as it afforded him he got from 
 going down to the Battery about the time he 
 knew they were to sail and waiting, eagerly scan- 
 ning the few passing yachts, until at last the fleet, 
 graceful Iris hove in sight. With straining eyes
 
 272 The Way of Belinda 
 
 he followed her down the harbor until she was a 
 mere speck on the horizon. 
 
 When Leila, in a pale yellow shirt-waist, reap- 
 peared on deck after her talk with Belinda the 
 mentor nodded approvingly and sprang to get a 
 chair for her grandmother, who was following 
 Leila. 
 
 " How excessively warm it is !" remarked the 
 woman, fanning herself. " I told Ronalds I 
 thought it was too late in the season to come 
 here." 
 
 " It's delicious up here on deck, Nana. Isn't 
 this an enchanting spot? " said Belinda. 
 
 " Do curb your enthusiasms," requested her 
 grandmother, herself not having any. " It's a 
 pretty place," patronizingly, " but scarcely jus- 
 tifies the rhapsodies one hears about it." 
 
 " Why, how can you tell, Nana? We haven't 
 gone ashore yet," remonstrated Belinda, who 
 had not yet learned the futility of arguing with 
 her grandmother. 
 
 " I have little interest in going ashore," the 
 woman said, " and I always form my opinions 
 immediately," with finality. " Where is your 
 cousin Ronalds? " 
 
 " Gone ashore with Mr. Westcote," replied the 
 girl, glad to have the subject changed. " I was
 
 The Way of Belinda 
 
 crazy to go, but wasn't asked, and didn't quite 
 like to suggest it for fear I'd be in the way. I see 
 the gig coming back now," shading her eyes 
 from the glare of the sun as she looked over the 
 water. 
 
 " They've some one with them !" exclaimed 
 Leila. " Who do you suppose he is? " 
 
 " Why, Mr. Westcote's brother, you goose ! 
 What did you think he came down here for? To 
 play with us? " This struck nearer home than 
 she intended, and she hastened to say, " He 
 hasn't seen him for several years, you know." 
 
 The gig had reached the side of the yacht, and 
 the men were laughing over something as they 
 came aboard. 
 
 Reggy Westcote was presented to the ladies. 
 
 " We picked him up on the street. He'd 
 sighted the yacht and was bearing down on us," 
 explained Castleton. " Found him just as we 
 were about to drive up to Prospect, the garri- 
 son." 
 
 " Came like an obedient child," said Reggy 
 with a broad smile. " Precious glad to see you 
 get in. Been glued to the end of a telescope for 
 two days. You made pretty good time, didn't 
 you? Think I'll apply for leave of absence while 
 you stay. Would you let me come over here and
 
 274 The Way of Belinda 
 
 play? " with an interrogatory glance out of his 
 dancing blue eyes at Madame Ronalds and Cas- 
 tleton. 
 
 Madame Ronalds, at once taken with his boy- 
 ish gaiety and aristocratic face, smiled encour- 
 agement. 
 
 " Madame Ronalds, I beg that you will not 
 encourage this young brother of mine," said 
 Westcote, catching something of the manner of 
 the other; " he'll take you at your word and be- 
 come an awful bore." 
 
 " Westcote's afraid he'll have to retire to the 
 background," laughed Castleton. " Don't let it 
 trouble you, old chap. Aunt Maud and the girls 
 may desert you, but I'm still on the deck. Pretty 
 poor consolation, eh? " 
 
 " Stop your banter, Ronalds," said his aunt, 
 pleasantly, " and pull up a chair by me for young 
 Mr. Westcote." 
 
 Thus taken into favor, Reggy became an es- 
 tablished member of the party whenever he could 
 get off duty. 
 
 At his earnest solicitation, they visited the gar- 
 rison the next morning in time to see the troop- 
 ing of the colors, when the girls thought Reggy 
 looked very smart in his uniform and his queer, 
 little pointed cap, cocked on one side of his head.
 
 The Way of Belinda 275 
 
 Westcote explained to them as they drove up 
 to Prospect, that the West India regiment to 
 which his brother was then attached was colored, 
 recruited in Jamaica, but officered by whites, 
 many of whom had been detailed to do duty in 
 South Africa. 
 
 The one battalion station there was forming as 
 they reached the parade ground, and the girls 
 looked with interest at the big, powerfully built 
 men, who Belinda thought must in stature re- 
 semble the guard which was the pride of the 
 father of Frederick the Great. Their uniforms 
 made them look like the chorus in opera bouffe, 
 Leila said. Madame Ronalds admired the scar- 
 let zouave jacket over a white blouse, the baggy 
 Turkish trousers, and the picturesque turban, 
 and regretted the fact that some of the soldiers of 
 her own country did not adopt a similar uniform. 
 
 The manoeuvres over, Reggy joined them on 
 the grass, where they were standing. 
 
 " Sorry we had to keep the colors furled to- 
 day," he said, after greeting them; " have to 
 when the wind is high up here. But it detracts, 
 doesn't it?" 
 
 " Well," exclaimed Leila, " I'm glad you ex- 
 plained. I've been waiting to see the colors ever 
 since they've been here. Is that what was being
 
 276 The Way of Belinda 
 
 marched around, done up in a rubber case on a 
 great long pole? " 
 
 " Yes," he said, disliking her disrespectful 
 way of speaking of the colors. 
 
 " Heavens ! but you must have imagination to 
 salute a pole done up in rubber," she said criti- 
 cally. 
 
 He thought her " so very American," which in 
 his vocabulary meant gauche. 
 
 Belinda broke in with praise of the band, to 
 which he responded by telling her that they were 
 immensely proud of it it had won the second 
 prize at the Queen's Jubilee and that they must 
 be sure and come up to some of the concerts in 
 the Park. 
 
 " Where do you live? Are your quarters 
 near? " asked Madame Ronalds. 
 
 " Directly across from you, madame," an 
 amused twinkle in his eye, as he watched the puz- 
 zled glance she cast at a row of shabby, low 
 frame buildings opposite. 
 
 " He isn't chaffing, Madame Ronalds," the 
 brother of the young officer said. "*Most of you 
 bachelors live there, don't you, Reggy? " 
 
 " We do. They're the most ramshackle old 
 barracks in the realm. The sun and the wind and 
 the rain have great fun letting down on us. I'd
 
 The Way of Belinda 277 
 
 like to be hospitable, Madame Ronalds, and ask 
 you and the young ladies over, but you'd be 
 moved to tears at the inside anyway, my 
 mother would, wouldn't she, old chap? " grin- 
 ning at his brother. " Some day the roof'll fall in 
 on our heads, and then Her Majesty will feel 
 sorry for her soldier boys, and build us new bar- 
 racks, as she has already for the men." 
 
 The girls, who had only seen soldiering in its 
 picturesqueness at West Point, were inclined to 
 commiserate a man forced to live in such discom- 
 fort, but he jeered at their sympathy and laugh- 
 ingly told them that he enjoyed it. 
 
 " Awfully sorry my monkey Sammy isn't on 
 deck to-day he's under the weather, poor 
 monk ! Want you to see him. Brought him up 
 from Jamaica. Cleverest chap you ever saw 
 he's the pet of the whole garrison. I'll fetch him 
 out to the yacht next time I come." 
 
 " Can't you come back and lunch with us? " 
 asked Madame Ronalds, who found him a very 
 amusing boy. " My nephew would, I am sure, 
 be delighted to have you." 
 
 " Thanks, awfully," he replied, his expressive 
 eyes regretful, " but I can't I'm officer of the 
 day." 
 
 They drove back to town by a circuitous route,
 
 278 The Way of Belinda 
 
 which took them past beautiful country places, 
 and gave them glimpses of whitewashed houses 
 nestling in bowers of flowering shrubs and trees, 
 through avenues lined with oleanders. This 
 exquisite pink blossom on every side so abundant 
 colored the whole country-side. It was as if, 
 scattered by a gentle wind, pink snowflakes had 
 fallen upon the island. 
 
 Over the doors and porticos of some of the 
 houses the gorgeous borganvellier made a splen- 
 did splash of purple against the white. Along 
 the stone walls in many places, morning-glories, 
 far larger and more brilliant than any in the 
 States, ran riot; while out from damp crevices, 
 wherever the wall turned from the sun, the maid- 
 enhair fern thrust its dainty fronds. And the 
 fields of tall lilies all abloom, throwing out their 
 heavy perfume ! When Belinda sniffed the air, her 
 grandmother looked askance, and asked her how 
 she could like the excessively unpleasant smell of 
 onions. Belinda had never thought of onions, 
 but now caught the odor, and observed as they 
 drove along that fields of them were as numerous 
 as the lilies. 
 
 On the homeward drive she was very subdued, 
 though missing none of the beauties of the scene. 
 The gay-plumaged birds, which carol raptu-
 
 The Way of Belinda 279 
 
 rously all day long in that enchanting country, 
 flitting over her head, sang to her of Jerry. The 
 trees murmured of him. Flowers nodding as she 
 passed whispered his name. The whole joyous, 
 fragrant, smiling land called Jerry Jerry. 
 
 The girl compressed her lips, fearful lest the 
 name leap from her heart.
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 " Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the 
 Power with the Need." 
 
 KIPLING. 
 
 No one knew what it cost Jerry to leave the 
 Echo. He remained with it only a day after his 
 talk with Castleton. Since the wrench must be 
 made he preferred to make it quickly. The last 
 day of his work on the paper did not differ from 
 other days, except that when he turned in a story 
 about five o'clock, the city editor said he'd better 
 knock off then and get his bill. When he took his 
 hat and coat down from the peg, and knew he 
 was not coming back to hang them there a few 
 hours later, a queer sensation tugged at him, and 
 sent him swiftly down the stairs without a back- 
 ward glance. With the exception of the city 
 editor, none of the staff knew he was leaving. 
 
 The next morning he began a new life. Most 
 of the work awaiting him in the publishing house 
 with which he was now identified was office
 
 The Way of Belinda 281 
 
 work; and the close confinement, to a man ac- 
 customed to variety, and much rushing from one 
 end of the town to the other, was irksome, 
 though great was his interest in this new field. 
 Had it not been for Belinda ever present in mind 
 and heart, it is doubtful if he could have pulled 
 through the first week. Thought of her checked 
 the impulse to dash out of the new office and 
 down to the old one in Park Row. Once, long- 
 ing, impelled by habit, led him late one night 
 back to the familiar Row, where the electric 
 lights made the place like day. The nod of a 
 reporter passing and the sight of one of the Echo 
 men tearing across the square and rushing up the 
 steps of his office, as if he had a " beat," turned 
 Jerry abruptly from the scene, of which he was no 
 longer a part. 
 
 During the weeks that followed, each helped 
 to fit him in his new place, and when Belinda had 
 been a month away he could with honest satis- 
 faction feel a grasp of what daily lay before him. 
 
 Outside the office, which he left at five o'clock, 
 he now experienced the novelty of free evenings. 
 This time on his hands, he plunged into creative 
 work, his mind conceiving a hundred things; 
 some elusive, some taking definite shape. With 
 the inspiration of Belinda, he worked late into the
 
 282 The Way of Belinda 
 
 night, thoughts outrunning pen. But little that 
 he did satisfied his taste, now grown superlatively 
 critical, through ambition and impatient desire 
 to prove his worth. During this tentative 
 period much, unrealized, was begun in him. 
 
 With the days and nights fully occupied, little 
 time or inclination had he to bemoan the present. 
 Of a confident, buoyant nature, and trained in a 
 severe school to get that for which he started out, 
 he was not daunted at the thought of confronting 
 Madame Ronalds or her world, and demanding 
 that which they held high and he loved most. 
 He had no awe of " society," so called, or dismay 
 at the difference between the social positions of 
 Belinda and himself. These fine lines, sharply 
 drawn by the elect, debarring in many instances 
 their superiors in point of birth and breeding, 
 amused him, and always had, even back in old 
 Peytonville, where during his last stay one of the 
 social leaders of the town had cut him, because 
 he was " something or other low on a news- 
 paper," as he later learned. 
 
 He knew his right to qualify for a gentleman 
 and valued it; knew the worth of much he had 
 scorned as an out-of-elbow boy in Peytonville. 
 And since he had come to New York to live he 
 had never felt impoverished. Why, he owned
 
 The Way of Belinda 283 
 
 the town ! Wasn't all that was best in it open to 
 him and all its citizens ? 
 
 What he did speculate upon with some mis- 
 givings, as he thought of Belinda and the future, 
 was whether she herself realized what a different 
 life he would have to offer from that to which she 
 had been accustomed. If he pushed on with his 
 regular work to the satisfaction of the firm em- 
 ploying him, they had agreed to increase his 
 salary at the end of six months and again with 
 the beginning of the new year. They had long 
 had their eye on Blake, and were likely to give 
 place as fast as he proved his ability to push in. 
 This increase of salary, with the money he might 
 earn from outside work, though on that he did 
 not dare build yet, ought, he thought, to put him 
 in a position the following year to take a small 
 apartment and live in a modest, comfortable way. 
 But would it be a way calculated to please or 
 even content Belinda? If he obtained consent to 
 their marriage, had he any right to take her out 
 of a gay world into one of such a modest mak- 
 ing? He was a practical fellow, looking facts 
 squarely in the face. But recollection of what 
 the girl had told him, and other things of similar 
 nature Castleton had said, caused him to silence 
 these misgivings. The remembrance of her heart
 
 284 The Way of Belinda 
 
 beating against his sustained him. When the 
 number of the magazine containing his story 
 which he had spoken of to Castleton was issued, 
 he could not refrain from sending a copy to that 
 individual in Bermuda longing, if only through 
 printed pages, to talk to the girl he loved. 
 And this was Castleton's acknowledgment : 
 
 " DEAR BLAKE : Accept felicitations. Glad to 
 take off my hat to budding genius. There are 
 some who regard this bud as a full-grown blos- 
 som eclipsing all others. This Some, however, is 
 not to be considered, being of a biased mind. She 
 knows it by heart, I verily believe, and fully ex- 
 pected to see the magazine vanish after it got in 
 her hands, but she didn't hide her treasure, not 
 she! She left it about conspicuously on deck, 
 where an innocent woman fell into the snare and 
 inadvertently came across it while idly turning 
 the pages. Knew she'd struck it when she put 
 the magazine down, but later here's news to 
 warm your heart! When no one was on deck 
 but me supposed to be asleep she gingerly 
 took it up again, and I'd stake my life on it, read 
 it to the finish. 
 
 " We return in a fortnight. All well, and go-
 
 The Way of Belinda 285 
 
 ing something of a pace the girls. They find 
 the officers rather fetching. Some naval chaps 
 here, stationed at the Dock Yard rest off with 
 squadron on a cruise but Reggy Westcote 
 tries to get a monopoly of the girls for the army. 
 Great boy, Reggy! He'd amuse you. Believe 
 he's in love already with Belinda. In a fair way, 
 the little minx, to have her head turned. Fancy, 
 though, I'll bring her back to you. There's a 
 look in her eyes, Blake. I know what it means. 
 So would Aunt Maud if she'd look. 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " CASTLETON." 
 
 Castleton, not being given to letter-writing, 
 this was the first news Blake had received from 
 Bermuda, and he eagerly devoured every word, 
 albeit some of it choked a bit in the swallowing. 
 It was very comforting to hear about that look 
 in Belinda's eyes. Ah, how well he knew it ! but 
 when he thought of all those gay young officers 
 flocking around her, he wanted to wipe the whole 
 British army off the face of the earth. 
 
 He took the letter down to Rivington Street 
 and showed it to Miss Lovering. She read it 
 with an amused smile,
 
 286 The Way of Belinda 
 
 " How like him it sounds !" she commented. 
 
 " Yes," remarked Blake. " They seem to be 
 enjoying themselves." 
 
 Something in his voice struck her alert ear. 
 
 " You mind the officers? " she asked lightly, 
 not wishing to take it seriously. 
 
 " Mind? " savagely. " Of course I mind. I 
 hate the whole outfit. I'd like to choke every 
 man who talks to her who has privileges denied 
 me. Can't you just see them all hanging around 
 her ? I can, confound 'em !" 
 
 " Perhaps they don't all see her just as you 
 do," she suggested, greatly amused. 
 
 " Do you suppose it's possible for a man to 
 know Belinda and not love her? " he demanded 
 impetuously. " That Reggy Westcote there 
 he's only one of them." 
 
 " You wouldn't have her doleful, sitting around 
 in the dumps, would you? " 
 
 " Of course I wouldn't," fervently. " I'd have 
 her have a rattling good time all the fun with 
 the officers or any other confounded men she 
 can," contradictorily. " But don't you see how 
 I long to be one of them? " looking appealingly 
 into her kind eyes. 
 
 " Of course you do," in a voice replete with 
 understanding.
 
 The Way of Belinda 287 
 
 " I miss her so !" he said. " And when I think 
 how far away she is, and how far away Madame 
 Ronalds may still keep her when they return, it 
 drives me mad. I want to see her, to talk to her, 
 to have her. I must, I will !" 
 
 " Don't do anything rash," warned Esther, 
 startled by the look in his face. " You'd be 
 sorry." 
 
 " Do I look very desperate? " he asked, with a 
 smile, reading her thoughts. 
 
 " You look very tired," she said sympatheti- 
 cally. " Is your new work taking it out of 
 you?" 
 
 " Not a bit," straightening up, heartily 
 ashamed of his outburst; "I'm getting on fa- 
 mously." 
 
 He at once made inquiry about her work, and 
 then talked for some time of East Side matters, 
 with which he was now out of touch. When he 
 asked about Janie, she told him the child was 
 slowly regaining her strength; that she had sent 
 her home the week before, in spite of a desire to 
 keep her; that she had thought of keeping her in- 
 definitely, taking her to live with her, but at the 
 first intimation of this a howl of protest had gone 
 up from Susie, who refused to be separated from 
 her sister. She spoke further of Susie, who, she
 
 288 The Way of Belinda 
 
 said, was an uncommon child, with a deep, un- 
 selfish nature in her lank little body, and such a 
 born talent for nursing that she was already 
 speculating over the child's future, determined, if 
 possible, to make the years tend toward giving 
 her an education that would result in a nurse's 
 training school. She went back to her own girl- 
 hood, and told him of her longing for such a 
 vocation, and how, through Susie, she might in 
 the years to come see some of her own aspira- 
 tions satisfied. 
 
 With his restless heart eased by this pleasant 
 hour with Miss Levering, Blake went out into a 
 night so luminous that he looked up to see the 
 moon shining high in the heavens, its effulgence 
 wrapping the city in mystic light. He walked 
 along to the Bowery, and instead of striking 
 across town and up to his lodgings in old Green- 
 wich, took a Fourth Avenue car, and by a series 
 of transfers skirted Central Park, which he 
 entered from the west side, at Seventy-second 
 Street. 
 
 He had an intense love of the Park a feeling 
 of proprietorship in it. From the beginning of 
 his life in New York it had appealed to him 
 strongly as a place where on his off days and 
 at odd times when he was in its vicinity he
 
 The Way of Belinda 289 
 
 could snatch a respite from the turmoil of the 
 town. 
 
 He loved it in all its phases and at all seasons. 
 In winter its spectral aspect; in summer its rich 
 luxuriance of verdure; in autumn its wealth of 
 color and drift of swirling leaves. But best of all 
 he loved the spring, when Mother Nature, born 
 again a child, shyly peeped from earth and trees 
 and shrubs. And at all times he preferred it when 
 without its human element. For this reason he 
 frequented it early in the morning, when he 
 shared it with the birds, and late at night, when 
 no sound broke the stillness. 
 
 The witchery of moonlight on the lakes and 
 trees was not more fascinating to him than the 
 wet nights in summer, when the dark green 
 foliage under electric lights glistened as though 
 touched by a fairy wand. Then the earth had a 
 damp, pungent smell, good to take into one's 
 nostrils. 
 
 He had many favorite places in the Park, and 
 bound at a late hour to-night for one of them, 
 left the highway and struck across a bridge and 
 up a narrow, winding path, where the rustic rail 
 fence and tangle of undergrowth fostered the 
 illusion that the roaring city was far away. Out 
 of this path and by way of another one, he
 
 290 The Way of Belinda 
 
 fancied known only to himself and the Park- 
 keepers, Blake reached a fence, which he climbed, 
 dropping into the grass-grown road that skirts 
 one of the reservoirs. This invasion of a terri- 
 tory bristling with " No trespassing " signs de- 
 lighted the boy in him. 
 
 It was good to feel the grass under his feet, and 
 as he strolled along Belinda wound into his con- 
 sciousness and the Park made music to him.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 " The true wisdom is to be always seasonable, 
 and to change with a good grace in changing cir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 STEVENSON. 
 
 RONALDS CASTLETON, writing to Blake that 
 the girls were " going a pace," did not exagger- 
 ate. 
 
 They made their debut in Bermuda society 
 through the consul's wife, a friend of Castleton's, 
 who with her husband had been several years on 
 the island and was popular with the people. She 
 started them on a round of golf and tennis teas 
 among the hospitable Bermudians and the many 
 English there in one official capacity or another. 
 Lady EllswortK, the governor's wife, entertained 
 them at Government House, and in the absence 
 of her husband, the admiral, who was off on a 
 short cruise with the squadron, Lady Blakesley, a 
 near neighbor of the Westcotes at home in Eng- 
 land, did the honors of the Admiralty. Courtesies
 
 292 The Way of Belinda 
 
 were returned by a series of luncheons and din- 
 ners on the yacht. 
 
 Madame Ronalds, who had not anticipated 
 these gaieties, was delighted to find here such 
 charming society. She chaperoned the girls 
 everywhere, and greatly enjoyed the army and 
 navy element, which, being English, she ap- 
 proved; in her own country looking down on 
 both branches of the Service. 
 
 Belinda's ready acquiescence in everything 
 suggested pleased her and disposed her to be 
 amiable toward the girl, with whom her relations, 
 superficially, had never been more agreeable than 
 now. Much of this was due to Ronalds Castle- 
 ton in close proximity, to whom it was impossible 
 to be other than in a genial mood. He made an 
 atmosphere. 
 
 He, too, was enjoying Bermuda, though per- 
 sonally declining half the invitations showered on 
 them. He liked to loll in a big wicker chair on 
 the deck of the yacht and watch across the water 
 the lazy town blinking in the sun. At night, 
 when lights twinkled from the many islands in 
 the harbor, they reminded him of a lot of little 
 imps winking at him. 
 
 The storms which came with such violence in
 
 The Way of Belinda 293 
 
 that semi-tropical country delighted him, par- 
 ticularly the wind. When on a day of partial 
 sunshine it lashed the harbor into whitecaps and 
 drove the water up against the shores of all the 
 islands, the spray rose high, tossed vari-colored 
 off the waves. At such a time the translucent 
 water changed to a thousand shades of blues, 
 violets and greens, the waves prismatic in the sun, 
 which, playing hide-and-seek through fleecy, 
 cumulous clouds, threw wonderful shadows 
 across a shifting scene. One moment the dock- 
 yard, a mile away, at the entrance of the harbor, 
 would be illumined against the sea deep indigo; 
 the next, the sun would vanish, wind increase, a 
 squall come tearing up the harbor, and the whole 
 scene would be shut out in a deluge of rain. Be- 
 fore the chairs on deck could be stacked the har- 
 bor would be smiling again, all the little islands 
 dimpling in the sun. 
 
 These sudden storms sometimes played havoc 
 with the social festivities, so largely of an out-of- 
 door character. One day when a picnic had been 
 arranged for the Americans on the South Shore, 
 where the ocean washes over sand of pink and 
 gold, the rain catching them, they took shelter in 
 the caves, so numerous all through the great coral
 
 294 The Way of Belinda 
 
 cliffs on that side of the island. One cave not 
 holding all the party, Leila with Westcote ran to 
 another near by. 
 
 "Do you mind it the wet?" he said when 
 they had scrambled in under cover. 
 
 "No," breathlessly. 
 
 " Our girls wouldn't, they're used to it, but 
 you American girls are different," he said, help- 
 ing her to arrange herself on the rocks, for the 
 cave was so low they could not stand in it. 
 
 " How are we different ? " asked Leila, rather 
 chagrined, for she flattered herself on having 
 been successfully patterned on the English 
 model. 
 
 But the man said he didn't quite know how to 
 explain the difference, unless it was that it seemed 
 to him American girls, in spite of athletic ten- 
 dencies, were more fragile. 
 
 " You wouldn't call me fragile, would you ? " 
 asked Leila, who liked to keep the conversation 
 personal. * 
 
 " You look it," he said in his serious way, " but 
 I don't think I'm likely to believe it of a girl 
 whom I saw make a hundred-yard drive on. the 
 golf links yesterday." 
 
 She looked pleased. 
 
 " I don't feel as if I'd half known you until we
 
 The Way of Belinda 295 
 
 came down here, Miss Denbeigh," he said pres- 
 ently, his words following a train of thought. 
 
 " People never get to know one another in New 
 York in the season," she replied, in not a bad 
 imitation of Belinda, whom she had been study- 
 ing. " We seem to get on very well," ventured 
 the old Leila. 
 
 " Don't we, by Jove !" he said, as if he had 
 found the solution of something. " I suppose it is 
 partly because you like to ride some of my hob- 
 bies. We first hit it off on East Side matters. 
 You took me down there, do you recollect? " 
 
 Well she remembered; so did he, flushing at 
 the recollection that it was she who presented 
 him to Esther. 
 
 " I've learned a great deal since then," she said 
 with more earnestness than he realized. 
 
 " So have I," he replied, looking out through 
 the rain across the water. "I've learned a deal 
 and unlearned more. I've made a new begin- 
 ning," bringing his eyes back to her face with a 
 scrutiny that made her blush and say, not know- 
 ing how to read him : 
 
 " I think I hear the others calling. Shan't we 
 go to Madame Ronalds? I think it has nearly 
 stopped raining." 
 
 " Certainly/'offering his hand to help her rise.
 
 296 The Way of Belinda 
 
 She pondered over this talk, but did not repeat 
 it to Belinda, much as she would have liked the 
 girl's interpretation of that " I've made a new 
 beginning." She and Belinda had not discussed 
 Westcote since they started out, when Belinda 
 had tried to assume the manner of one knowing 
 nothing. In this way she had gradually relieved 
 Leila of the embarrassment which at first was 
 painfully evident to Belinda when she and Leila 
 and Westcote came together. Appreciating Be- 
 linda's attitude, Leila strove hard to be less 
 self-conscious, and being now honestly in love, 
 instinctively studied the object of her affections, 
 and in so doing for the first time in her life forgot 
 herself. 
 
 Looking on out of the corner of her eye, Be- 
 linda thought the affair was progressing favor- 
 ably, and began to believe there must be some 
 truth in the story that hearts are often caught on 
 the rebound. Certainly there was much in propin- 
 quity. When Westcote once or twice had evinced 
 unmistakable signs of jealousy of the officers, 
 Belinda laughed in her sleeve and then wondered 
 if, supposing she hadn't loved Jerry, he would 
 have gone off and got interested right away in 
 some one else. She didn't believe it and she 
 didn't Relieve she would have liked it if he had,
 
 The Way of Belinda 297 
 
 and then smiled at this illogical reasoning, for 
 how could she suppose she might not have loved 
 him when she did! 
 
 It was hard for the girl, these weeks of sus- 
 pense and separation, during which she was ex- 
 pected to be gay and light of heart, and often it 
 seemed as if she could not endure the strain of 
 making herself agreeable to a lot of people who 
 did not interest her. Reggy Westcote was her 
 chosen companion; he and Sammy, his monkey, 
 turned many an inward tear to laughter. Hap- 
 pily for her laughter sprang easily. 
 
 As Madame Ronalds detested sight-seeing 
 quite as much as her nephew, the girls, who were 
 never permitted to leave the yacht unchaperoned, 
 did little of Bermuda in the tourist way. In driv- 
 ing to the homes of the people who were enter- 
 taining them, however, they saw much of the 
 island, and Leila, camera in hand, was kept busy 
 snap-shotting a country every turn and corner of 
 which makes a picture. 
 
 One day Westcote and Reggy lunched the 
 party at Belle Terre, a beautiful terraced place 
 sloping down to the water and famous for its 
 French cooking. There, under the personal 
 supervision of madame, the proprietress, who 
 smiled benignly on them, they lunched in a bam-
 
 298 The Way of Belinda 
 
 boo arbor overrun with borganvellier. Pictu- 
 resquely dotting the terrace were similar arbors 
 of varying size and structure; some flower laden, 
 others topped with aviaries filled with tropical 
 birds of vivid plumage. So Japanese was this deli- 
 cate, brilliant, flowery framework that Belinda 
 quite resented it that the little darkey who waited 
 on them was not a geisha girl. 
 
 But what most interested Belinda was the ser- 
 vice in the garrison church and the band concert 
 afterward, to which Reggy actually persuaded 
 Madame Ronalds, the Sunday before their return, 
 to take them. To the girl there was something 
 fascinatingly incongruous in the pomp and cere- 
 mony of the service in the wooden structure, re- 
 sembling a long shed, which served as church, 
 and never would have been so recognized by the 
 stranger but for the sign " church " painted on 
 one end to designate it. 
 
 The congregation was almost wholly of the 
 garrison, headed in the front pew by the military 
 governor of the islands in full uniform and Lady 
 Ellsworth ; back of them the admiral's wife, with 
 her children; back of them the colonel of the 
 regiment, with his family; then the married offi- 
 cers of lower rank, with their families ; and so on 
 down the line until the file was reached, the crowd
 
 The Way of Belinda 299 
 
 of black soldiers in their gay regimentals com- 
 pletely filling the rear of the edifice. Grouped to- 
 gether on one side, near the front, were the 
 bachelor officers, brilliant in their scarlet coats and 
 equipments. 
 
 In the chancel, rudely simple in its appoint- 
 ments, a young priest intoned the service, assisted 
 when required by picked members of the band who 
 formed the choir. Through the open windows 
 blew a soft summer breeze, and out in the 
 branches of the cedars a gorgeous cardinal bird 
 added his note to the song of praise. 
 
 After service all adjourned to the garrison 
 park, where, on the lawn, the officers and their 
 families received their friends, while scattered 
 about under the trees, near the bandstand, sat the 
 colored soldiers. Here for an hour or more the 
 band played, and the enraptured Belinda for the 
 first time heard sung the far-famed " Absent- 
 Minded Beggar." The poem, which she had 
 heard read in many New York drawing-rooms 
 during the past winter, took on new significance, 
 heard in this British atmosphere, where the latest 
 news from South Africa, brought by the New 
 York steamers once in five days, was the all-ab- 
 sorbing topic. To hear these soldiers voice Kip- 
 ling's eloquence and the music of Sullivan under
 
 300 The Way of Belinda 
 
 such circumstances was something long to be re- 
 membered. 
 
 The following day, late in the afternoon, 
 some hours after the arrival of the New York 
 steamer, Reggy was seen being rowed out to the 
 yacht, wildly gesticulating as he approached. 
 
 " I'm ordered off !" he shouted across the water. 
 And as he drew near : " I'm to report at once 
 
 ordered to join the in the Transvaal ! Leave 
 
 on the next ship sail from New York. Isn't it 
 bully old luck !" in his rapid, jerky but charming 
 voice, as he came on deck. 
 
 All joined in congratulations. 
 
 " When does the Trinidad go back ? " asked 
 Castleton. 
 
 " Sails again Friday." 
 
 " Come with us," said the other man. " You'd 
 gain time and save the ladies here from mal-de- 
 mer." 
 
 " Jove ! You mean it? " 
 
 " Believe I do." 
 
 "Sammy, too?" 
 
 " Sammy, too." 
 
 " Here's to the Union Jack and the Stars and 
 Stripes forever," cried Reggy, waving his cap.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 " She gave him more than she knew of; a pres- 
 ent that kept its heart beating into the future; a 
 height of sky, a belief in nobility permanent 
 through manhood down to age." 
 
 MEREDITH. 
 
 NEITHER the fascinations of Reggy Westcote 
 nor the antics of Sammy, the monkey, saved two 
 of the ladies from mal-de-mer on the homeward 
 trip of the Iris, which proved far worse than the 
 downward one. Off Cape Hatteras they ran into 
 a severe gale, and lay to for a day in a rolling 
 sea. During the night the storm rose with such 
 violence that the yacht quivered and groaned like 
 a living thing. Terrified, Madame Ronalds 
 roused the girls, and all three, dressing, went into 
 the cabin, where they found the men. 
 
 Castleton, grave but imperturbable as ever, 
 sought to soothe the nerves of his aunt, whose 
 fright reacted on the girls, each in her way af- 
 fected. Belinda went through the night with set 
 face and calm demeanor, sustained in the most
 
 302 The Way of Belinda 
 
 awful moments by a look at her cousin Ronalds, 
 in whose continued reassurance that they'd pull 
 through all right she had implicit faith. Leila, 
 alarmed past all self-control, clung to Westcote, 
 expecting every moment to be her last. With her 
 hand fast in his he told her that he loved her and 
 soothed her as best he could. He poured such 
 balm into her hungry heart that her soul cried 
 out to God to preserve them through that awful 
 night and not wrest her from happiness so near. 
 
 The Iris, two days overdue, came steaming into 
 New York harbor at sunrise on May day. 
 
 Late that afternoon, with a flourish of trum- 
 pets, Mrs. Denbeigh announced the engagement 
 of her daughter, Leila, to Mr. Gerard Albert 
 Edward Westcote, the prospective earl of Des- 
 borough. 
 
 The following morning, escorted by Castleton, 
 the girls went over to the Jersey shore to see 
 Reggy Westcote, accompanied at the last moment 
 by his brother Gerard, sail for England. 
 
 Sammy did not go. He was left behind as a 
 present to Castleton, in appreciation of that in- 
 dividual's many courtesies to Reggy. Castleton 
 kept the monkey awhile at his apartments, but 
 he became such a nuisance that he offered him to 
 Leila. Mrs. Denbeigh refusing to allow him in
 
 The Way of Belinda 303 
 
 the house, Sammy was taken out by Castleton's 
 man to the Zoo, in the Bronx, where he now 
 disports himself with others of the " banderlog " 
 people. 
 
 They had been at home ten days before 
 Madame Ronalds gave any indication of turning 
 her mind to that which in Belinda's was upper- 
 most. 
 
 These ten probatory days, when she was denied 
 even the consolation of intercourse with Esther, 
 were hardest of all to the girl. To be again in 
 the same city with Jerry, so near and yet so aloof, 
 was torture so exquisite that at last she drooped 
 under it. Madame Ronalds saw the look in the 
 girl's eyes ; knew what it meant. She had seen it 
 in the girl's mother before her. 
 
 One day, when she was alone with her nephew, 
 who was constantly dropping in to bid Belinda be 
 patient, she said : 
 
 " Do you see this man Blake, Ronalds ? " 
 
 " Frequently." 
 
 There was a pause, which he thought it wise 
 not to break, and then she continued : 
 
 " My business affairs are in wretched sHape," 
 wearily. " I have just come up from my law- 
 yer's. He thinks it possible to straighten them 
 out somewhat in time, but at best it's dubious
 
 304 The Way of Belinda 
 
 they have been bad so long. Belinda should 
 marry money. She owes it to me to do so. Even 
 Reggy Westcote would be preferable to an im- 
 pecunious reporter." 
 
 " Blake's not an impecunious reporter," quietly 
 replied Castleton ; " he's a man with a little prop- 
 ierty, which he's now devoting to the education of 
 his brother, and a good earning capacity, which 
 he's turning to account in a publishing house." 
 
 " That prints his stories, I suppose, in part pay- 
 ment of a salary," disparagingly. " I've often 
 fancied much of the trash one sees in the maga- 
 zines got published in some such way." 
 
 " You've fancied something far from fact. All 
 first-class magazines,Aunt Maud, pay good prices 
 for their matter. Blake has no business connec- 
 tion whatever with the publishers of the magazine 
 in which you saw his story. I happen to know 
 that he was paid seventy-five dollars for that par- 
 ticular piece of work." 
 
 She looked impressed, but incredulous. 
 
 He went on slowly. " If you're bothered about 
 money, Aunt Maud, let me help you out. Now, 
 don't resent it. It's foolish. What's a man for 
 if not to help his womenkind." 
 
 For the moment disarmed, she said : " I'm 
 swamped in debt and there's Belinda's trous-
 
 The Way of Belinda 305 
 
 seau. I gave carte blanche to the dressmakers, 
 and half the things are ordered in Paris. When 
 I suspended work until we returned from Ber- 
 muda they looked suspicious. When I counter- 
 mand the orders they will be down on me like a 
 pack of wolves." She seemed to age before him 
 as she talked. 
 
 " Leave the trousseau to me," he replied 
 quickly. " I'll fix the dressmakers." 
 
 " Mrs. Denbeigh might take some of the things 
 off my hands for Leila," she said speculatively. 
 " Leila is about Belinda's figure, and she is to be 
 married at their country place in August. But I 
 don't think I care to ask any favors of Mrs. Den- 
 beigh. I suppose " her thoughts diverted into 
 another channel " on the strength of Leila's 
 alliance with the British aristocracy, her mother 
 will attempt Newport another season." 
 
 " Undoubtedly," said the man, who took no in- 
 terest in the Denbeighs; "but don't give your- 
 self the annoyance of discussing trousseaus with 
 that woman. Leave it to me. And if money is 
 the chief factor in the situation, let me come to 
 the fore. I'd like the sensation," lightly, " of be- 
 ing useful as well as ornamental." 
 
 " Ronalds," she said presently, when he was 
 about to go, " I'm not prepared to invite that man
 
 306 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Blake to my house I have not gone as far as 
 that. But I'd like an opportunity to observe him 
 and, if you like, you may invite him to meet us at 
 your apartments." 
 
 And thus it came about that after a separation 
 of two months Belinda and Blake met in Ronalds 
 Castleton's studio. 
 
 No greater test of self-control could have been 
 put upon them. 
 
 With his customary tact, Castleton made the 
 party large enough to avoid a proximity so close 
 as to be embarrassing, yet small enough to give 
 his aunt an opportunity for the observation she 
 desired. An informal chafing-dish supper, at 
 which Castleton cooked the piece de resistance, 
 was preceded, on the part of the guests, by some 
 impromptu songs and recitations, and it was dur- 
 ing one of these that Belinda, who, with her 
 grandmother, had arrived early, saw Blake enter. 
 
 And he saw her. 
 
 Across the room their eyes shot greeting. 
 
 As he stood by the door, waiting for the girl 
 who was singing to finish, he was conscious of 
 having lived through a similar scene before ; and, 
 stealing surreptitious glances at Belinda, recalled 
 her as he had seen her that other time in the 
 studio, when from afar he had watched her under
 
 The Way of Belinda 307 
 
 the spell of Vrodi's weird, insistent Hungarian 
 strains. 
 
 No music had power to cast a spell over her to- 
 night, and Belinda heeded not the song the girl 
 was singing. It was drowned in the loud beating 
 of her heart, which it seemed to her the whole 
 room must hear. 
 
 When the singer finished and Blake crossed 
 to where she sat beside her grandmother, sur- 
 rounded by several people, impulsively she rose 
 and put out her hand, her knees trembling under 
 her, her back stiffening in a supreme effort at self- 
 control. 
 
 In a quick clasp he took her hand and dropped 
 it as formally they said how d'ye do. She with 
 head erect and eyes shining turned to her grand- 
 mother and said simply, " Nana, this is Mr. 
 Blake." 
 
 The man and woman bowed, and the woman, 
 indicating a vacant chair, asked him to sit down 
 and join them. Castleton, observing, strolled 
 along and greeted Blake heartily. Then he casu- 
 ally suggested to Belinda that she cross the room 
 with him to examine a bit of tapestry he had just 
 picked up and thought rather a good thing. 
 
 They went off, leaving Blake, with no irresolu- 
 tion in his manner, talking to Madame Ronalds
 
 308 The Way of Belinda 
 
 with that simple directness so charming in him. 
 When Castleton brought her back to her grand- 
 mother that uncertain individual was in pleasant 
 impersonal conversation with him. 
 
 Later in the evening, Castleton so arranged it 
 that Belinda should be allowed to talk with Blake 
 alone. 
 
 In a corner of the room, with others close about 
 them, Jerry told Belinda that which most she 
 longed to hear: that Madame Ronalds, passing 
 him a few moments before, had stopped and given 
 him permission to call. 
 
 Raised to rapture by this entering wedge, in 
 voices low, eyes saying all that tongue could not, 
 they talked of the long weeks of separation. 
 Eagerly she listened as he touched swiftly on 
 Miss Levering, " Lady Redbreast," his work 
 on the completion of another story. At this she 
 broke into praise of the one she had read, which 
 she thought clever beyond the writing of all 
 others. But he, half smiling, shook his head, and 
 then in lowered voice said that with such inspira- 
 tion there was nothing great he could not try to 
 do. 
 
 Then she told him of Bermuda, the gaieties, 
 the officers, to whom she had to be nice, while 
 longing to go off alone to think of him. Dwelt
 
 The Way of Belinda 309 
 
 on the beauty of the place, its unending variety 
 and charm, and how all the while she had 
 thought what an ideal spot it would be to be 
 happy in. 
 
 " For a honeymoon, Belinda ? " he whispered. 
 
 " Perhaps," she softly said, with a bewitching 
 blush and downward glance. 
 
 Then they talked briefly of the future, which 
 in rapid sentences he sketched, and playfully he 
 warned her, with an outward glance about the 
 room, that the life to which he was leading her 
 was not like this. She nodded, and with a sig- 
 nificant gesture half turned her back upon the 
 room as she told him, eyes and lips, that his way 
 was hers. 
 
 " Ever since I've been grown," she said ear- 
 nestly, " I have wanted to do something, be some- 
 thing. Don't you see, Jerry dear," she murmured 
 softly, " you're giving me a vocation ? " 
 
 " I ? " he asked, his gray eyes puzzled, his 
 thought for once lagging. 
 
 " I'm going to be your helpmate, dear, as well 
 as inspiration," she whispered, bending nearer. 
 " While you work I shall work, too, studying to 
 know how best to help you. Who knows," 
 lightly, with swift change of manner, " but 
 what I may get clever, too ? You'd better beware,
 
 310 The Way of Belinda 
 
 Jerry," she warned playfully; "I may out-dis- 
 tance you !" 
 
 " You shall always walk first, sweetheart," his 
 whole being vibrating to the chords she touched. 
 
 " No," in a tremulous whisper; " I shall follow 
 you." 
 
 For Belinda was one who, in the full perfection 
 of her womanhood, would be content to reign, not 
 rule.
 
 MAR o 4 1991 
 
 2 WKS 
 
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