ma 
 
 Jby 
 H.C.CHATFIELD-TAYLOR 

 
 3 56
 
 THE IDLE BORN
 
 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 A COMEDY OF MANNERS 
 
 BY 
 
 H. C. CHATFIELD-TAYLOR 
 
 Author of '" Two Women and a fool," '''The Land of tht 
 Castanet," "The Vice of Fools,'" "An American Peeress," etc. 
 
 IN COLLABORATION WITH 
 
 REGINALD DE KOVEN 
 
 HERBERT S. STONE AND COMPANY 
 
 ELDRIDGE COURT, CHICAGO 
 
 MDCCCC
 
 COPYRIGHT, IQOO, BY 
 HERBERT 3. STONE & CO
 
 A HOMILY 
 
 When Isaac Watts wrote his time- 
 worn lines about the mischief Satan 
 finds for idle hands he perhaps found 
 his inspiration in the ' ' smart society " 
 of the day. Certainly the courts of the 
 Restoration and George the First pre 
 sented a spectacle of depravity which 
 might even shock a far more liberal- 
 minded person than a non-conformist 
 minister. 
 
 The point of view, however, of the 
 author of Psalms and Hymns must 
 have been restricted by his opportuni 
 ties. The Sabbath lighting of White 
 hall, and the sounding of the tabors for 
 the weekly ' ' brawl, " or a boyish glimpse 
 through the trees of Bird Cage walk of 
 the Merry Monarch romping with his 
 spaniels and greyhounds and followed 
 
 2229124
 
 ii A HOMILY 
 
 apace by a bevy of laughing beauties, 
 whose reputations were as highly col 
 ored as their cheeks, may have been 
 sufficient to impress the mind of the 
 youthful Puritan with the shallowness 
 of Vanity Fair. Or, again, when grown 
 to manhood, the pastor of Mark Lane 
 may have received his impressions of 
 the gross and vulgar Hanoverian court 
 while passing in his humble wanderings 
 the country drive, called Hyde Park, 
 where the ladies drove round and round 
 in a cloud of dust, singing, laughing, 
 tickling each other and munching cheese 
 cakes and China oranges. He might 
 even have sauntered to the river side, 
 and beheld a royal barge, with its 
 rowers in scarlet jackets, bearing a party 
 of pleasure-seeking dames and attend 
 ant Maccaronis to Marble Hill or 
 Twickingham. A glimpse only of gay, 
 laughing ladies in slouch hats and falling 
 mantles, of gentlemen in puce-colored 
 coats, with cocked hats, and old point
 
 A HOMILY iii 
 
 lace dark as coffee water could make it; 
 but enough to cause the good man to 
 shudder and offer a prayer for the souls 
 of the idle born. 
 
 Of the lives of those fine people 
 of their evil ways the Rev. Issac Watts 
 could know but little, except as the 
 scandals of the court were whispered in 
 distorted form, from mouth to mouth, 
 or pointed by innuendo in the pages of 
 the Tatler. 
 
 Society then was the court, and the 
 court was to all intents and purposes 
 the government. The chief mischief 
 provided by Satan for the idle was the 
 means to barter place and emolument, 
 the power to injure their fellow men. 
 People have not changed appreciably 
 since then, for human nature alters 
 little, but in the never ending conflict 
 between the powers of good and evil 
 the good is slowly but surely advancing, 
 and were Isaac Watts to return to earth 
 to-day he would find many changes
 
 iv A HOMILY 
 
 since he retired from the whirl of Lon 
 don town to the quiet of Theobold's 
 Newington. There are still good men 
 to pray for the souls of the idle born, 
 but the gay and frivolous have been 
 shorn of their power. A Chesterfield 
 may still loiter over the tea cups in my 
 lady's drawing-room, or a Maryborough 
 fight for his country in foreign lands, 
 but the class to which Isaac Watts be 
 longed the Commoners of England, 
 the people of America are now the 
 power which governs. Ruling only it 
 self, society has sunk to the position of 
 the court of a Bourbon Pretender. It 
 keeps up its forms and pretenses; it 
 bows and scrapes, while the world moves 
 on, turning, perchance, to laugh or 
 point a moral. 
 
 Shorn of its laces and tambour work, 
 its cocked hats and gossamer stockings, 
 society becomes a somewhat shoddy 
 manikin, with little distinction and less 
 romance. There is much in the age and
 
 A HOMILY v 
 
 the opportunity. When Lady Shrews 
 bury disguises herself as a page and holds 
 her lover's horse while he runs her hus 
 band through the heart, it is romance. 
 When Mrs. Van Cortland Street di 
 vorces her husband to-day and marries 
 some nincompoop to-morrow, it is 
 merely rot used in the sense of cor 
 ruption and decay. The morality in 
 both instances is much the same, with 
 the advantage for the modern husband 
 if it be an advantage that his heart 
 remains physically intact. 
 
 Nothing, however, is all bad. Even 
 society has its reason for existing, best 
 summed up in the nursery saw that 
 "all work and no play makes Jack a 
 dull boy. " When society becomes the 
 playground for the statesman, the writer 
 and the painter when amid the lights 
 and the prattle there is an occasional 
 breathing spell for the idle to stop and 
 listen to the words of intellect and 
 profit thereby, then society fulfills a
 
 vi A HOMILY 
 
 useful purpose. In the days of Isaac 
 Watts the idle born were depraved, 
 more so, no doubt, than we of to-day, 
 but they wrote verses which were credit 
 able and letters which were readable, 
 and vied with each other in sallies of 
 wit and repartee. There was Halifax 
 to play Maecenas and Addison to profit 
 thereby ; there was Pope to write verses 
 to ' ' Wortley's Eyes, " and Lady Mary 
 herself to love and quarrel with and 
 make the twisted little poet confess that 
 she and languid Hervey had too much 
 wit even for him. To be sure, we have 
 our poets in society to-day, but they 
 are managed by lecture bureaus, and 
 when they write verses to ' ' Wortley's " 
 or anybody's eyes, the copyright is care 
 fully secured on both sides of the At 
 lantic. 
 
 If the idle no longer vie with each 
 other in making verses, a new ambition, 
 typical of the day, has arisen. It is to 
 lead in extravagance. To be extrava-
 
 A HOMILY vii 
 
 gant one must be rich, and thus money 
 has become the ' ' open sesame " and wit 
 has been driven to the wall. Society 
 naturally has suffered not in morality, 
 perhaps, but in distinction and with 
 the new ambition, the attendant vices 
 of envy and malice have come to the 
 fore. This may be dangerously near 
 preaching and there is an old proverb 
 about people who live in glass houses 
 but, even at the risk of having the 
 stones hurled back with redoubled fury, 
 one cannot help wishing that those of 
 us who waste our time amid the prattle 
 and the lights of modern life might 
 have a little more charity for each 
 other; might strive for some better end 
 than to outdo our neighbors in extrava 
 gance ; might realize that women should 
 be judged by some higher standard than 
 their wardrobes men by some finer at 
 tribute than a bank account. One can't 
 help thinking that the modern world of 
 fashion with its splendid trappings and
 
 viii A HOMILY 
 
 its clink of gold is, after all, a tawdry 
 little sham, where the finer sentiments 
 are crushed, and the all-pervading spirit 
 is extravagance. Perhaps we are no 
 better let us hope we are no worse 
 than the idle born of other days; but 
 what do we amount to after all? The 
 world moves on without us, while good 
 men like Isaac Watts silently pray for 
 our betterment. 
 
 The story of The Idle Born which 
 follows is a satire of this little world of 
 fashion. The canvas is small because 
 the people are small. If the talk is 
 fatuous, and the actions at times con 
 temptible, it is because to be straight 
 forward and outspoken is to be serious, 
 and that is fatal in society. 
 
 Perhaps Lord Chesterfield was right 
 when he said to his son: "Throw 
 away none of your time upon those 
 trivial futile books published by idle, 
 necessitous authors, for the amusement 
 of idle and ignorant readers." How-
 
 A HOMILY ix 
 
 ever, the life of the idle exists; it is 
 shallow and petty, no doubt, but in its 
 present form it is a product of the 
 times. If Beau Nash no longer rides 
 Godiva-like upon a cow his prototype 
 does some equally foolish thing; if there 
 is no longer a King of Bath, to decree 
 that the music of the Pump-room shall 
 stop at eleven, there are kings and 
 queens of other places to keep it going 
 until dawn, and "Satan finds some 
 mischief still for idle hands to do. " 
 
 H. C. C-T.
 
 PART I 
 ONE EVENING
 
 I 
 
 They are so linked in friendship. 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 Double drawing-rooms, with stiff- 
 backed chairs and damask curtains,were 
 not to Dickie Willing's taste. They 
 might be the natural concomitants of 
 Washington Square and a Dutch ances 
 try, but in his opinion they were decid 
 edly out of date. 
 
 "If there's a dinner on, we'll wait," 
 he said, glancing about the room with 
 a bored air. 
 
 " There's only Mr. Schuyler's nephew, 
 sir, and Mr. Wendell," answered the 
 imperturbable servant who had shown 
 him in. 
 
 "Then say that Herr von Bulowitz 
 3
 
 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 and Mr. Willing are here," Dickie con 
 tinued, indifferently. 
 
 "Very good, sir," and the man van 
 ished, just as a little red-faced German, 
 with the proportions of a pegtop, 
 stumbled over the door-sill, almost 
 dropping a violin case he bore tenderly 
 in his arms. He had little pig-like eyes 
 and his hair was gray and fluffy, like 
 the wool of a Peruvian llama. This 
 hair was the maestro 's stock-in-trade. 
 It was that people came to see. Inci 
 dentally, he played the violin. 
 
 Herr von Bulowitz shivered. "The 
 climate is like the New York woman," 
 he muttered, "beautiful, but damn 
 cold." 
 
 " Therein it resembles your audi 
 ences," answered Dickie, laconically. 
 Then his eye met the portrait of a fat- 
 faced burgher of New Amsterdam 
 hanging over the mantelpiece. He 
 wondered whether the painting was 
 real or merely the imagery of the spe 
 cial vintage he had drunk for dinner. 
 
 "Sir, I am the great Von Bulowitz,"
 
 THE IDLE BORN 5 
 
 said the little German, drawing himself 
 up proudly. " The big public, they 
 adore me; but society bah!" 
 
 "See here," interrupted Willing, 
 " I've got you a cool five hundred for 
 to-night; so the less you kick about it 
 the better. You may think it's your 
 playing people want. Don't fool your 
 self; it's your hair." 
 
 "Gott im Himmel, so! I vill not 
 play," exclaimed Von Bulowitz, the color 
 of his face changing from carnelian to 
 carmine. 
 
 " Oh, yes you will," answered Dickie, 
 dryly; "you wouldn't let that five hun 
 dred get away." 
 
 For a moment the little Teuton paced 
 the floor excitedly, muttering German 
 oaths; then he subsided into an arm 
 chair and hugged his violin. Mean 
 while, Dickie Willing gazed at his own 
 reflection in the pier-glass. There was, 
 however, little reason for his self-ap 
 preciation beyond the fit of his clothes 
 and the smoothness with which his hair 
 was brushed. Dickie lived by his wits,
 
 6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 and lived well. Once he had had some 
 money. That he lost it is not surpris 
 ing, but that he managed to make him 
 self indispensable to society as a pur 
 veyor of entertainments, without losing 
 caste, proved that he had that rare tact 
 which creates popularity for its possess 
 or. When a hostess wished a novelty, 
 were it cotillion favors or virtuosi, she 
 went to Dickie, and Dickie was always 
 ready to oblige her at so much per 
 idea. 
 
 Dickie, having adjusted his tie to 
 his satisfaction, turned away from 
 the glass with an air of self-content 
 ment. 
 
 Then the dining-room doors were 
 opened and Nicholas Schuyler entered 
 the room. How rare his kind to-day! 
 a man of breeding, born to wear " the 
 grand old name of gentleman," in quiet 
 contrast to the vulgarity of modern life. 
 Even Dickie realized the distinction 
 that marked the bearing of this gray- 
 haired representative of the old school. 
 
 " Pardon me, gentlemen, if I have
 
 THE IDLE BORN 7 
 
 kept you waiting," Mr. Schuyler said, 
 softly. 
 
 The little German jumped to his feet 
 and bowed with exaggerated gesture. 
 
 " Sir, I am the great Von Bulowitz, I 
 come so quick because, unless I fix my 
 self just so, I cannot play. I am so 
 sensitive as my violin." 
 
 "You honor me, sir, by playing in my 
 house," answered the host, courteously. 
 The great Von Bulowitz placed his hand 
 to his heart and bowed again. 
 
 Two younger men had followed 
 Nicholas Schuyler from the dining- 
 room. One was Schuyler Ainslee, his 
 nephew, a frank, careless young man of 
 twenty-five or more, who had drifted 
 through the world, accepting the good 
 things of life as his due and overcom 
 ing the disagreeable by the exuberance 
 of youthful spirits. The other was 
 Norman Wendell, his most intimate 
 friend a young painter, in whose pale, 
 delicate face was an expression of 
 earnestness, a desire to conquer in the 
 struggle with the world. The two were
 
 8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 friends because of their opposite na 
 tures, that were like positive and nega 
 tive currents. 
 
 Dickie Willing did not notice the new 
 comers, but, drawing Mr. Schuyler 
 aside, he whispered, confidentially: 
 
 "Awful cranks, these musical John 
 nies. Had a devil of a time getting him 
 here. Deserve some credit, what?" 
 
 "Take cash, Dickie. Nobody'd give 
 you credit," laughed young Ainslee at 
 his elbow. 
 
 "But don't take it all," put in 
 Wendell. Leave some for Von Bulo- 
 witz." 
 
 " I say, fellows, don't chaff," protested 
 Dickie. "Can't starve; got to work, 
 you know." 
 
 "That's right, Dickie, work every 
 body you can," continued Ainslee, and 
 he and Wendell smiled broadly at 
 Dickie's discomfiture. 
 
 Mr. Schuyler gave his nephew a 
 glance of disapproval, and turning to 
 the musician, said, quietly, " I thought 
 the back drawing-room would be the
 
 THE IDLE BORN 9 
 
 best place for the music. You see, 
 there'll only be a very few people." 
 
 "Vat! only a few peoples to hear me 
 play?" protested the little German. 
 " Me, the great Von Bulowitz! " 
 
 "You don't understand," said Dickie, 
 hurriedly. " A few people are so much 
 smarter." 
 
 "Yes," laughed Ainslee. "You see, 
 the way to keep your social position in 
 New York is to give a party and leave 
 out half the people you know. Those 
 who are there think they are society; 
 those who are not immediately invite 
 you, to prove they are not outsiders." 
 
 "Tut, tut, my boy," protested his 
 uncle. "My house is small, but I'm 
 old-fashioned. I hold to the old ways. 
 Give me New York as it was." 
 
 "And give me New York as it is, 
 with all its glitter and bigness," ex 
 claimed the nephew. " Give me the 
 millionaires, too, with their vulgar 
 wealth they know how to spend it; 
 give me the women heartless if you 
 like they know how to make them-
 
 io THE IDLE BORN 
 
 selves attractive. I am modern to my 
 finger tips, and proud of it." 
 
 "What heresy!" exclaimed Mr. 
 Schuyler, in disgust. "It's enough to 
 make your ancestors turn in their 
 graves." 
 
 "Yes? Well, it won't hurt them to 
 move a little," replied young Ainslee, 
 glancing patronizingly at the portraits 
 on the walls. 
 
 "Come, Herr von Bulowitz," said 
 Nicholas Schuyler, turning away. " My 
 nephew is incorrigible. It's the Ainslee 
 blood. His father wasn't one of us." 
 
 The German shrugged his shoulders, 
 because he did not understand, and the 
 old Knickerbocker, glancing at Wen 
 dell in despair as he walked away, said, 
 pleadingly, "Why don't you persuade 
 Schuyler to marry? That would be his 
 salvation." 
 
 "Ainslee married! " chuckled Dickie 
 Willing. "Ha! Rather neat, what?" 
 But, as nobody seemed to notice him, 
 he meekly followed Mr. Schuyler and 
 the musician to the other room.
 
 THE IDLE BORN u 
 
 The two friends were left alone. 
 
 Wendell looked at his companion 
 searchingly. Ainslee had a manly face, 
 with clear blue eyes and high cheek 
 bones. His mouth was straight and 
 determined. Wendell could not recon 
 cile it with the carelessness of the man. 
 
 "Schuyler," he said, suddenly, "why 
 do you throw your life away? " 
 
 Ainslee laughed. "What else is it 
 good for?" he said. 
 
 " I wish I had half your chance," 
 sighed Wendell. 
 
 " Humph !" grunted the other. " Sup 
 pose I should do something. In poli 
 tics, I'd be a plutocrat; in literature, a 
 dilettante, with more money than 
 brains; in business, one more lamb to 
 be fleeced. The world would never 
 take me seriously." 
 
 " It will take you just as seriously as 
 you take yourself," protested Wendell. 
 
 Ainslee glanced at his friend. " See 
 here, old man," he said, after a mo 
 ment, "because you paint bad pictures 
 to sell to your friends, does it give you
 
 12 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 the right to get up on a pedestal and 
 preach?" 
 
 " I'm not preaching I'm only advis 
 ing you to go slow." Wendell said this 
 quietly, without attempting to resent 
 his companion's imputations. 
 
 "Oh, I know," answered Ainslee. 
 "The pace that kills, and all that drivel. 
 Well, what of it? I take the world as 
 it comes, and a jolly good world I find 
 it." 
 
 "And, meanwhile, Rene'e Dressier 
 makes a fool of you." 
 
 "If she didn't, some other woman 
 would." 
 
 "When inclination has made a fool, 
 remorse will produce a cynic which is 
 only another name for a fool," said 
 Wendell, dryly. 
 
 "Well, suppose I do play with Rene'e 
 Dressier is that any of your affair?" 
 retorted Ainslee, rather angrily. 
 
 "Yes, when I am expected to play 
 gooseberry." 
 
 Ainslee poked the fire. " Can't you 
 paint the lady's portrait unless she sits
 
 THE IDLE BORN 13 
 
 to you alone?" he answered, sneering- 
 ly. " Besides, the studio's half mine, 
 anyway." 
 
 Wendell laughed. " Come, Schuy- 
 ler," he replied, "do you think I can't 
 see through your little game? " 
 
 Ainslee put down the poker and 
 looked at his friend, " You fatigue 
 me," he said. " Rene'e Dressler's no 
 gosling she can take care of herself." 
 
 " And you, too, for that matter, 
 but " " 
 
 "Oh, there's a but, is there? Well, 
 out with it." 
 
 Wendell paced the floor thoughtful 
 ly, then turning suddenly, he said, ear 
 nestly: 
 
 " Well, to be frank, I can't stand by 
 quietly and see you treat Margaret 
 Irvington as you do." 
 
 Ainslee laughed. "So that's where 
 the shoe pinches," he said. 
 
 "Yes; it's a confounded shame," con 
 tinued Wendell. " You have no right 
 to let any girl think you're serious." 
 
 "What if lam?"
 
 14 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "You serious!" exclaimed Wendell, 
 "when you are in love with Rende Dress 
 ier!" 
 
 Ainslee looked at him long and 
 searchingly. "What if I were not?" 
 he said, slowly. " What if I intend to 
 marry Margaret Irvington provided, 
 of course, she'll have me; what then?" 
 
 "Well, God help her, that's all," said 
 his companion. 
 
 "A nice sort of a friend you are!" 
 exclaimed Ainslee, with a gesture of 
 resentment. 
 
 " I'm too good a friend not to wish 
 to spare you both inevitable misery." 
 
 For a moment Schuyler Ainslee 
 gazed into the fire thoughtfully. 
 
 " She she's different from other 
 women," he said, finally. " She might 
 make a man of me." 
 
 "Well, I'm the last man to judge 
 you," replied the other, in a tone of 
 despair. 
 
 Ainslee walked toward his friend 
 quickly. "Norman, old chap," he 
 said, placing his hand on his shoulder
 
 THE IDLE BORN 15 
 
 and looking into his face searchingly, 
 "I never thought of it before, but I 
 believe you love Margaret yourself." 
 
 Wendell turned away. "Well, what 
 if I do?" he said, shrugging his shoul 
 ders, resignedly. 
 
 "Have you told her?" Ainslee 
 asked, after a moment's reflection. 
 
 "How could I? What has a poor 
 devil like me to offer?" 
 
 "Then tell her. I've said nothing 
 yet." 
 
 "Do do you mean it?" Wendell 
 exclaimed. 
 
 "Of course, I mean it. Can I stand 
 in the way of a man like you? No. 
 Go to her tell her the truth. You 
 you owe it to yourself, and to her." 
 
 Ainslee lighted a cigarette by way of 
 disguising his feelings. 
 
 "And if I fail?" asked Wendell, 
 slowly. 
 
 "Then it's my turn," said his friend, 
 tossing the match into the fire. " If I 
 didn't mean it, I'd say it was fair 
 game."
 
 16 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "And if I succeed?" Wendell asked. 
 
 "Oh, I'll worry along," laughed 
 Ainslee. " I won't die of the devils. 
 I'm not that sort." 
 
 There was a moment of silence. 
 Wendell paced the floor, counting me 
 chanically the squares in the rug. Sud 
 denly he stopped. "And if I lose, what 
 then? What of the other woman?" he 
 asked, anxiously. 
 
 "There won't be any," Ainslee re 
 plied, calmly sending a puff of blue 
 smoke toward the ceiling. " Whatever 
 happens, I'm going to quit right now." 
 Then, with a laugh, he continued . ' ' I'm 
 going to pull down my French litho 
 graphs and hang up Madonnas." 
 
 " Are you serious? " his friend asked, 
 in a tone of incredulity. 
 
 " Yes, perfectly there's my hand on 
 it." 
 
 The two men shook hands quietly as 
 men do when they accept a wager, or 
 part on the eve of a battle. 
 
 "Then let the best man win," said 
 Wendell, after a moment's deliberation.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 17 
 
 " It'll be you, old chap I don't de 
 serve her," answered his friend, cheer 
 fully. Then he walked toward the fire 
 and threw away his cigarette. 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler came into the 
 room. He had left Von Bulowitz and 
 Willing quarreling over the proper ar 
 rangement of the chairs. 
 
 " Well," he said to Wendell, " have 
 you convinced Schuyler that life's not 
 all beer and skittles?" 
 
 " No," said Wendell, sadly. " Schuy 
 ler has convinced me that appearances 
 are sometimes deceptive." Then he 
 wandered into the smoking-room. 
 There are moments when a man wishes 
 to be alone.
 
 II 
 
 An enemy of craft and vantage. 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery Dressier, 
 familiarly known as " the Monties," 
 were the first of Nicholas Schuy- 
 ler's guests to materialize. They had 
 been yawning by their own fireside for 
 an hour or more in order that they 
 might convey the impression of having 
 dined out, but, unfortunately, miscalcu 
 lating the distance from Fifty-fourth 
 street to Washington Square by some 
 fifteen minutes, they were mortified to 
 find themselves the first arrivals. 
 
 "My dear lady," said the host, ad 
 vancing to meet them, " it is so good of 
 you to come early." 
 
 "Oh, it wasn't I," laughed Mrs. 
 Dressier, "it was Monty, silly man. 
 He said we'd never get here." 
 
 " Well, you can't blame me," said her 
 19
 
 20 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 offending husband, suppressing a yawn. 
 "Washington Square! Why, it's as far 
 out of the world as the Bowery. Why 
 don't you move uptown, Schuyler?" 
 
 "What!" gasped the courtly Knick 
 erbocker. " Leave Washington Square 
 the last stand of the ' old guard ' 
 against Central Park and the million 
 aires! Never, sir, never! " 
 
 Fortunately the arrival of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Van Rensselaer Bleeker saved the 
 situation, else Mr. Schuyler's indigna 
 tion might have exceeded the bounds 
 of politeness. As it was, he turned 
 away from the young stockbroker ab 
 ruptly, and with a very red face. 
 
 Monty Dressier winked at his wife. 
 "Peppery old cock," he laughed. Mrs. 
 Dressier did not reply. She was angry 
 because Schuyler Ainslee had failed to 
 see her. He was still gazing into the 
 fire, lost in contemplation of the imme 
 diate future. 
 
 "Well, upon my word," she said to 
 herself, "if he thinks he can treat me 
 like that!"
 
 THE IDLE BORN 21 
 
 Rende Dressier was a woman in whom 
 sentiment was sterilized. She looked 
 upon love much as a game of confi 
 dence into which men were to be de 
 liberately decoyed by a few apparently 
 successful wins, and then mercilessly 
 robbed of their affections by the most 
 subtle methods of scientific play. Her 
 beauty was of a fleshly type, made 
 stunning by wavy folds of Titian hair, 
 and by deep brown eyes, that had a 
 dreamy, mystical way of looking into 
 men's souls; but her mouth was cold 
 and hard and a woman's mouth means 
 everything. Men called her figure 
 "divine," but as it was suggestive of 
 most that is earthly, the heavenly at 
 tribute seemed ill-chosen. She was, 
 nevertheless, a strikingly beautiful 
 creature, perfectly groomed, and per 
 fectly confident of her power to fasci 
 nate mankind. 
 
 As for " Monty " Dressier, people 
 endured him because of his wife, and 
 she endured him because of his com 
 plaisance. He had the single advan-
 
 22 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 tage of being well born, if one can dis 
 associate birth from breeding. 
 
 Mrs. Dressier took up a few photo 
 graphs from the table and examined 
 them abstractedly, meanwhile casting 
 an occasional side glance in the direc 
 tion of Schuyler Ainslee. Monty ap 
 proached her quietly. 
 
 " There's Ainslee," he whispered. 
 " He wants security for that loan, and I 
 can't give it. Watch your chance and 
 talk him over." 
 
 Even Renee Dressier was shocked at 
 such brutal candor. " I've half a mind 
 to tell him you never intend to pay," 
 she answered, coldly. 
 
 "Well, I like that," sneered Monty. 
 " Suppose I should play the injured hus 
 band?" 
 
 "At least I should be rid of you." 
 
 "Hush!" he whispered, "he's look 
 ing." Then he stole away quickly.while 
 his wife arranged a bow of ribbons on 
 her gown with apparent unconscious 
 ness of Ainslee's approach. 
 
 Schuyler came toward her leisurely.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 23 
 
 He had awakened from his revery, but 
 his lack of eagerness to greet her an 
 noyed her exceedingly. 
 
 " I wondered if you were going to 
 speak to me," she said, resentfully, as 
 he extended his hand. 
 
 " You may be surprised," he laughed, 
 " but I was actually thinking." 
 
 "About me?" 
 
 " No, about matrimony." 
 
 " How very immoral!" she laughed, 
 hiding her face behind her fan. Then 
 they were interrupted by the arrival 
 of the aggressive Mrs. Jones-Smythe 
 and her simpering daughter, Mabel. 
 Mrs. Jones-Smythe's voice was a 
 bar to conversation in her immedi 
 ate vicinity, so Schuyler and his com 
 panion sought refuge in a far-off cor 
 ner. 
 
 " So good of you to come," said Mr. 
 Schuyler, as he greeted the newcom 
 ers. 
 
 "And so good of you to ask us," an 
 swered Mrs. Jones-Smythe, with an em- 
 pressement of manner that would have
 
 24 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 done honor to the cook of a Grand 
 Duchess. " Mabel adores music, don't 
 you, dear?" 
 
 "Yes, mamma,'' replied the daughter, 
 with a kittenish smile. 
 
 "You know Mabel plays Chopin 
 charmingly," pursued the mother, much 
 to the annoyance of her host, who had 
 invited her only because the late Mr. 
 Jones-Smythe had been his room-mate 
 at college. " It will be such a treat for 
 the dear child," she continued. " We 
 gave up a dinner at Mrs. Egerton's so 
 that she should not miss this lovely 
 music." 
 
 " Mrs. Egerton's," grunted Monty 
 Dressier to himself. " It's odds on she 
 was never in the house. Wonder how 
 she got here?" 
 
 At this moment the curtains separat 
 ing the drawing-rooms were thrown 
 back, disclosing the great Von Bulowitz 
 in theatric pose. 
 
 Mrs. Jones-Smythe gasped with de 
 light. " Oh, Mr. Dressier, do tell me," 
 she said to the unfortunate Monty who
 
 THE IDLE BORN 25 
 
 had not had time to escape, " is that 
 Herr von Bulowitz?" 
 
 "Yes, that's his nibs, all right; Zulu 
 hair and all." 
 
 Her red face assumed an expression 
 of horror. " How can you be so disre 
 spectful to art?" she protested. 
 
 " Because I bar a chap who won't get 
 his hair cut." 
 
 "To me he is divine," she answered, 
 so loudly that she might have been 
 heard in Eighth street. Then, turning 
 to her host, she continued: " Do intro 
 duce me to the maestro'' 
 
 "With pleasure," murmured Mr.Schuy- 
 ler, though the truth of his remark was 
 questionable. So Mrs. Jones-Smythe 
 swept proudly toward the great Von 
 Bulowitz, her dress crackling at every 
 step, and her daughter Mabel fluttering 
 in her wake. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ainslee had been telling 
 Renee Dressier, in a blunt, straightfor 
 ward way, that he was weary of the life 
 he had been leading, and could see 
 nothing but misery if the false relation-
 
 26 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 ship they had established should con 
 tinue. He was ashamed of the part he 
 had played, but so far it had been only 
 a flirtation thanks to her cleverness 
 with nothing serious to regret. He was 
 too sincere not to explain the case 
 frankly, and she was too confident of 
 her own power to consider the situation 
 dangerous. Men were always cautious 
 when they were afraid and to be afraid 
 of her meant an unconditional surren 
 der in the end, if the cards were properly 
 played. 
 
 " So you're contemplating matri 
 mony?" she said, with a cynical smile. 
 
 " Why not ?" he answered. 
 
 "Humph! That's the way a stupid 
 man always ends an affair. He marries 
 some little minx to pet him and darn 
 his stockings, and flatters himself he's 
 virtuous until he falls in love again." 
 
 Those deep, mysterious eyes forced a 
 confession, even against his will. "Men 
 love women like you in spite of them 
 selves," he said, his voice trembling as 
 he spoke.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 27 
 
 " Until we're foolish enough to 
 care," she laughed. " A man in love 
 is like the baby in the advertise 
 ment he won't be happy till he gets 
 it." 
 
 " If I .thought you had ever cared 
 for " 
 
 " Of course," she answered, sarcasti 
 cally, "a woman never cares; it's only 
 men who are brave and self-sacrificing 
 only men who love." 
 
 Ainslee smiled. " Then you won't 
 find it difficult to forget ?" 
 
 " That will be the easiest part of it." 
 
 "Well, we've played the game," he 
 sighed. 
 
 " And it wasn't worth the candle." 
 
 "Yes. If you weren't an American 
 we'd have eloped long ago." 
 
 " I fail to see the point," she said.with 
 a show of interest. 
 
 " For once you are dense. In Europe 
 women have hearts; in America merely 
 intellects." 
 
 She shrugged her pretty shoulders un 
 concernedly. " Well ?" she said.
 
 28 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " I gave you the chance," he replied. 
 "You remember my letter." 
 
 "I'm not a fool." 
 
 "The game is give and take not soli 
 taire." 
 
 " Patience is the game a man should 
 play." 
 
 "Indeed!" he answered, coldly. "For 
 me it must be all or nothing." 
 
 " Then marry your little minx," she 
 said, with a gesture of indifference. 
 
 " Precisely what I intend to do," 
 he replied, plunging his hands into 
 his pockets and settling himself com 
 fortably in his chair, as if a great 
 weight had been lifted from his 
 mind. 
 
 Renee glared at him angrily. " If 
 you dare!" she said. 
 
 " Is that a challenge ?" he asked, look 
 ing up at the ceiling with a forced en 
 deavor to appear unconcerned. He was 
 afraid to meet her eyes again, for fear 
 of wavering. 
 
 "Yes, it is a challenge," she said, ris 
 ing from her seat and carefully arrang-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 29 
 
 ing the folds of her gown. " Go, if you 
 wish you'll be back in a week." 
 
 " Never," he cried. 
 
 "How absurd you are," she mur 
 mured. "Melodrama always did bore 
 me." 
 
 She hummed a few bars of a popular 
 song, while Ainslee glared at a spot on 
 the rug. 
 
 " My fan, if you please," she said, fi 
 nally, with a gesture toward the table. 
 He handed her the fan. She took it 
 carelessly and tapped her fingers with 
 the mother-of-pearl handle. 
 
 " Schuyler," she said, suddenly. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Women are curious creatures we 
 don't forget as easily as men do, and 
 and we usually get even in the end." 
 
 "Well?" he asked. 
 
 " Remember it, that's all," she purred. 
 Then she walked toward the other draw 
 ing-room, where Von Bulowitz was tun 
 ing his violin amid the clatter of many 
 voices. Ainslee plunged his hands into 
 his pockets again and set his teeth.
 
 30 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Then he sighed and took a step toward 
 the fire. " It's over," he thought, "for 
 better or for worse." 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler, seeing Mrs. Dress 
 ier was alone, came toward her and of 
 fered his arm. " Permit me, my dear 
 lady," he said, with old-time courtesy. 
 Noticing his nephew, he continued, 
 sharply/'Schuyler, where are your man 
 ners?" 
 
 " Gone to the devil with my morals," 
 answered the young man gruffly. 
 
 " Poor boy, don't disturb him," inter 
 rupted Mrs. Dressier, pitingly; "he's con-, 
 templating matrimony." 
 
 Ainslee slammed the door of the 
 smoking-room in a way that was ex 
 pressive of his feelings. 
 
 " Why," exclaimed his uncle, in sur 
 prise, " I thought Schuyler was in love 
 with you." 
 
 "With me?" she laughed. "Oh, dear, 
 no; he's in love with himself."
 
 Ill 
 
 We are the Queen's subjects, and must obey. 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 A well-trained servant has a way of 
 accentuating the importance of a guest 
 by the precision with which the name 
 is announced, therefore it was with par 
 ticular emphasis that Mr. Schuyler's 
 butler heralded the arrival of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ferry Dobbs and Mr. Beacher. 
 
 "Ah," exclaimed the host, as he and 
 Mrs. Dressier turned instinctively at the 
 sound of the exalted names, "the queen 
 of diamonds." 
 
 " Escorted, as usual, by the knave of 
 hearts and the deuce of spades," said 
 his companion sotto voce, as a blaze of 
 feminine magnificence swept into the 
 room, followed by the exquisite warden 
 of her fan and scent-bottle and the hum 
 ble bearer of her family burdens. The 
 air of superiority assumed by Mrs. Ferry 
 31
 
 32 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Dobbs, on this and all occasions, was 
 worthy of an empress; but an empress 
 can afford to be modest and gracious 
 because she is sure of her position. Not 
 so with a queen of society in the bor 
 ough of Manhattan; her motto is malice 
 toward all, condescension to none. 
 Some day the little world between Gra- 
 mercy and Central Parks and there 
 abouts may discover that it is the heart 
 and not the wardrobe that makes a wo 
 man, but meanwhile Mrs. Ferry Dobbs 
 and her diamonds reign supreme, and 
 the mammonitesbow before their queen. 
 Even the courtly Nicholas Schuyler 
 beamed in the golden effulgence of her 
 presence, and felt flattered in his inmost 
 heart at this honor to his modest party. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Dobbs," he said, with 
 unfeigned eagerness, " I was so afraid 
 you were not coming." 
 
 " Oh, really!" the queen replied, with 
 a gesture toward the faithful Beacher. 
 A jeweled scent-bottle was forthcoming, 
 which she sniffed disdainfully. 
 
 '* Yes," continued Mr. Schuyler; "y u
 
 THE IDLE BORN 33 
 
 know a party without you is like is like 
 " and then he was lost for a simile. 
 
 Mrs. Dressier saw her opportunity. 
 "A party without you, Mrs. Dobbs," she 
 interrupted, suavely, "is like a watch 
 without a mainspring it won't go." 
 
 " Oh, really!" and Mrs. Dobbs actually 
 smiled. 
 
 " Fancy aparty without Mrs. Dobbs!" 
 said Bertie Beacher, as he exchanged 
 the royal smelling-bottle for the royal 
 fan. 
 
 " Perhaps, Mr. Beacher, when you 
 have time," suggested the host, "you 
 will condescend to speak to me." 
 
 " Why, Schuyler, you there ?" drawled 
 Beacher. " Really, I didn't see you." 
 
 "Of course not; the host is the last 
 person one notices nowadays." 
 
 This was too subtle for the intellect 
 of Bertie Beacher. He had semi-an 
 nual importations of clothes from " the 
 other side" and the preference of Mrs. 
 Ferry Dobbs, and naturally mankind 
 was envious; so Nicholas Schuyler's 
 sarcasm was accepted as a flattering
 
 34 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 demonstration of jealousy. However, 
 Dickie Willing's arrival on the scene 
 prevented further word-play. This per 
 sonage had been holding Von Bulowitz 
 in abeyance in the hope that Mrs. Ferry 
 Dobbs, or, at least, Mrs. Egerton.would 
 arrive and save the party from the taint 
 of the Jones-Smythes. 
 
 "Oh, Mrs. Dobbs," he cried, with sat 
 isfaction, " I'm so glad you've come. 
 Now the music can begin." 
 
 "Oh, really!" answered Mrs. Dobbs, 
 wearily. 
 
 " Fancy music without Mrs* Dobbs," 
 said Bertie Beacher, as he deferentially 
 exchanged the royal fan for a pocket- 
 handkerchief. Then, as there was a 
 manifest pause in the edifying conver 
 sation, he addressed the host. " I say, 
 Schuyler, when's the Johnny going to 
 fiddle ?" 
 
 "We are Only waiting for Mrs. Dobbs," 
 answered the host, quietly, without be 
 traying his disgust. 
 
 " Oh, really!" said Mrs. Dobbs, lan 
 guidly.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 35 
 
 And, meanwhile, where was Dobbs ? 
 The butler had announced his name, 
 and he had followed meekly in the swash 
 of the royal party, stumbling awkwardly 
 over a panther's head by the door. But 
 nobody noticed his mortification, and 
 nobody noticed him, thin, sallow, little 
 man that he was. He slunk into a cor 
 ner to pull his gray whiskers and twitch 
 his eyes, like a frightened mouse caught 
 in a trap. But he was only Ferry 
 Dobbs, President of the Trans-Missis 
 sippi Railway System and the Beet Su 
 gar Trust. So why should people both 
 er about him? 
 
 A reverential hush fell upon the 
 gathering in the back drawing-room as 
 the resplendent queen appeared in the 
 doorway. While taking the proffered 
 seat of honor she glanced at the ever- 
 faithful Bertie in a way indicative of a 
 desire. The scent-bottle and fan were 
 carefully deposited in her lap, and then 
 the cavaliere servente hastened in search 
 of the lost object. He found him in a 
 far-off corner hiding behind a newspa-
 
 36 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 per, vainly hoping he had been forgot 
 ten. Alas, for the schemes of Ferry 
 Dobbs to escape detection. The vigi 
 lant Bertie brushed aside the folds of 
 the Evening Post and tapped him on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 "Wake up, Dobbs; you're wanted!" 
 was the ruthless command that aroused 
 the little financier from his revery and 
 caused him to amble meekly by the side 
 of Bertie Beacher toward the back 
 drawing-room. 
 
 Already the strains of Von Bulowitz's 
 Stradivarius were resonant, and poor 
 Ferry Dobbs trembled at his fate. 
 
 Not so the wily Dickie Willing. Hav 
 ing started the maestro on his fell ca 
 reer, he stole quietly through the cur 
 tains and almost fell into the arms of 
 Renee Dressier. 
 
 " Come, Dickie," she said, taking the 
 impresario gently but firmly by the coat 
 sleeve and turning him about, " face the 
 music." 
 
 "Don't have to," chuckled Dickie; "I 
 furnished it."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 37 
 
 " Pity you can't furnish yourself." 
 
 "With what?" 
 
 " Brains, dear boy," she murmured, 
 sweetly, as she disappeared between 
 the curtains. 
 
 " Don't need 'em in society," he 
 called after her. Then, with evident 
 self-appreciation, he giggled, " Ha ! 
 Rather neat, what?" But, as no one 
 was there to applaud his witticism, he 
 sauntered lazily toward the smoking- 
 room door and collided with Norman 
 Wendell. 
 
 "Hello, Normy," he said. " Music's 
 on better hurry." 
 
 " No; I'm in no mood for music to 
 night," Wendell answered, dejectedly, 
 and Dickie Willing stared, unable to 
 comprehend that a man could have 
 feelings to betray. 
 
 He was on the point of chaffing 
 Wendell, when the music suddenly 
 ceased. 
 
 "Hello! what's up?" Dickie ex 
 claimed, visions of a fiasco disturbing 
 the equanimity of his soul. Wendell
 
 38 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 was too absorbed with his own misery 
 to vouchsafe a reply; but before Dickie 
 could reach the scene of action Bertie 
 Beacher appeared between the curtains, 
 an expression of horror on his usually 
 vacuous countenance. 
 
 " I say, fellows," he cried, " that long 
 haired idiot stopped playing because 
 Mrs. Ferry Dobbs was talking." 
 
 " He deserves a medal if he can 
 make her talk," Wendell muttered, 
 laconically. 
 
 "Ha! Rather neat, what?" giggled 
 Dickie Willing, much to the horror 
 of the faithful Beacher, while a new 
 comer, in the person of Monty Dress 
 ier, bored beyond endurance, joined 
 the trio. 
 
 " Damn! I can't stand that noise," he 
 grumbled, and then, in a tone that gave 
 expression to his desires, he whimpered, 
 plaintively: " I say, fellows, my tongue's 
 hanging out." 
 
 " I know where the old boy keeps his 
 rum," whispered Dickie. " Let's make 
 a sneak."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 39 
 
 " Well, rather," exclaimed the thirsty 
 Monty. " You've saved my life.' 
 
 " Come on, Norman," cried Dickie, 
 seizing Wendell's arm and dragging 
 him toward the smoking-room. 
 
 " No thanks," muttered Wendell, dis 
 engaging his arm. 
 
 " Oh, he's on the water-wagon," 
 sneered Monty. " Come on, Bertie." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Beacher, with 
 the air of a tragedy queen ; " desert 
 Mrs. Ferry Dobbs? Never!" Then, 
 in pursuance of his duty, he strode 
 toward the other room, leaving his 
 thirsty friends to wend .their way to 
 gether. 
 
 Thus Norman Wendell was left alone 
 again to ruminate on the strange fatal 
 ity that brought him face to face with 
 the crisis of his life. " Would she 
 come?" he wondered, one vision always 
 before him. " Were eyes ever so blue 
 and tender?" he asked himself, "or a 
 voice so soft? Was ever so beautiful a 
 face crowned by such matchless hair 
 was ever a mouth so sweet was ever
 
 40 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 woman so divinely graceful?" Then 
 he laughed at his lover's enthusiasm 
 and paced the floor again, wondering 
 always wondering. " Ah, well, " he 
 sighed at last, " a fool falls in love, and 
 a wise man gets over it if he can."
 
 IV 
 
 If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 The waiting seemed to him an age, 
 but the applause that greeted Von 
 Bulowitz's first number had barely died 
 away when Wendell was startled by the 
 rustle of a gown. He turned, instinct 
 ively knowing it was Margaret Irving- 
 ton. To explain that intuition would 
 be to solve the mystery of love. 
 
 " How late you are," he said; "I have 
 been waiting for you." 
 
 She gave him her hand and smiled, 
 " I was detained I could not get away 
 from dinner. But why wait for me? " 
 
 Had he been less in love he might 
 have realized that she said this with no 
 special interest beyond the kindliness 
 due from an old and sincere friend. 
 But that tall, dark-haired girl, with the 
 tender blue eyes, carelessly buttoning 
 41
 
 42 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 her glove, was to him the most radiantly 
 beautiful creature in the whole wide 
 world. He could not analyze nor 
 argue; he could only gaze and blunder 
 forth in a stupid way the reason for his 
 being there. ' 
 
 " I waited because I wanted to talk to 
 you; because there is something I must 
 say to you to-night." 
 
 She looked at him in amazement. 
 " Why, Norman," she answered, " how 
 mysterious you are, and how serious, 
 too." Then she hesitated, for there 
 was something in his glance that startled 
 her. " Come," she said, cheerfully, " let 
 us hear the music. What you have to 
 say isn't so very pressing, is it? " 
 
 "Yes, forgive me if I insist." He 
 quietly placed a chair beside her. 
 " Won't you be seated ? " he asked. " I 
 shan't detain you long." 
 
 She took the chair reluctantly and 
 waited for him to speak. But words 
 failed him. 
 
 " Come," she said, " what is it ? Have 
 you committed murder, or been sued
 
 THE IDLE BORN 43 
 
 for libel for your latest portrait? I know 
 it must be something very serious." 
 Her tone was almost flippant, and it 
 made her ashamed, for she had not 
 meant to hurt him. " Well," she said, 
 finally, in a way that gave him cour 
 age. 
 
 " I hardly know how to begin," he 
 sighed. Then he smiled at his own 
 awkwardness. 
 
 "Dear me," she laughed, "this is 
 more serious than I thought, Norman. 
 Why, you must be in love! Tell me 
 who is she? Surely you can trust an 
 old friend." 
 
 " Friend" he said, bitterly, " I detest 
 the word." 
 
 Margaret now began to divine the 
 portent of his remarks, and tried to turn 
 him from his purpose. 
 
 " You ought not to detest me," she 
 said, laughingly, "We've known each 
 other too long. Why, we used to make 
 mud pies together! " 
 
 Wendell looked into her eyes long 
 and earnestly. " Yes," he said, "it
 
 44 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 seems as if I had always known you. 
 Do you remember that day in the 
 country, so long ago, when we were 
 playing in the hay, and I told you that 
 I loved you that I should always love 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, I remember. I I cried then 
 I kissed you; but we were only children 
 then." Tears filled her eyes. 
 
 " And if I were to tell you," he said, 
 earnestly, " that I have loved you every 
 day, every hour since then?" 
 
 Margaret trembled. " Oh, Norman," 
 she pleaded, " two such old friends as 
 we are why, that could not be." 
 
 " Couldn't it? " he answered, eagerly. 
 "Why not?" 
 
 She took his hand and held it tightly. 
 "Norman, can't you see?" she said. 
 " Don't make me tell you in so many 
 words." 
 
 He drew his hand away. " Don't 
 say any more," he said, with an effort. 
 " I understand." 
 
 " And you won't think less of me? " 
 
 " I only wish I could."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 4 5 
 
 "Don't say that," she begged. " Don't 
 make it harder for me." 
 
 Wendell looked at her curiously. 
 " How beautiful you are," he said. 
 " Does it make you happy to be abso 
 lutely beautiful to be absolutely cer 
 tain of your power? " 
 
 " What a strange question! " she an 
 swered, in astonishment. 
 
 "Is it? I I was thinking of your 
 future." 
 
 " My future." 
 
 " Yes. I was wondering what he will 
 be like, the the man whom you will 
 marry." 
 
 "Shall I tell you," she said, suddenly, 
 looking up into his face. 
 
 "Yes," he answered. " I have a reason 
 for wishing to know." 
 
 Margaret turned away thoughtfully, 
 " He will be a man," she said, slowly, 
 " every inch of him careless and im 
 petuous, if you like, but considerate 
 enough to treat me like a good fellow 
 and an equal. He will make me feel 
 that I can help him and be of some
 
 46 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 use to him in his daily life. He will 
 never let me know that I own him body 
 and soul, and he will never tell me I am 
 the only woman he has ever loved. 
 There that is the sort of man I shall 
 marry." 
 
 " You have answered my question," 
 he answered, quietly. He was think 
 ing of a man whose portrait she had 
 seemed to draw. Margaret left her 
 seat and walked slowly away. Then 
 she turned swiftly and came toward 
 him. 
 
 "Do you think I am heartless?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " I think I shall always worship you," 
 he answered, sadly. 
 
 She placed a hand upon his arm. " I 
 care for you a great deal, Norman," 
 she said. "Do do you want me to 
 marry you?" 
 
 He looked into her eyes searchingly. 
 " No," he said, with an effort. 
 
 She turned away. " I understand," 
 she answered; "believe me, I do." 
 
 " Then we will forget, and only re-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 47 
 
 member that we are the same old 
 friends." 
 
 " Always that," she said, impulsively. 
 " I could not bear to have it otherwise." 
 
 There was a moment of silence. 
 Each was thinking; she of the past, he 
 of the future as if there could be a 
 future, now. 
 
 " And the music, Margaret," he said, 
 finally. "We mustn't miss it all." 
 
 They walked together toward the 
 other room, where the deep-toned 
 strains of Tristan's dying love-song 
 came softly from the touch of a master 
 hand. He drew back the curtain for 
 her to pass. 
 
 " Believe me," she whispered, softly, 
 " it is better so." 
 
 " For you yes."
 
 V 
 
 A weak, poor, innocent lamb. 
 
 Macbeth, 
 
 " So Freddie Carroll waited an hour 
 at the stage door, and she was with you 
 all the time!" laughed Monty Dressier, 
 as he strode through the smoking-room 
 door arm in arm with Dickie Willing. 
 Their thirst was appeased, and the 
 world was rose-colored. 
 
 " Ha! Rather neat, what?!' chuckled 
 Dickie, at the thought of Freddie 
 Carroll's discomfiture. Then seeing 
 that his friend was headed straight for 
 the shrine of Apollo, in the incarnation 
 of Von Bulowitz, he laughed derisively. 
 
 "What, more music?" 
 
 "Got to," replied Monty, meekly. 
 " The missis, you know." 
 
 " Don't string me," said Dickie with a 
 wink. "Who's the girl?" 
 
 " Come along and I'll show you," said 
 49
 
 50 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Monty, trying to drag his friend in the 
 way he would have him go. 
 
 Dickie, however, had no desire to be 
 caught in any such trap. He planted 
 his feet stubbornly and refused to 
 move. 
 
 "No, sir," he protested. "No Von 
 Bulowitz for me. I delivered the goods 
 that's all I'm paid for." 
 
 Whereupon Monty was obliged to 
 wend his way alone not to the " missis," 
 but to the side of the particular charmer 
 with whom he was for the time being 
 engaged in " frivoling." 
 
 Dickie Willing, left alone, began to 
 philosophize. His reasoning was not 
 deep, but it was to the point, consider 
 ing his dilapidated finances. 
 
 "Why isn't old Schuyler my uncle?" 
 he mused, gazing at the Dutch ances 
 tors that adorned the walls. " Ainslee's 
 got his coffers full already, while I 
 well, the luck some fellows have!" 
 Then he beheld a vision of loveliness 
 that made him rub his eyes. A young 
 girl with the golden curls of innocence
 
 THE IDLE BORN 51 
 
 had stolen into the room and was cau 
 tiously peering through the curtains at 
 the great Von Bulowitz. 
 
 Dickie perked his head in his most 
 winning way and tip-toed toward her. 
 
 " Hello, prettiness," he whispered in 
 a little pink ear. 
 
 With a smothered exclamation she 
 darted away, but Dickie was not to be 
 escaped by any such manoeuvre. He 
 stepped before her and barred her 
 passage. 
 
 " Don't be frightened," he said, re 
 assuringly. " I won't bite." 
 
 " But I can't talk to you," answered 
 the girl, naively. " I don't know you." 
 
 " Never mind, I know you," he 
 laughed. 
 
 " But papa would scold me," she pro 
 tested. " I'm not out yet- How dare 
 you speak to me? " 
 
 " Because you're just about the pret 
 tiest thing I ever saw." 
 
 "And you're perfectly horrid," she 
 pouted, stamping her little foot. " So 
 there!"
 
 S 2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " I'm horrid, am I," said Dickie in a 
 tone of disapprobation. 
 
 " Don't believe I like you after all. 
 Go to bed, little girl go to bed," he 
 continued, with a deprecating wave of 
 his hand. 
 
 "Well, I never! How old do you 
 suppose I am?" 
 
 " Look seventeen," he chuckled. 
 " act seven, general average, twelve. 
 Ha! Rather neat, what? " 
 
 " I I hate you," she cried, her face 
 crimson with rage. 
 
 " Never did have any luck," he 
 drawled mournfully. "You hate me 
 I think you're the nicest ever we're 
 up against it. What are you going to 
 do about it?" 
 
 " I'm going to leave you right now," 
 she answered, with an indignant toss of 
 her head, "and I hope I'll never see 
 you again." 
 
 " You'll have to see me when you're 
 out, he laughed, barring her way again. 
 "You'll never get on unless you're nice 
 to me. I lead all the cotillions. I'm
 
 THE IDLE BORN 53 
 
 Dickie Willing. Everybody knows 
 me." 
 
 " I don't," she answered, with a sneer 
 on her pretty lips. I don't believe you 
 know me." 
 
 " Rather. I know everybody. You're 
 little Eveline Schuyler. Papa's darling, 
 brought up in a convent so you won't 
 be spoiled. Oh, I'm not such a fool as 
 I look." 
 
 " Aren't you really? " she replied with 
 a stare of amazement, which was cal 
 culated to make him feel decidedly 
 small. 
 
 " No, honest," Dickie said, straight 
 ening himself and assuming an attitude 
 of dignity. " I could teach you a lot." 
 
 "Could you?" she answered, sol 
 emnly, but with a merry twinkle in her 
 big blue eyes. " You don't look as if 
 you knew anything. How would you 
 begin?" 
 
 Dickie swelled his chest imposingly. 
 " By making love to you," he murmured, 
 with his most fetching smile. 
 
 " Oh, how nice! " she exclaimed with
 
 54 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 evident relish. " And how would you 
 end?" 
 
 " By making love to someone else." 
 
 "How horrid!" 
 
 " But it would teach you a lot. I say, 
 do you read French?" 
 
 "Of course," she said, indignantly. 
 
 Dickie laughed. " Then I'll send you 
 some novels." 
 
 " But papa won't let you," she pro 
 tested. "He says the world is a very 
 wicked place. I must never know any 
 thing about it until I come out." 
 
 " By Jove," he cried longingly, " what 
 a time you'll have learning." 
 
 "Oh, I hope so. Just think! Next 
 winter I'm going to dances and dinner 
 parties! " 
 
 "Then you've no time to lose," he 
 chuckled. " I'll send you the books 
 to-morrow. Let's see," he continued, 
 with mock gravity " ' Madame Bo- 
 vary,' ' Sapho,' 'Nana'and ' Aphrodite' 
 no, you'd better not have that to 
 begin with." 
 
 But the wickedness of his remark
 
 THE IDLE BORN 55 
 
 was lost on Eveline, for the austere 
 form of her father appeared between 
 the curtains. 
 
 "There's papa," she whispered, 
 " Don't let him see me," and, quick as a 
 flash, she dropped behind the back of a 
 big chair, while Willing, with chivalrous 
 intent, rapidly placed himself in a way 
 to cover her retreat. 
 
 "Sneak!" he whispered, as Nicholas 
 Schuyler, quite unconscious of the 
 situation, approached the fire. 
 
 "Sir, did you address me?" said the 
 elder man, testily. 
 
 " I, sir ? No, sir," blurted Dickie, 
 much taken aback. " I was admiring 
 that picture," he continued, hurriedly, 
 pointing to a solemn burgher over the 
 mantelpiece, with the idea of diverting 
 Schuyler's attention. " Fine old cock, 
 that." 
 
 " That gentleman, sir," exclaimed the 
 host, indignantly, "was my ancestor, 
 Peter Van Cortland, one of the ' nine 
 men* of New Amsterdam in 1647." 
 
 " By Jove, what a nose! " cried Dickie,
 
 56 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 admiringly. "Did he die of drink?" 
 The host looked at the picture to see if 
 Dickie's insulting insinuation was justi 
 fied by appearances. And meanwhile 
 Eveline stole out of the room. Dickie 
 had just time to throw her a kiss and 
 she to shake her head reprovingly and 
 make a face at her father, when Nicholas 
 Schuyler turned upon the offending 
 Dickie with the rage of offended family 
 pride. 
 
 "Young man," he said, "you've been 
 drinking!" 
 
 " Rather," chuckled Dickie, taking his 
 arm. " Let's have another, just to show 
 there's no ill feeling." 
 
 Whereupon he proceeded to lead the 
 indignant Knickerbocker toward the 
 smoking-room. But Nicholas Schuy 
 ler was in no mood to submit to such 
 indignity. He threw Dickie aside, and 
 exclaimed, angrily: " No, sir; I will not. 
 As for you, sir, I can find no excuse " 
 
 What the outcome of this contretemps 
 might have been is hard to say, for, be 
 fore the situation became more unten-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 57 
 
 able for the unfortunate Dickie, Monty 
 Dressier appeared in the doorway, and 
 seeing the impresario, called out, joy 
 fully: " I say, Dickie, supper's on! " 
 
 "By Jove! where?" cried Dickie. 
 With three long strides he reached the 
 door, and, arm in arm with Monty, was 
 proceeding supperward before the 
 stately host could recover from his 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Dear, dear," Mr. Schuyler exclaimed, 
 gasping for breath. " In my day it was 
 three bottles and under the table to 
 play the man, now it's three cocktails 
 and into society to play the fool." 
 
 Then the servants drew aside the cur 
 tains, disclosing the great Von Bulovvitz 
 surrounded by a cluster of feminine 
 worshippers. 
 
 "Superb!" exclaimed Mrs. Jones- 
 Smythe, basking in the effulgence of the 
 maestro s smile. " Such feeling! " 
 
 "It was just too sweet!" gushed her 
 daughter Mabel. 
 
 " Ladies," vociferated the little Teu 
 ton, proudly, striking an attitude that
 
 5 8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 nearly lost him his balance, " you have 
 heard the great Von Bulowitz. Ah, the 
 beautiful woman ! She always makes me 
 perspire non, I mean inspire ah, the 
 language of Engleesh!" 
 
 "How touching! What pathos!" 
 sighed Mrs. Jones-Smythe, gazing into 
 his eyes with a languor quite unsuitable 
 to her two hundred pounds of avoirdu 
 pois. 
 
 Mr. Schuyler was so disgusted with 
 this drivelling hero-worship that he 
 brusquely put an end to the proceed 
 ings by offering his arm to Mrs. Ferry 
 Dobbs. 
 
 " Mrs. Dobbs," he said, courteously, 
 "won't you honor me? We couldn't 
 sup without you." 
 
 "Oh, really?" murmured the queen, 
 with an air of condescension, while Ber 
 tie Beacher rose to the occasion man 
 fully. 
 
 " Fancy a supper without Mrs. Dobbs !" 
 he exclaimed,, with an expression of dis 
 gust at the possibility of such an un 
 toward catastrophe.
 
 VI 
 
 Struggling to be free, art more engaged. 
 
 Hamlet, 
 
 The alacrity with which the announce 
 ment of supper was greeted by the men 
 might be taken as an indication that 
 they were but scantily nourished, were 
 it not that eating is a sine qua non of 
 Anglo-Saxon society. On the Continent 
 the social shibboleth is devoir; with us 
 it is devour. To paraphrase the words 
 of Bertie Beacher: Fancy society with 
 out supper especially in New York! 
 
 Wendell had been waiting for a word 
 with Ainslee, and the onset of the guests 
 upon the buffet gave him the opportu 
 nity. He called his friend aside just as 
 the latter was on the point of taking 
 Margaret in to supper. 
 
 " Schuyler, I I've told her," he said, 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 59
 
 6o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Already?" Ainslee answered, in sur 
 prise. "Well?" 
 
 " I was right I have no chance." 
 
 " Well, perhaps I'm not the one, 
 either," said Ainslee, with an effort to 
 be cheerful. 
 
 "No; it's you," Wendell replied. 
 " She as much as told me." 
 
 Ainslee glanced toward Margaret. " I 
 almost wish it had been you," he said. 
 She was standing near the door, talking 
 with Rende Dressier, unconscious of the 
 part she was playing in the drama of 
 two men's lives. 
 
 "By gad, she is beautiful!" he ex 
 claimed. " She's not like the rest! " 
 
 " If you treat her like the rest," said 
 Wendell, suddenly, " remember, I'll owe 
 you nothing." 
 
 Ainslee looked at his friend mean 
 ingly. " Norman, you've had your 
 chance," he said. "I've played fair." 
 
 " Yes. It's your turn now. There's 
 my hand on it. You you don't know 
 what it costs me." 
 
 Ainslee grasped Wendell's hand.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 61 
 
 "And mine, too," he said, with deter 
 mination. "There is no other woman 
 there never will be." 
 
 While ostensibly bestowing praise 
 upon Margaret Irvington'sgown, Renee 
 Dressier had been watching the two 
 men out of the corner of her eye. Being 
 satisfied that something serious was 
 transpiring, she edged anxiously in their 
 direction, with the hope of catching a 
 stray word or so. Ainslee saw her 
 manoeuvre, and walked away from 
 Wendell quietly, staring at her as he 
 passed. Renee laughed and shrugged 
 her shoulders. 
 
 " I wondered if you had forgotten 
 me," said Margaret, reproachfully, as 
 Ainslee joined her. 
 
 " Forget," he returned, " what is most 
 in my mind? Impossible!" 
 
 "Well, how does that please you?" 
 Renee said to Wendell, with an amused 
 glance in the direction of Margaret and 
 Ainslee. 
 
 " I might ask you the same question," 
 he replied, coldly.
 
 62 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Why so? The surest way to keep 
 a man is to have him marry some other 
 woman." 
 
 " Yes. Love is merely a longing for 
 something you haven't got." 
 
 "And marriage is merely a loathing 
 for something you have. All of which 
 reminds me that just at present I am 
 longing for supper. Shall we go? " 
 
 "Oh, it's always time to do some 
 thing," said Margaret, when they were 
 alone. " Time to get up, to go out, to 
 get dressed, to dine. Now, I suppose 
 it's time to go to supper." 
 
 " Not now,"Ainslee protested. " Make 
 it my time, won't you?" 
 
 " If there is a time for everything," 
 she laughed, " I suppose there is one 
 even for you." 
 
 " Won't you let me be serious for one 
 half-hour?" 
 
 " Were you ever serious? " she asked, 
 doubtfully. 
 
 " I am desperately serious to-night." 
 
 "And to-morrow?" 
 
 " To-morrow depends on you, Mar-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 63 
 
 garet," he said, earnestly. " Did it never 
 occur to you that I might care? " 
 
 " To-night? For one half-hour?" 
 
 "No always. I have stumbled 
 through life somehow, and now you 
 come the one woman on earth I 
 ever believed in, or ever could believe 
 in." 
 
 "Oh, wait, wait!" she cried. "If I 
 dared trust you!" 
 
 " Can't you see that I mean every 
 word?" he exclaimed, impetuously. 
 
 " For the moment, yes. But I might 
 remember always." Her voice trem 
 bled as she spoke, and she turned her 
 eyes away. 
 
 " Why do you mistrust me ? " he asked. 
 
 " Because everything that I know 
 about you tells me that I should." 
 
 " Have I ever pretended to be any 
 thing? I'm no saint, if that is what you 
 mean." 
 
 She gazed at the floor thoughtfully. 
 "You are honest," she said, after a 
 moment, "and that is something." 
 
 " You could make me of some use in
 
 64 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 the world," he pleaded. "You could 
 make a man of me." 
 
 "Are you quite sure?" she answered, 
 looking up suddenly and meeting his 
 glance. " Men always want a woman 
 to help them before they are married-." 
 
 " No, no! " he said, anxiously. " Take 
 me as I am a man who has knocked 
 about the world, with much to regret 
 and little to be proud of. I make no 
 pretense, except that I shall try to make 
 you happy." 
 
 She looked into his face earnestly, 
 " I begin to believe," she said at last. 
 She felt the touch of his arm about her 
 waist. 
 
 " No, no! " she cried, drawing away in 
 fright. "Wait! Wait!" 
 
 " It is cruel to make me wait." 
 
 She turned suddenly. " One moment. 
 Is there no other woman?" 
 
 " I can't tell you I've never been in 
 love," he said, with an effort. " It 
 wouldn't be true." 
 
 "And now? You know what I mean?" 
 
 " Now it is only a regret."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 65 
 
 " Are you quite sure? " 
 
 "Yes," he answered, slowly, " that is 
 all over." 
 
 " If you are deceiving yourself! " she 
 said, with a shudder. " If I should find 
 out that you are deceiving me! " 
 
 He took both her hands and drew her 
 toward him. " I love you," he said, " I 
 love you, Margaret! " 
 
 Fear and doubt were stifled by the 
 quick beating of her heart. " Yes, I be 
 lieve you," she said, impulsively. 
 
 " Only one word it means so much." 
 
 " Yes I love you." 
 
 When Nicholas Schuyler came into 
 the room a moment later he blinked in 
 astonishment at the sight that met his 
 eyes. 
 
 "Schuyler, you rascal!" he cried, 
 " what does this mean? " 
 
 " It means, uncle, that Miss Irvington 
 has promised to marry me. Your bad 
 penny has turned up heads for once." 
 
 "You lucky dog!" exclaimed the 
 uncle. " But you don't deserve her." 
 Then, taking Margaret's hand he kissed
 
 66 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 her on the forehead. " My dear young 
 lady," he said, "you've done honor to our 
 family." 
 
 " I hope you may never think other 
 wise," she answered, seriously. 
 
 Renee Dressier, coming from the 
 supper-room, stopped in the doorway 
 to survey the scene. She bit her lip 
 angrily, and Norman Wendell smiled at 
 her discomfiture. 
 
 " Oh, I beg pardon," she said, sar 
 castically, " do I interrupt a family coun 
 cil?" 
 
 " No," answered Ainslee, quickly, " a 
 family rejoicing. Miss Irvington has 
 promised to marry me." 
 
 She glared at him a moment, then 
 turning to Margaret, said, with evident 
 maliciousness: "Really, I congratulate 
 Miss Irvington on making the match of 
 the season." 
 
 "A woman of the world, my dear Mrs. 
 Dressier," interrupted Mr. Schuyler, 
 quietly, " never betrays her feelings." 
 
 Renee Dressier looked at him haugh 
 tily. "A woman of the world never has
 
 THE IDLE BORN 67 
 
 feelings to betray," she said. Then 
 turning to Ainslee, she whispered, 
 quickly, " Schuyler, you're a fool." 
 
 " Possibly," he answered. 
 
 Margaret saw the look of evil in her 
 face. 
 
 "The other woman," she thought. 
 " I wonder
 
 PART II 
 ONE AFTERNOON
 
 I 
 
 Respecting this our marriage. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 A year of matrimony will usually kill 
 the illusions of a woman, or cure her of 
 the desire for further conquests. If for 
 tunately allied, she will realize that the 
 reality of satisfactory matrimony, with 
 love to play the role of domestic deus 
 ex machina is a far more comfortable 
 status than chasing rainbows. Mar 
 riage is more or less a game of give and 
 take. Were women to recognize this 
 fact more universally there would be 
 fewer wives moping about in tea gowns 
 or listening to the purring of tame cats. 
 
 It is one thing to purr sympathetically 
 in the lamplight and another to be sweet 
 and cheerful at the breakfast table; 
 therefore the tame cat has a distinct 
 advantage over the liege lord until the 
 wife discovers that he will play and purr
 
 72 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 and be ever so cunning and attractive 
 until he has eaten the canary. But, 
 alas! when the bird is caught and con 
 sumed the tame cat will retire to his own 
 fireside to sleep off the effects, and when 
 he awakes he will lick his chops and 
 begin to search for another canary, 
 while the lady is left to mourn the loss 
 of her pet, if not her reputation. 
 
 A year of matrimony had brought 
 Margaret to a point where her happi 
 ness was very much like a kite in a high 
 wind. One moment it would soar into 
 the clouds and the next it would almost 
 dash itself to pieces on the ground,while 
 all that held it was a single thread called 
 "confidence," and that often seemed on 
 the point of breaking. 
 
 On a cloudy afternoon in December 
 Margaret was sitting in the library win 
 dow-seat of her new house reading a 
 novel. It was one of those stories of a 
 woman's moods in which the disease is 
 diagnosed without providing the cure. 
 The author, however, seemed to realize 
 his shortcomings, for in an apologetic
 
 THE IDLE BORN 73 
 
 way he stated, in an obscure paragraph 
 that most readers would skip, that 
 " Happiness is merely the habit of good 
 impulses." 
 
 Margaret read the line again, then 
 threw the book aside impatiently. "How 
 little people who write books know about 
 life! " she sighed. " Happiness must be 
 the habit of never feeling." Then she 
 gazed out of the window. Mrs. Egerton 
 drove by in a new victoria, and Eveline 
 Schuyler ran into the room, calling, im 
 petuously: "Cousin Margaret! Cousin 
 Margaret! Where are you?" 
 
 " Here, child," said Margaret. 
 
 " Well, if this dance is for me," pouted 
 Eveline, "I think I might have some 
 thing to say about it." 
 
 " Why, what is the matter? " Margaret 
 asked. 
 
 " Lady Coldstream is the matter," the 
 girl answered, peevishly. " What does 
 she know about dances?" 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know." 
 
 "Well, Dickie Willing certainly 
 knows something about them."
 
 74 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " If he knows about anything it must 
 be about dances." 
 
 " I think you're you're dreadful," 
 answered Eveline, kicking a stool to 
 give vent to her feelings. "And I don't 
 see why you invited Lady Coldstream 
 here, anyway." 
 
 " Why, last summer at Homburg she 
 rather amused me, when everything was 
 going wrong. I told her that if she ever 
 came to America I hoped she would 
 stop a few days with me. She came, of 
 course; the few days happen to have 
 become a few weeks, but that was to be 
 expected the English are so very 
 casual in America." 
 
 " Why do you let her stay? " 
 
 "I can hardly send her away. Be 
 sides, she still amuses me." 
 
 Ainslee came into the room. He 
 glanced at Margaret a moment, then he 
 picked up an illustrated paper, the 
 leaves of which he turned nervously 
 without seeing the pages. Margaret 
 looked out of the window. 
 
 Eveline glanced from one to the other
 
 THE IDLE BORN 75 
 
 understandingly, then she turned on her 
 heel and walked away. 
 
 " Don't go, Eveline," said Margaret. 
 "Schuyler and I haven't anything to say 
 to each other." 
 
 " But there's no knowing what Lady 
 Coldstream might do to Dickie Willing 
 if they're left alone," answered the girl, 
 throwing aside the portiere. 
 
 Ainslee waited until Eveline was 
 out of hearing; then he put down his 
 paper quietly and came toward his wife. 
 
 " It seems to me we have a great deal 
 to say," he said, "if we could only say 
 it. There was a time when we under 
 stood each other." 
 
 "Yes before we were married," 
 sighed Margaret. " People always un 
 derstand each other then or think 
 they do." 
 
 " But what, in heaven's name, is the 
 matter now?" he asked, impatiently. 
 "What have I done?" 
 
 Margaret watched some children play 
 ing in the park. " I told you once," she 
 said, after a moment.
 
 76 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Did you?" he answered, dropping 
 into a chair, resignedly. " It must have 
 been a long time ago. At present you 
 seem to revel in unexpressed griev 
 ances." 
 
 "What can't be cured must be en 
 dured," she said, as she carefully rear 
 ranged the pillows of the window-seat. 
 
 " What do you mean ?" he asked, 
 sharply. 
 
 Margaret looked at him with an ex 
 pression of disdain. " You know well 
 enough," she said. " I mean Renee 
 Dressier." 
 
 Ainslee jumped to his feet. " Really, 
 Margaret, you are absurd," he an 
 swered, plunging his hands into his 
 pockets and pacing the floor. "You 
 know that was all ended long ago." 
 
 " I know you told me so." 
 
 " Do you mean to say you believe 
 there is anything between us now ?" 
 
 " I only believe what I see," she said. 
 
 "Well, what have you seen?" he ask 
 ed, stopping suddenly and looking at 
 her with a puzzled expression.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 77 
 
 " I saw her follow you to Homburg. 
 I couldn't even have my honeymoon in 
 peace." 
 
 " Homburg was very dull last Sum 
 mer, and even you must admit that she 
 is amusing." 
 
 "She must be, judging from the num 
 ber of her admirers." 
 
 "There's safety in numbers, my dear," 
 he laughed. 
 
 Margaret raised herself suddenly and 
 looked him full in the eyes. "She's 
 made a dead set for you," she said, "not 
 only at Homburg, but ever since we got 
 back. It takes a woman to see through 
 another woman." 
 
 " How about a man seeing through 
 another man ?" he sneered. "How about 
 Mr. Norman Wendell ? He was at Hom 
 burg, too." 
 
 "What if he was? He's only a very 
 old friend." 
 
 " He was in love with you." 
 
 " I never was in love with him," she 
 answered, sharply. "And you were with 
 Renee Dressier."
 
 78 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," he said. " He 
 comes to see you every day. People 
 are talking about it already. How do 
 you suppose I like that?" 
 
 With a start Margaret pushed the 
 cushions aside and sprang to her feet. 
 " Do you mean to say you believe 
 there's anything between us?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " I only believe what I see," he an 
 swered. 
 
 " You have no right to turn my words 
 against me," she cried. " Do you want 
 me to hate you?" 
 
 Ainslee laughed. Then, going toward 
 her, he put his arm around her sooth 
 ingly. 
 
 " Come, Margaret, dear," he said, 
 "y u are taking all this too seriously. 
 Don't make a mountain out of a mole 
 hill. Renee Dressier is nothing to me." 
 
 She threw her arms about his neck 
 and buried her face on his shoulder. 
 
 "Oh, Schuyler," she said, half tear 
 fully, " if you could only see the tri 
 umphant way that woman looks at me
 
 THE IDLE BORN 79 
 
 just as much as to say: 'You married 
 him, but he is mine; do you understand? 
 mine!' It began that night at your un 
 cle's, when you told her we were en 
 gaged." 
 
 'There, dear, don't worry about it 
 any more," he said, stroking her hair. 
 " I wouldn't let her come between us 
 for anything on earth." 
 
 "Will you promise you won't see her 
 again?" she asked, eagerly. 
 
 " How can I? You know we meet her 
 everywhere." 
 
 "Never mind; cut her. She will un 
 derstand." 
 
 " I'll do anything you ask me, except 
 be rude. I can't, with decency, cut Mrs. 
 Dressier, but I'll see just as little of her 
 as I can. There, does that satisfy you?" 
 
 "Then you do love me?" she ex 
 claimed. 
 
 "Of course I love you," he said. "You 
 know that I do. My one wish is to 
 prove it to you." 
 
 Then he kissed her, and her happi 
 ness soared above the clouds into the
 
 8o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 clear sunshine, and the slender thread 
 seemed strong enough to hold it there 
 forever.
 
 II 
 
 The elect of the land. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 "Oh, I say; kissing your wife"! said 
 Lady Coldstream, stopping in the door 
 way and surveying the situation. "Fancy! 
 You Americans do such extraordinary 
 things." 
 
 Lady Coldstream was a superb crea 
 tion, with frizzled hair and a wasplike 
 waist, and wearing a tailor gown that 
 fitted as if she had grown into it. She 
 had big, dreamy eyes and a little droop 
 ing mouth. Her pictures were dis 
 played in Bond street among the types 
 of reigning English beauties. She was 
 thirty-eight, but she might have passed 
 for twenty in the lamplight. 
 
 Ainslee looked up in answer to her 
 remark. "Why not ?" he said. " It's 
 not improper, is it?" 
 
 "Improper! No, by Jove! Idiotic!" 
 81
 
 82 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 and Lady Coldstream advanced into 
 the room, followed by Eveline and the 
 ubiquitous Dickie Willing. "Coldstream 
 tried to kiss me once. I asked him if 
 he was so unpopular that no other 
 woman would." 
 
 "Ha! Rather neat, what?" gurgled 
 Dickie, with evident appreciation. 
 
 "And that silly man, too," rejoined 
 Lady Coldstream, with a glance of 
 scorn in the direction of the unfortunate 
 Willing; " he positively objects to hav 
 ing any sitting-out corners at the party." 
 
 "Rather!" expostulated Dickie. "No 
 body will dance." 
 
 "Yes," exclaimed Eveline. "It would 
 spoil Dickie's cotillion." 
 
 " My dear," said Lady Coldstream to 
 Margaret, "you really must have them. 
 Fancy a dance with no place to kiss a 
 girl, or even hold her hand! Why, in 
 London the men wouldn't come." 
 
 " But this is New York," Ainslee sug 
 gested. 
 
 "Aren't the men human over here?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, but not at dances," an-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 83 
 
 swered Ainslee, walking toward the door 
 of his den. " They have so many bet 
 ter opportunities." 
 
 "Oh, Schuyler," expostulated Marga 
 ret. " How shocking!" But he did not 
 heed the reproof. 
 
 " Send me a pick-me-up, Schuyler," 
 called Lady Coldstream; "there's a dear 
 feeling rather dicky." 
 
 " Certainly," he said, as he closed the 
 door. 
 
 Lady Coldstream threw herself into 
 an easy chair and crossed her legs. 
 Then, taking from her pocket a little 
 silver case adorned with a coronet, she 
 proceeded to light a violet-tipped ciga 
 rette. 
 
 Eveline sidled toward Margaret, 
 keeping an eye on Lady Coldstream. 
 " Cousin Margaret," she said, in a stage 
 whisper, "don't let her spoil everything. 
 Dickie's been working so hard to make 
 the dance go." 
 
 " I should say!" exclaimed Dickie, 
 proudly. " Didn't sleep all last night. 
 Inventing something startling. Got it,
 
 84 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 too. Going to have a live baby ele 
 phant to bring in the favors. I'm going 
 to drive him myself in a Roman chariot 
 Ha! Rather neat, what ?" 
 
 " Nasty beast," interrupted Lady 
 Coldstream, puckering up her nose. 
 " He'll be sure to stick his trunk down 
 my neck looking for sugar plums." 
 
 " But won't Mrs. Ferry Dobbs be 
 crazy!" chuckled Dickie. "She had only 
 a goat." 
 
 "Well, scratch my entry, then," said 
 Lady Coldstream, coughing from an 
 over-inhalation of smoke. " I can run 
 a dance, but not a menagerie." 
 
 Just then a servant approached, bear 
 ing a tray on which was a decanter and 
 a bottle of soda. Dickie looked at 
 the tray longingly, but there was only 
 one glass. Eveline pulled his coat- 
 sleeve. 
 
 " Now's our chance," she whispered. 
 
 " Rather before she changes her 
 mind." Then they tiptoed quietly out 
 of the room. 
 
 " That's a quaint Johnny," said Lady
 
 THE IDLE BORN 85 
 
 Coldstream, as she poured out what 
 men would dub " a pretty stiff drink." 
 " Does he get paid for managing par 
 ties?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Margaret, taking up 
 her book again and running over the 
 leaves carelessly. "We all help him out 
 that way ; He had a fortune once, but 
 it ran away." 
 
 " Just like Lord Meadowmere," 
 grunted Lady Coldstream. " He had 
 the 'oof and a wife, too; but they 
 both ran away. Poor dear, he had to 
 turn dressmaker. I was dotty about 
 him once, so went to his place just to 
 give him a leg up. Fancy! He took 
 my clothes off and stuck pins into me. 
 Beastly improper, wasn't it?" 
 
 " Of course Oh, what did you say ? " 
 said Margaret, vaguely. 
 
 Lady Coldstream put down her glass 
 and looked at Margaret. She was 
 gazing at the floor, and did not notice 
 that she was being surveyed by the 
 critical eye of a woman who had lived 
 the pace.
 
 86 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " I say, Margaret, you are cut up," 
 vouchsafed Lady Coldstream, after a 
 
 moment. 
 
 " I was only worrying," Margaret 
 
 sighed. 
 
 " My dear, no man is worth worrying 
 about." 
 
 " I didn't say it was a man." 
 
 " My dear, no woman ever worries 
 about anything else." 
 
 " It was only Schuyler." 
 
 " My dear," continued Lady Cold- 
 stream, laconically, " don't bother about 
 your husband until you are so old other 
 men won't bother about you." 
 
 " I am not that kind," Margaret said, 
 sharply. 
 
 "Oh, I say," murmured her com 
 panion, " how about that painter of 
 yours?" 
 
 " He's only an old friend." 
 
 "Oh, of course," said Lady Cold- 
 stream, pointedly, " they always are." 
 
 Margaret's face flushed. " Muriel, 
 believe me," she protested. Then 
 she checked herself. " Oh, you would
 
 THE IDLE BORN 87 
 
 never understand why discuss the 
 matter?" 
 
 " As you please," answered Lady 
 Coldstream, reaching for her whisky 
 and soda. " Let's talk about the 
 weather or Charlier-Duval. He's com 
 ing this afternoon isn't he?" 
 
 "Yes, I've asked Mrs. Ferry Dobbs 
 and a few people to see my portrait." 
 
 "Pon my honor," exclaimed Lady 
 Coldstream, putting down her glass 
 emphatically. " I can't see how you 
 endure that man. He's a French cad, 
 and that's ' the limit/ as you say over 
 here. But you Americans will take up 
 with anything that's foreign." 
 
 " Exactly, " laughed Margaret. 
 "That's why you have had such a 
 success." 
 
 " I say," frowned Lady Coldstream, 
 "that is a nasty one." 
 
 Margaret did not vouchsafe a reply. 
 There were moments when Lady Cold- 
 stream bored her. She was better 
 taken at dessert than as a tonic before 
 dinner. So the English beauty sipped
 
 88 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 her pick-me-up in silence, and Margaret 
 turned the leaves of her novel until a 
 servant appeared and announced: 
 
 "Monsoor Duval!" 
 
 A diminutive Frenchman, with the 
 rosette of the Legion of Honor in his 
 buttonhole, followed the announcement, 
 and bowed impressively with his hand 
 on his heart. His hair floated in several 
 directions, and so did his tie. But he 
 was a portrait painter, a la mode, and 
 was necessarily made up for the part, 
 even to trousers that did not fit and a 
 turned down collar of Byronesque cut. 
 
 " CKere Madame, your serviteur" he 
 said to Margaret. Then, taking her 
 hand and pressing it to his lips: "Will 
 you permeet ze humble homage of art 
 at ze shrine of beaut/?" 
 
 Lady Coldstream giggled but Char- 
 lier-Duval, undismayed, turned toward 
 her and, striking an attitude of admira 
 tion, said, effusively: 
 
 "Ah, vat a picture! Zat pose I paint 
 him!" 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Lady Cold-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 89 
 
 stream, " paint me with a whisky and 
 soda? Happy thought, by Jove! your 
 pictures do need spirit." 
 
 " Oh, do not say me no," said the 
 little Frenchman, kissing her hand 
 and looking into her eyes pleadingly. 
 Then he whispered, confidentially: 
 " For you I make ze price only five 
 thousand dollar ze honaire ees so 
 great!" 
 
 "Well, when you paint me," she 
 growled, drawing her hand away with a 
 little shrug of disgust, " I'll be so old 
 colors will run at sight of me." 
 
 "Ah, Lady Coldstream, you aire 
 cruelle," he sighed, perking his head 
 on one side and screwing his face and 
 shoulders into an expression of despair. 
 Then, turning to Margaret, he asked, 
 anxiously; " But vill ze great Meeses 
 Ferry Dpbbs come to honaire my chef 
 d' (Buvre? " 
 
 " I asked her," Margaret answered. 
 "As there'll only be a very few people, 
 she'll probably come." 
 
 " Unless I paint ze great Meeses
 
 90 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Ferry Dobbs," exclaimed the French* 
 man, " Carolus and Chartran vill say I 
 make no success in America." 
 
 " Then make her an exclusive price," 
 said Margaret, coldly, as she turned to 
 greet Norman Wendell, who, as I 1 ami 
 de la maison, had sauntered in unan 
 nounced. 
 
 " Oh, Norman," she said, eagerly, 
 " I'm so glad you've come. My por 
 trait's just finished. I want to know 
 what you think of it." Turning to 
 the Frenchman, she continued: "Mr. 
 Charlier-Duval, let me introduce Mr. 
 Wendell, one of our American paint 
 ers." 
 
 The foreigner looked Wendell over 
 from head to foot; then, with a depre 
 cating shrug of the shoulders, he said: 
 " Ah, I deed not know zere were any 
 painters in America." 
 
 " Exactly," Wendell murmured, gent 
 ly. "We American painters have to go 
 to Europe to find appreciation, Mon 
 sieur Charlatan Duval." 
 
 l, monsieur," cried the
 
 THE IDLE BORN 91 
 
 Frenchman, growing very red in the 
 face. 
 
 " Pardon me, I had not heard the 
 name before," said Wendell. " I have 
 just returned from Paris." 
 
 " Monsieur, you insult me! "shouted 
 Charlier-Duval, inflating his chest. 
 
 Margaret, frightened at the contre 
 temps, stepped between them hurriedly. 
 
 " Really, gentlemen," she exclaimed, 
 " I Oh, there's Mrs. Ferry Dobbs." 
 
 Charlier-Duval drew himself up 
 proudly. " Then I vait," he said with 
 an impressive gesture of defiance, while 
 Wendell turned on his heel and saun 
 tered away. 
 
 Mrs. Dobbs and Beacher swept into 
 the room with terrifying magnificence, 
 while the lowly partner of the royal 
 joys and sorrows stumbled over an 
 obtrusive taboret and dropped his 
 hat. 
 
 "So glad you could come," said 
 Margaret, cordially. " I do hope you'll 
 like the portrait." 
 
 "Oh, really," murmured the queen
 
 92 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 languidly, handing her muff to Beacher, 
 who passed it disdainfully to Dobbs. 
 
 " May I introduce Monsieur Duval?" 
 Margaret continued. " He is so anxious 
 to meet you." 
 
 " Oh, really," muttered Mrs. Dobbs, 
 condescendingly handing her pocket- 
 book to Beacher, who, after glancing at 
 Dobbs distrustfully, put it quietly into 
 his own pocket. 
 
 Meanwhile, the little Frenchman 
 clicked his heels together and bowed 
 obsequiously. 
 
 " Chere madame" he said, " your 
 ser&iteur? Then, pressing the royal 
 hand to his lips, he continued, with 
 effusion: "Will you permeet ze hum 
 ble homage of art at ze shrine of 
 beautS?" 
 
 But Mrs. Dobbs remained unmoved. 
 With the desperation of despair, the 
 painter posed himself for his coup de 
 grace. 
 
 "Ah, vat a picture!" he cried. "Ze 
 pose of a queen! I paint him!" 
 
 " Oh, really," she answered, coldly,
 
 THE IDLE BORN 93 
 
 casting a look of annoyance at the 
 faithful Beacher. 
 
 "Oh, say me not no! For you I 
 make ze price only twenty thousand 
 dollar," whispered the Frenchman, 
 confidentially, "ze honaire ees so great." 
 
 But Beacher rose to the occasion. 
 " I say, Mrs. Dobbs," he interrupted, 
 " there's Lady Coldstream." 
 
 " Oh, really," eagerly cried the queen, 
 turning away from poor Charlier-Duval, 
 and leaving him to glare dejectedly at 
 her departing grandeur. " Queen! " he 
 muttered. " Non canaille! " 
 
 " So awfully good of you to dine with 
 us on Thursday, dear Lady Cold- 
 stream," said Bertie Beacher, breaking 
 into the conversation the English 
 beauty was holding with Norman 
 Wendell. " Isn't it, Mrs. Dobbs ? " 
 
 Lady Coldstream gave them both a 
 withering glance. " Oh, really," she 
 said. Then she turned her back and 
 continued her talk with Wendell. 
 
 The queen drew herself up with dig 
 nity and gasped.
 
 94 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Never mind, she's English," whis 
 pered Beacher, soothingly, and together 
 they sought a refuge in the corner, while 
 Dobbs, who had witnessed the collapse 
 of the royal assurance, grinned a meek 
 grin of satisfaction. 
 
 " I do hope we are not too late," 
 shouted Mrs. Jones-Smythe, as she 
 burst into the room with breathless 
 haste. " We did hurry so to get away 
 from Mrs. Egerton's, didn't we, Mabel ?" 
 
 "Yes, mamma," simpered the dutiful 
 daughter. 
 
 " You're just in time," said Margaret, 
 resignedly. Then, seeing in the arrival 
 of Monty Dressier a chance of escape, 
 she called to the Frenchman, who was 
 still alone: "Let me introduce you to 
 Mrs. Jones-Smythe, Monsieur Duval." 
 And leaving the painter to his fate, she 
 turned to Monty Dressier eagerly, feel 
 ing that even he was a relief. 
 
 Charlier-Duval glanced at Mrs. Jones- 
 Smythe and shuddered. His bow was 
 lacking in impressiveness. 
 
 "It is a great honor to meet so dis-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 95 
 
 tinguished an artist," was the effusive 
 greeting of Mrs. Jones-Smythe. " Isn't 
 it, Mabel?" 
 
 " Yes, mamma." 
 
 " Oh, I beg pardon," said the admir 
 ing mother, " this is my daughter, Mabel. 
 She adores art. She paints tea-cups 
 charmingly." 
 
 Charlier-Duval lifted his eyebrows in 
 mild amazement, while Mabel seized 
 her mother's arm hurriedly. "Oh, 
 mamma," she whispered, "there is Mrs. 
 Ferry Dobbs." 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed the mother, "I must 
 speak to her." And, with a hurried ex 
 cuse to Duval, she waddled toward the 
 queen, dragging Mabel after her. 
 
 Duval shrugged his shoulders sus 
 piciously. "Jones-Smythe," he mur 
 mured; "I know not ze name." Then 
 he took a little morocco-bound note 
 book from his pocket and hurriedly ran 
 over the pages. "Bah!" he said, 
 finally. " She ees not in ze seventy-five. 
 I make her not a price." 
 
 Margaret had been endeavoring, in-
 
 96 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 effectually, to converse with Monty 
 Dressier; but books and music were be 
 yond his understanding, so her efforts 
 ended abruptly, while his eyes traveled 
 about the room restlessly, as if he were 
 seeking a plausible means of escape. 
 
 "I say, aren't you jealous?" he said, 
 with a meaning glance across the room. 
 " Look at Wendell and Lady Cold- 
 stream I wouldn't trust him too far, if 
 I were you. She's quite a fascinator." 
 
 "Really, Mr. Dressier," answered 
 Margaret, coldly, " I fail to see the 
 point." 
 
 "The point!" laughed Dressier. 
 Meeting a stony stare, he hesitated. 
 "Oh, the point is ah um where's 
 your husband?" 
 
 "You'll find him in his den," and 
 Margaret turned away abruptly, leaving 
 him to chuckle to himself: " I had her 
 there," as he sauntered off in search of 
 Ainslee. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mrs. Jones-Smythe was 
 pounding away with verbal artillery in 
 a vain attempt to reduce the defenses
 
 THE IDLE BORN 97 
 
 of Mrs. Ferry Dobbs; but the latter was 
 equal to the occasion, and after repeated 
 repulses the attacking party was forced 
 to plead, as a final effort: 
 
 "Oh, I'm so disappointed. Wouldn't 
 Friday do, or Monday or any day you 
 like? You know I am counting on 
 you." 
 
 " Oh, really! " said Mrs. Ferry Dobbs, 
 frigidly, with a stare that was absolutely 
 squelching, as she turned on her heel 
 and strode away, leaving the discomfited 
 tuft-hunter to recover from her igno 
 minious defeat as best she might. 
 
 " The cat! " hissed Mrs. Jones-Smythe, 
 when she had caught her breath. 
 
 " Never mind, mamma," said Mabel, 
 reassuringly. " We're as rich as she is 
 some day it'll be our turn." 
 
 Lady Coldstream had been taking in 
 this little comedy of manners. " The 
 queen is rather nifty, what?" she said 
 to Wendell. 
 
 " Yes, it is getting more difficult every 
 day for a well-bred woman to keep her 
 position in New York."
 
 98 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " Poor Mrs. Smythe, I pity her," re 
 plied Lady Coldstream, feelingly. 
 
 " Don't pity the rich they, too, have 
 their pleasures, said Wendell, quoting 
 a proverb he had heard somewhere. 
 
 Charlier-Duval, however, was grow 
 ing impatient. He stood alone in the 
 center of the stage, but the audience 
 failed somehow to realize the presence 
 of the star. 
 
 "And ze portrait," he called to Mar 
 garet. " Meeses Ferry Dobbs have not 
 seen him." 
 
 " Muriel, dear," said Margaret to 
 Lady Coldstream, " won't you lead the 
 way? I am really ashamed to show 
 myself off." 
 
 " You ought to be proud, my dear 
 it flatters you tremendously." 
 
 "Thanks, dear," laughed Margaret. 
 " I shall never be conceited so long as 
 you are here." 
 
 Lady Coldstream did not vouchsafe 
 a reply, but obediently led the way to 
 the drawing-room, followed by the 
 Jones-Smythes. Charlier-Duval swelled
 
 THE IDLE BORN 99 
 
 his chest imposingly and held the 
 portiere for Mrs. Ferry Dobbs to pass, 
 while Beacher, obedient to a glance 
 from the queen, disturbed the equanim 
 ity of Ferry Dobbs' slumbers by shak 
 ing him and saying, gruffly: " Wake up, 
 Dobbs; you're wanted!" Whereupon 
 the little millionaire shuffled meekly 
 toward the drawing-room, upsetting a 
 vase of flowers as he passed.
 
 Ill 
 
 Such cause of suspicion. 
 
 Merry Wives of Windsor. 
 
 Margaret turned away from the re 
 treating guests with an expression of 
 relief. Fortunately, the presence of 
 Lady Coldstream would gratify the 
 pretentiousness of Mrs. Ferry Dobbs, 
 so she felt at liberty to steal a word 
 with Wendell. 
 
 " How tiresome those people are," 
 she said, sinking wearily into the corner 
 of a divan. 
 
 " Yet they are your friends," answered 
 Wendell, drawing up a chair. 
 
 " Hardly," she said, with a tinge of 
 sarcasm. " One has only acquaintances 
 and enemies in society." 
 
 "Why so cynical, Margaret?" Wen 
 dell asked, looking into her face 
 anxiously. " It isn't like you." 
 
 "Do you know what I am like? I 
 hardly know myself." 
 
 IOI
 
 102 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " I know what you have been to me," 
 he said. 
 
 "You foolish boy," she laughed. 
 Then, after a moment's thought, she 
 continued: " I wish you would fall in 
 love with some nice girl. I want you to 
 be happy. I am almost happy myself 
 to-day." 
 
 " Why, only yesterday you told me 
 " he exclaimed. 
 
 " Forget it, Norman," she interrupted. 
 " I was wrong to speak of it. It was 
 nothing only my foolish jealousy." 
 
 "Are you quite sure?" he asked. 
 
 " Why do you ask me that ? " she said. 
 
 Wendell hesitated. " Because I might 
 help you," he said, finally. " He would 
 listen to me. I could make him listen." 
 
 "You needn't," answered Margaret. 
 " We talked it over to-day. We under 
 stand each other now." 
 
 Wendell looked out of the window at 
 the passing carriages. " Forgive me," 
 he answered, quietly, " for thinking 
 Schuyler would do anything to make 
 you unhappy."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 103 
 
 " You are always a comfort, Norman," 
 said Margaret. " It is something to 
 know there is one person one can count 
 on." 
 
 For a moment Wendell did not an 
 swer. Then he turned suddenly and, 
 looking into her eyes, said earnestly: 
 
 " Let me help you if there is ever 
 need let me still see you often." 
 
 Margaret smiled. She was thinking 
 of what Lady Coldstream had said 
 about husbands and other men. "And 
 the more often I see you, the more peo 
 ple will talk," she said, placing a cush 
 ion behind her back. 
 
 " Need we throw away our friendship 
 for that?" he asked. "People will al 
 ways talk about something." 
 
 " I suppose so," she sighed. 
 
 " Let me feel I am something to you," 
 he said, anxiously; " that I have still 
 some part in your life." 
 
 She looked up and met his eyes. 
 "And should I need your help," she 
 asked, playfully, "will you promise me 
 your strong right arm?"
 
 io 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 He pressed her hand to his lips. "Yes, 
 I promise," he said. 
 
 It was not the moment either would 
 have chosen for the entrance of Renee 
 Dressier, but the unexpected happened; 
 just as Wendell took Margaret's hand 
 she appeared in the doorway and, tak 
 ing in the situation at a glance, smiled 
 with undisguised satisfaction at what 
 she saw. 
 
 " Oh, I beg pardon," she said, sar 
 castically, " I feel I interrupt." 
 
 Margaret blushed. Innocent as Wen 
 dell's action had been, she saw quickly 
 what Renee Dressier meant. 
 
 " Not at all, I assure you," she said, 
 confusedly. 
 
 "Really I heard Mr. Wendell had 
 gone to Westbury so finding him 
 here, I thought " Then Renee 
 Dressier looked at the ceiling and 
 smiled. 
 
 "I am going later," said Wendell, 
 sharply. "There is surely nothing sur 
 prising in finding me here." 
 
 " With so attractive a woman cer-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 105 
 
 tainly not. But it looked as if I might 
 be de trap!' 
 
 "That is usually the case with a third 
 party, Mrs. Dressier, where you are con 
 cerned," said Margaret, coldly. Then 
 she turned away abruptly and fol 
 lowed by Wendell, entered the draw 
 ing-room. 
 
 Renee Dressier shrugged her shoul 
 ders contemptuously. " So it is to be 
 war," she said to herself. "Very well; I 
 accept the challenge." 
 
 Going to the table, she took up a pho 
 tograph of Margaret, and eyed it criti 
 cally. Smiling significantly, she put it 
 back in its place and, taking up her 
 muff, started toward the door of Ains- 
 lee's den, where she met her husband. 
 Monty was evidently in bad humor, for 
 he swore under his breath and slammed 
 the door violently. 
 
 " Please, remember, you're not at 
 home, Monty," said his wife, reproving 
 ly. " Your domestic manners hardly 
 adorn society." 
 
 " Society be damned!" muttered Mori-
 
 106 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 ty, "and Ainslee, too. He's gone back 
 on me." 
 
 "You can't blame him, can you?" 
 sneered Renee. "A husband who fleeces 
 his wife's admirers is not an edifying 
 spectacle, even in New York." 
 
 "You're a nice lot to talk," he growled. 
 "You and your beastly extravagance 
 have got me into this mess. Now you've 
 got to get me out. You must make 
 Ainslee renew the loan." 
 
 "And if I can't or won't?" 
 
 "Then we leave Fifth avenue for the 
 poor-house." 
 
 " How charming!" Renee exclaimed, 
 with an air of relief. "Then I shall be 
 able to divorce you for non-support." 
 
 " None of your confounded sarcasm," 
 snarled Monty. "Can't you see the hole 
 I'm in?" 
 
 "My dear Monty," she answered, 
 sweetly, "you seem to forget that Schuy- 
 ler Ainslee is married." 
 
 "I forget nothing," he answered, with 
 a meaning look. " I simply give you 
 credit for being a clever woman."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 107 
 
 " You flatter me," she exclaimed, "but 
 I fear your confidence is misplaced. 
 Only yesterday he asked me to return 
 his letters." 
 
 She drew a bundle of letters from her 
 muff and waved them tauntingly before 
 his eyes. 
 
 "Are you fool enough to do it?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "Why not ? They are ancient history 
 now," she said. 
 
 Dressier snatched the letters out of 
 her hand. "Then I'll keep them," he 
 said, drawing away from her quickly. 
 "They might come in useful." 
 
 " Monty," she cried, angrily, " give 
 those letters back. I'll help you in 
 my own way, or not at all." 
 
 Dressier paid no attention to what 
 she said, but taking one of the letters 
 from the bundle he began to read it. 
 
 " Oh, ho!" he laughed. "This hardly 
 sounds like ancient history. Listen! 
 ' DEAREST R.: 
 
 'N. W. is going to the country. Meet 
 me at the studio at 11.30. The door will
 
 io8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 be open, so don't ring. And above all, 
 don't disappoint me. 
 
 'Yours, as ever, 
 
 'S.'" 
 
 Monty looked at her quizzically. 
 "When was this written?" he asked. 
 
 " Last year, I suppose," she answered, 
 indifferently. "I have not heard from 
 him for months." 
 
 Dressier examined the letter care 
 fully. "There is no date," he said. "It 
 might have been written to-day. How 
 fortunate I am such a trusting husband!" 
 
 Renee approached him quickly and 
 snatched the letters from his hand. 
 "What a cad you are!" she said. 
 
 "You're not the one to call names," 
 he answered. " I'm not the only man 
 in New York who has gone to the devil 
 to keep his wife in the swim. I might 
 have been a decent chap if I hadn't 
 married you." 
 
 " Yes, and I might have married 
 Schuyler Ainslee and had all this," she 
 said, with an envious glance about the 
 room. Then she pushed him from her
 
 THE IDLE BORN 109 
 
 angrily. "Go, Monty, go," she cried. 
 " Oh, sometimes I feel I could kill you." 
 
 He walked to the door sullenly, then 
 he turned and looked at her. " Good 
 God, Renee," he said, "you could give 
 the devil points." 
 
 She did not answer, so he left her 
 gazing at Ainslee's letter. " It might 
 have been written yesterday," she said, 
 when she heard his step in the hall. 
 "What if it were ?" She folded the let 
 ter carefully and put it in her muff, keep 
 ing the others in her hand. 
 
 " I'll keep that letter," she thought. 
 "Some day, Schuyler Ainslee, I'll clip 
 your wings."
 
 IV 
 
 But my revenge will come. 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 When Ainslee came into the library 
 a moment later he found Renee Dress 
 ier seated before the fire, with her head 
 thrown back and her feet on the fender, 
 in an attitude indicative of possession. 
 She had made up her mind to hold her 
 ground, and such a trifling matter as 
 Margaret's defiance had not in the least 
 disturbed her equanimity. On the con 
 trary, her fighting nature had been 
 aroused, and she was resolved to win, 
 by fair means or foul. 
 
 Ainslee deliberated a moment as to 
 how he should greet her after the prom 
 ise he had made his wife; but wishing 
 to avoid an open rupture, at least until 
 he had gained possession of his letters, 
 he went toward her and said, in a friend 
 ly way: 
 
 in
 
 ii2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "What, Renee, all alone?" 
 
 She glanced up and smiled. "Yes; I 
 was waiting to give you these," she an 
 swered, handing him the packet she 
 held in her hand. 
 
 "Thank you," he said taking the let 
 ters without glancing at them. " Most 
 women would have kept them." 
 
 For a moment Renee was silent. 
 Then, with a sudden impulse, she left 
 her seat and, turning toward him, said 
 quickly: 
 
 "Why did you ask for them? Do you 
 mistrust me so?" 
 
 " No, he replied, throwing the letters 
 into the fire with a sigh of relief, "but a 
 dead past is never buried." 
 
 " Did it never occur to you that I 
 might hate you?" she said, in a tone of 
 bitterness. 
 
 "You never cared enough for that." 
 
 For a moment they watched the 
 burning letters. 
 
 "So you think love is only a mo 
 mentary blaze, like that?" she said, fi 
 nally.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 113 
 
 " It is dangerous to play with fire," 
 he answered. " Only friendship is last- 
 ing." 
 
 " Friendship is too cheap to be worth 
 having," she sneered. 
 
 "And love is too expensive to be 
 worth while." 
 
 "Your wife and Norman Wendell 
 don't seem to think so." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" he cried, look 
 ing up suddenly and meeting her eyes. 
 
 " Oh, nothing," she replied, turning 
 away from the fire and placing her muff 
 carelessly on the table. " But if I were 
 a married man, I should never have a 
 best friend." 
 
 " You have no right to say that," he 
 said angrily." 
 
 "Why, what have I said?" 
 
 "No more than the world says, I 
 suppose. Life is made up of some 
 people's misery and what other people 
 say about it." 
 
 She looked at him meaningly. 
 
 " The way to avoid misery is not to 
 run away from happiness."
 
 ii 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Happiness!" he laughed, "at the 
 price of self-respect? No! " 
 
 " Marriage has made a prig of you," 
 she exclaimed. " Why don't you teach 
 your wife this new-found morality she 
 needs it." 
 
 Ainslee clenched his hands together. 
 
 " If a man said that," he muttered, 
 " I'd knock him down." 
 
 " And when a woman says it?" 
 
 " I can only laugh," he answered, 
 turning away and gazing into the fire. 
 
 She came toward him and stood be 
 side him for a moment, so that her arm 
 touched his. " There are none so blind 
 as those who won't see," she said, 
 softly. "And and revenge would be 
 so easy." He felt the pressure of her 
 hand. "Are you never tempted?" she 
 whispered, passionately. 
 
 "You tempted me once," he said 
 meeting her glance. 
 
 " And now? Have you forgotten? " 
 
 " I see no reason for remembering," 
 he said, coldly, turning his eyes away. 
 Then seeing Mrs. Ferry Dobbs and her
 
 THE IDLE BORN 115 
 
 suite approaching, he left her and 
 walked toward them. 
 
 " Take care!" Renee muttered under 
 her breath. " I have not forgotten, 
 and I may find a way to make you 
 remember." 
 
 She sat down by the fire again and 
 stealthily watched the proceedings, 
 while pretending to be absorbed in a 
 book. 
 
 The departure of Mrs. Dobbs was 
 the signal for the breaking up of the 
 party. Charlier-Duval followed in her 
 train, and so did Mrs. Jones-Smythe, 
 while Dickie Willing, for the purpose 
 of teasing Eveline, permitted himself 
 to be captured by the simpering Mabel 
 and led away, much to the annoyance 
 of Miss Innocence, who, unaccustomed 
 to such wiles, retired upstairs to weep 
 over the infidelity of mankind in general 
 and Dickie in particular. Norman 
 Wendell, meanwhile, tarried over the 
 cups with Margaret, not unobserved, 
 however, by Renee Dressier, who 
 quietly moved her seat so she could
 
 n6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 watch them through the door of the 
 drawing-room. 
 
 When Ainslee returned from seeing 
 Mrs. Ferry Dobbs to the door he passed 
 by Mrs. Dressier without apparently 
 noticing her. 
 
 " Really, Schuyler," she protested, 
 leaving her seat. " Am I to be ignored 
 as well as forgotten?" 
 
 Ainslee turned at the sound of her 
 voice. 
 
 "I beg pardon," he said, 'I thought 
 you were having tea." 
 
 "Oh, dear, no; I was waiting like a 
 woman for the last word." Then she 
 paused and looked at him curiously. 
 "Which must be ?" 
 
 " Which must be good-bye," he an 
 swered, coldly. 
 
 " Or good riddance," she said, with 
 an indifferent laugh. 
 
 " Don't be sarcastic," he protested. 
 " After all, it is the only way." 
 
 " For you ! But what of me ? " 
 
 " I can't change the past, even though 
 I should regret it."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 117 
 
 " That would be an edifying spec 
 tacle," she sneered. " The converted 
 Mr. Ainslee regretting his past! " 
 
 Margaret left her seat by the tea 
 table and came slowly toward them, 
 followed by Norman Wendell. They 
 were apparently in earnest conversa 
 tion, and Ainslee's back being turned, 
 he did not see his wife. With a quick 
 glance Renee Dressier took in the sit 
 uation and formed a plan for revenge. 
 
 " Well," she said, turning to Ains 
 lee, and extending her hand, "the last 
 word." 
 
 " Come Renee," said Ainslee, " we'd 
 better part friends." 
 
 " No," she answered, watching Mar 
 garet carefully. " Having ceased to be 
 lovers, we'd better part enemies." 
 
 " Enemies! " he exclaimed. 
 
 Renee saw Margaret start back in 
 surprise. It was her opportunity. 
 
 " Yes," she whispered. " Remember 
 women do not forget as easily as men, 
 and they get even in the end." Then 
 she threw her arms about Ainslee's neck
 
 n8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 and cried, passionately: "You love me 
 you love me! I knew it. Tell me 
 again that you love me! " 
 
 With a cry of pain, Margaret seized 
 Wendell's arm. "Oh, did you see?" 
 she exclaimed, her face white with 
 rage. 
 
 Ainslee saw his wife, and the mean 
 ing of Renee Dressler's action dawned 
 upon him. " Renee, for God's sake 
 don't you see?" he cried, disengaging 
 himself from her sudden embrace. 
 
 Renee looked at him with a dazed 
 expression. Then, turning toward 
 Margaret, she quickly assumed a man 
 ner of intense embarrassment, and 
 was for the moment confused and 
 speechless. 
 
 " Oh," she gasped finally, " this is 
 most embarrassing quite compro 
 mising, in fact." She looked helplessly 
 from one to the other, and, turning to 
 Ainslee, said, with a sickly smile : 
 " Really, Schuyler, we ought to be more 
 careful." 
 
 The scene was cleverly acted, and
 
 THE IDLE BORN 119 
 
 produced its effect. Margaret, white 
 with anger, started toward her, but 
 Wendell grasped her arm hurriedly. 
 
 " Don't! " he cried. " She is trying to 
 humiliate you." 
 
 Mrs. Dressier, smiling sweetly, walked 
 toward Margaret. 
 
 " Good-bye, my dear," she said. " I've 
 had such a charming afternoon. Your 
 husband has been so entertaining. But 
 he ought to take lessons from Mr. 
 Wendell he's really quite a novice." 
 
 She put out her hand. Margaret 
 turned her back abruptly. 
 
 Renee Dressier shrugged her shoul 
 ders, and laughed; then, with a familiar 
 nod to Schuyler, she walked out of the 
 room, leaving her muff intentionally on 
 the table. 
 
 Margaret sank into a chair and cov 
 ered her face with her hands. 
 
 " In my house before my eyes!" she 
 moaned. " Oh, this is unendurable." 
 
 Ainslee stood there like one stunned. 
 He could not realize that any woman 
 could do such a dastardly thing for
 
 120 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 the sake of a miserable revenge. He 
 tried to think, but his brain refused 
 to work. He could only wonder at 
 such cruelty. 
 
 Wendell was the first to speak. 
 Angry at the insult to Margaret, he 
 stepped toward Ainslee. 
 
 "And this is how you keep your 
 promise?" he cried. 
 
 Ainslee started furiously. " Yes," he 
 muttered, "a damned sight better than 
 you keep yours." 
 
 On the impulse of the moment 
 Wendell raised his hand to strike. 
 
 " No, no," screamed Margaret, throw 
 ing herself between them. " For my 
 sake, don't! " 
 
 "Well," said Wendell, coldly, "for 
 your sake." 
 
 For a moment the two men glared at 
 each other. Then Wendell turned on 
 his heel and left the room.
 
 V 
 
 Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou 
 hasten thy trial. 
 
 All's Well that Ends Well. 
 
 When the sound of Wendell's foot 
 steps had died away Ainslee turned 
 toward his wife. She had gone to the 
 window and was looking out at the 
 bleak expanse of the park. Instead 
 of tears, there was a bitter, injured 
 look in her eyes, and her lips were 
 pressed together firmly. Renee Dress- 
 ler's blow had been so sudden and 
 cruel that in her anger she did not 
 realize the awfulness of her position. 
 But she knew that confidence was 
 dead; that the end had come the end 
 of everything. 
 
 Ainslee watched her for a moment, 
 not daring to break the silence. The 
 trap had been so carefully set, and he 
 had been led into it so cleverly, that he 
 
 121
 
 i22 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 was utterly at a loss for an explanation. 
 But the consciousness that he had done 
 no wrong prompted him to appeal to 
 her sense of justice, with the hope that 
 she would believe the truth. 
 
 " Margaret," he said, finally. 
 
 She turned and looked him full in the 
 eyes. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 Her calmness frightened him. 
 
 " How can I explain what you have 
 just seen?" he faltered. 
 
 "You needn't explain," she answered. 
 "You may spare yourself the trouble." 
 
 " You wouldn't condemn me un 
 heard?" he protested. 
 
 " I don't condemn you you have 
 condemned yourself." 
 
 " Don't be unjust," he said, taking a 
 step toward her. 
 
 "You have deceived me from the 
 first," she answered, bitterly. 
 
 "I have not," he exclaimed. "She 
 was desperate. It was impulse revenge 
 God knows what." 
 
 " Don't be a coward," she said.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 123 
 
 "Don't sacrifice her to save your 
 self." 
 
 " I have a right to protect myself," 
 he protested; "can't you see I am telling 
 the truth?" 
 
 " Why lie to me any more? " she re 
 plied, turning away wearily. " Does a 
 woman throw herself into a man's arms 
 for nothing?" 
 
 " If it were true, if I were her lover," 
 he said, angrily, " I'd be man enough to 
 acknowledge it." 
 
 " But I heard I saw with my own 
 eyes." 
 
 For a moment he looked at her re 
 proachfully. " What if I were to doubt 
 your sincerity?" he said, finally. "What 
 if I were to believe what people tell me 
 about you and Wendell?" 
 
 With a cry of pain she turned and 
 faced him, her eyes flashing with anger. 
 
 "And if it were true, would I be the 
 first woman to seek elsewhere for the 
 love she failed to find at home?" 
 
 He seized her hand and drew her 
 toward him. " I know it is only my
 
 i2 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 word against hers but can't you see it 
 is not true? that I love you, not her? 
 Will nothing I can say convince you? 
 Does your heart tell you nothing?" 
 
 She thought of the words of an hour 
 before, and the lie he had told her. 
 
 " My heart," she laughed; "you had 
 all my heart, all my love and the chance 
 to prove that I might trust you." 
 
 "And you have the chance to make 
 me feel it is worth while to be straight 
 and square the chance to forgive. 
 Don't throw it away." 
 
 With a shudder she drew her hand 
 away. It was not in her heart to for 
 give. 
 
 "You ask too much," she said. 
 " Some day you may know what it is to 
 suffer. I hope you may." 
 
 "You can't go like this," he cried. 
 " You must listen to me." 
 
 "What is the use?" she said disdain 
 fully. " When trust is gone, love is 
 gone. So why pretend?" 
 
 Without a word he turned and walked 
 slowly toward the door of his own room;
 
 THE IDLE BORN 125 
 
 then he stood for a moment on the 
 threshold watching her. 
 
 "Margaret!" he cried, impulsively. 
 
 She did not answer. 
 
 " Not one word?" Well, as you will 
 and God help us both." 
 
 When he had gone she looked up 
 suddenly and laughed. 
 
 " So this is the end, and my poor little 
 heaven was only a fools' paradise a 
 miserable house of cards, to tumble 
 over at the merest touch. Oh, it seemed 
 so beautiful to-day." The tears came 
 at last, and she covered her face with 
 her hands and sobbed. But it brought 
 no relief. With a sudden effort she 
 dried her eyes and gazed about the 
 room. 
 
 "Well, I shall go on living, I suppose. 
 People never die when the fire is burned 
 out." 
 
 Her hand fell upon the table and 
 touched something warm and soft. It 
 was Renee Dressler's muff, and for a 
 moment she stroked it abstractedly; 
 then she held it up before her eyes.
 
 i26 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Her muff!" she said. "Soft and 
 furry, like the owner. B-r-r-r I can 
 almost hear her purr." 
 
 With a quick impulse she seized the 
 muff with both her hands and shook it 
 resentfully. An envelope dropped to 
 the floor and lay there with the address 
 exposed. 
 
 "Schuyler's writing!" she exclaimed. 
 Picking up the letter, she tore it 
 quickly from the envelope and read: 
 
 " 'N. W. is going to the country, so meet me at 
 the studio at half-past eleven. The door will be open 
 so don't ring.' " 
 
 For a moment she sat gazing at the 
 floor. Then, with a start, she crumpled 
 the letter in her hand. 
 
 " To-night," she muttered, jumping to 
 her feet. "After the opera when he 
 says he goes to the club." 
 
 For a while she paced the floor, think 
 ing of the events that had brought forth 
 this new insult. 
 
 "Fool! "she said; "does he think I 
 will sit here meekly and let this go 
 on? " Then she paused, and placed her
 
 THE IDLE BORN 127 
 
 hands over her eyes. " Let me think! 
 Let me think! " she muttered. " Yes 
 yes I'll do it." 
 
 In pursuance of the wild plan she had 
 formed she went to the table and rang 
 the bell; then she smoothed out the let 
 ter and placed it carefully in the muff 
 as she had found it. 
 
 "Will he lie to me again?" she said, 
 rubbing the fur against her face. "Will 
 he beg and implore forgiveness? Oh, 
 to meet them face to face! " 
 
 "Did you ring, madam?" asked the 
 servant who had answered the bell. 
 
 " Yes," she answered quickly. " Take 
 this muff to Mrs. Dressier. There is a 
 letter inside; be careful not to lose it." 
 
 "Very good, madam," replied the 
 man. 
 
 Margaret walked to the window. It 
 was snowing. 
 
 "And I might have been weak enough 
 to forgive!" she said, finally. 
 
 Lady Coldstream came into the room. 
 " I say, Margaret," she asked, " isn't it 
 time to dress?"
 
 128 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " I shall not go to the opera to-night," 
 answered Margaret, decidedly. 
 
 Lady Coldstream shrugged her 
 shoulders.
 
 PART III 
 
 ANOTHER EVENING
 
 I 
 
 I were unmannerly to take you out, 
 And not to kiss you. 
 
 -Henry VIII. 
 
 Dickie Willing threw open the door 
 of Norman Wendell's studio so uncere 
 moniously that Eveline entered without 
 a question. His evident familiarity with 
 the premises robbed her of all suspicion 
 and she had just time to see that she 
 was standing at the top of a short flight 
 of stairs, and that there were vague 
 forms of easels and men in armor be 
 yond, when the hall door closed sud 
 denly behind her, and she was left in 
 Cimmerian obscurity. 
 
 "Why, it's dark!" she exclaimed, 
 drawing back in fright. 
 
 " Rather," chuckled Dickie. " Let's 
 play going through a tunnel. Bully 
 game for two." Whereupon he promptly 
 kissed her.
 
 132 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "If you do that again I'll scream!" 
 cried Eveline, struggling to free herself. 
 
 "Can't," he laughed; " it's against the 
 rules of the game." And in spite of her 
 struggles he kissed her again. How 
 ever, if the truth must be known, a girl 
 is never kissed twice against her will, 
 even in the dark. 
 
 "Stop, Dickie!" she expostulated, 
 with as much indignation as might be 
 expected from a convent-bred young 
 lady who was experiencing a very 
 wicked sensation without the slightest 
 chance of being found out. " If you 
 don't stop, I'll never look at you again." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," laughed the art 
 ful Dickie, turning the switch of the 
 electric light. "Ha! Rather neat, 
 what?" he chuckled, as the lofty study 
 was brought suddenly into view. 
 
 For a moment Eveline gazed in be 
 wilderment at the armor, the tapestries 
 and the rare old furniture, gathered 
 from many lands by a lover of the beau 
 tiful. Then she realized that a young 
 woman in her position must show some
 
 THE IDLE BORN 133 
 
 spirit; so, glaring at Dickie resentfully 
 she walked down the stairs with a 
 haughty tread. 
 
 " I'll I'll never speak to you again," 
 she said, when she felt that a safe dis 
 tance separated her from her audacious 
 companion. 
 
 " Oh, very well, very well. There are 
 others," and Dickie Willing strode into 
 the room with a swagger that gave em 
 phasis to his indifference. 
 
 " I suppose you mean Mabel Smythe," 
 said Eveline, with feminine disregard 
 of her threat. 
 
 "Didn't say so, did I?" 
 
 " I suppose you've kissed her, too?" 
 
 "And the girl guessed right the very 
 first time." Whereupon the inconsider 
 ate Dickie proceeded to whistle the re 
 frain of a popular song in which the boy 
 is supposed to do the guessing. 
 
 Eveline did not reply. Tossing her 
 head disdainfully, she proceeded to ex 
 amine a Florentine marriage coffer with 
 the air of a connaisseur, although, as a 
 matter of fact, she thought it must be a
 
 i 3 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 coffin or a mummy-case. She began, 
 however, to realize her position. Some 
 thing must have happened to Lady 
 Coldstream, and there she was, alone in 
 a bachelor's apartments with Dickie 
 Willing. 
 
 "Oh, I wish they'd come!" she said, 
 glancing toward the door anxiously. "I 
 knew something would happen." 
 
 "Well, it happened all right, all right," 
 answered Dickie, gleefully, tripping 
 toward her in a manner that foreboded 
 evil intent. 
 
 "That will do, Mr. Willing," said Eve 
 line, gently but firmly displacing the 
 arm with which he had surrounded her 
 waist. "You know I am here without a 
 chaperon." 
 
 "Rather!" chuckled Dickie. "That's 
 why I embraced the opportunity." 
 
 "Mr. Willing," exclaimed Eveline, 
 haughtily, "I am not an opportunity!" 
 Whereupon she withdrew to the farther 
 end of the room and turned her back. 
 
 Dickie looked after her disconsolate 
 ly. "Oh, I am enjoying myself," he
 
 THE IDLE BORN 135 
 
 muttered, as he went to the wall and 
 pushed the electric bell, suiting the ac 
 tion with the words: " Did anyone say 
 drinks?" 
 
 But Eveline was in no mood for ba 
 dinage. She was thoroughly frightened 
 at her predicament and ashamed of her 
 part in the escapade. So she paid no 
 attention to Dickie's efforts to be funny; 
 and he, finding that he was very much 
 out of it, came toward her sorrowfully, 
 and said, in a pleading tone: 
 
 " I say, won't you forgive me ? I'll be 
 good next time." 
 
 Eveline looked at him scornfully. 
 " Never, so long as I live!" 
 
 "Then I hope you'll die young," an 
 swered the incorrigible youth. 
 
 "Brute!" she cried. 
 
 At that moment Wendell's man en 
 tered in answer to Dickie's summons, 
 and further hostilities were averted. 
 
 " Did you ring, sir?" said the servant, 
 sleepily. Then, seeing Eveline and 
 Dickie,he continued, in evident perplex 
 ity: "I beg pardon, sir, I thought it was
 
 i 3 6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Mr. Wendell. Shall I tell him you are 
 here, sir?" 
 
 " No, Parker, no," answered Dickie, 
 with a prohibitive gesture. " I'm it." 
 Then, swelling his chest to its proudest 
 dimensions, he continued, authorita 
 tively: "We will feast, Parker on Mr. 
 Wendell. We will drink, Parker on 
 Mr. Wendell. There will be seven of 
 us without Mr. Wendell he can wait." 
 
 " Very good, sir," was the imperturb 
 able response. But Eveline, who was 
 now becoming thoroughly provoked by 
 Dickie's imbecility, interupted the pro 
 ceedings. 
 
 " Perhaps you'll be good enough to 
 stop this nonsense," she said to him, 
 "and let the man tell Mr. Wendell we 
 are here." 
 
 " Sorry to disoblige a lady," he re 
 plied; "but this is a surprise party, and 
 the other surprises have not yet arriv 
 ed." And, turning to the servant, he 
 continued his commands regardless of 
 Eveline's protests: " Get the chafing 
 dishes ready, Parker plenty of cold
 
 THE IDLE BORN 137 
 
 beer and enough whisky and soda to 
 quench my thirst." 
 
 Parker's stereotyped reply of " Very 
 good, sir," preceded his exit from the 
 room, and as the door closed behind 
 him, Eveline gave Willing a glance of 
 withering scorn and turned her back; 
 whereupon he went to the piano, and 
 with one finger and a great deal of pains 
 picked out the notes of the familiar 
 song: " There's only One Girl in this 
 World for Me." This delicate compli 
 ment softened the ire of Eveline to the 
 extent of making her glance stealthily 
 over her shoulder at the crafty Dickie, 
 who, seizing this opportunity to display 
 his indifference, pounded out the notes 
 of "There are Other Coons as Warm as 
 You," much to Eveline's disgust and his 
 own merriment.
 
 II 
 
 In fair Bohemia. 
 
 The Winter's Tale. 
 
 When Mrs. Dressier entered the stu 
 dio a moment later she leaned over the 
 banister to survey the situation. Dickie 
 was pounding the piano with his inde 
 fatigable finger, and Eveline was care 
 fully ensconced in a far-way corner,with 
 her back turned upon him and an ex 
 pression of offended dignity on her 
 pretty face. 
 
 " There's a Gibson picture for you," 
 she laughed. " Find the girl who's just 
 been kissed." 
 
 However, Nicholas Schuyler, her com 
 panion, did not appreciate the persiflage 
 of the situation. Furious at discover 
 ing his daughter alone with a man at 
 midnight, he rushed toward Eveline, his 
 face growing redder with every stride.
 
 140 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Where's Lady Coldstream ? " he 
 shouted. 
 
 Eveline blushed and tried to stam 
 mer an excuse, but Dickie whisked 
 about on his piano stool and manfully 
 entered the breach. 
 
 " Oh, don't worry about Lady Cold- 
 stream," he drawled. "She's old enough 
 to take care of herself." 
 
 " Sir!" hissed Nicholas Schuyler: 
 "wait till you are spoken to." 
 
 " Oh, I am enjoying myself!" Dickie 
 exclaimed, as he gave his stool another 
 twist and proceeded to finger the notes 
 of " There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old 
 Town To-night." Owing to the slow 
 ness with which his repertory was mas 
 tered, Dickie's music, though express 
 ive was invariably a season or two be 
 hind the times, but he had a motif for 
 every occasion ready at hand. 
 
 Meanwhile, Nicholas Schuyler strode 
 to and fro, muttering to himself, and 
 Renee Dressier removed her wrap. 
 
 "And have you no explanation,Miss?" 
 exclaimed the Knickerbocker, when he
 
 THE IDLE BORN 141 
 
 could control his choler sufficiently to 
 speak. 
 
 " You see, papa," Eveline faltered, 
 "when we left the opera the carriage 
 wasn't there because it was only the 
 third act so we took two cabs. Well, 
 Lady Coldstream insisted upon going 
 with Mr. Dressier and sending us ahead. 
 She said they would follow. Well, they 
 must have got lost. Really, papa, I 
 couldn't help it." 
 
 "Scandalous! Scandalous!" muttered 
 the old gentleman. " Follow, indeed! 
 Lady Coldstream ought to be ashamed 
 of herself!" 
 
 The diatribe was well timed, for at 
 this moment the English beauty de 
 scended the stairs. 
 
 " I beg pardon," she drawled, lan 
 guidly, at the mention of her name. 
 
 Mr. Schuyler's colors were, however, 
 nailed to the mast. " Yes, scandalous," 
 he repeated, defiantly. " The idea of 
 allowing my daughter to go about New 
 York at this hour of the night alone 
 with a young man. I repeat, madam,
 
 i 4 2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 you ought to be ashamed of your 
 self." 
 
 "Well, I'm not/'said Lady Coldstream, 
 laconically, as Monty Dressier removed 
 her sortie de bal, and she stepped for 
 ward in all the radiance of a superbly 
 fitting gown and the famous Coldstream 
 pearls. " Fancy wasting one's time 
 watching a girl! She's sure to catch 
 you asleep sooner or later, and when 
 she does she'll make up for lost time 
 if she's any sort of a girl." 
 
 Seeing that Lady Coldstream was 
 incorrigible, the irate father vented his 
 spleen upon the unfortunate Willing. 
 
 "As for you, sir," he said, turning 
 upon him sharply, " I forbid you ever to 
 enter my house again." 
 
 "Oh, I am enjoying myself," mut 
 tered the disconsolate Dickie, as he 
 gave expression to his feelings with 
 the one-fingered monody, " You Can't 
 Play in My Yard," while the angry 
 Knickerbocker turned his back and 
 began to inflict on Monty Dressier 
 a dissertation upon the duties of the
 
 THE IDLE BORN 143 
 
 modern parent. He had brought 
 Eveline up, as he assured Monty, un- 
 contaminated by the world, and, gra 
 cious though he was by nature, his 
 temper was uncontrollable toward those 
 who sought to infect his daughter with 
 the poisonous influences of modern 
 society. 
 
 "What made you so late," asked 
 Renee Dressier of Lady Coldstream, 
 with the commendable desire of re 
 lieving the situation. 
 
 " Why, that beast of a cabman got 
 lost took us way to Central Park." 
 
 "Fancy getting lost with Monty!" 
 said Mrs. Dressier sympathetically. 
 
 Lady Coldstream smiled. 
 
 " I don't believe you appreciate 
 Monty. He got quite forward in the cab." 
 
 " I know," mused Mrs. Dressier. 
 "A husband is like an umbrella 
 when you lose him always suspect a 
 friend." 
 
 "By Jove!" exclaimed the English 
 beauty. "When Coldstream got lost I 
 always suspected "
 
 i 4 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " Careful," interrupted Monty, who 
 was listening with one ear. "Youthful 
 innocence is with us." 
 
 "Oh, I'm not so innocent," protested 
 Eveline. 
 
 "Yes, Eveline's getting on," Lady 
 Coldstream said, with a knowing 
 look. " But I say, where's Mr. Wen 
 dell?" 
 
 "Puzzle: Find the man who's giving 
 the party," queried Mrs. Dressier, with 
 a glance about the studio. 
 
 " He isn't giving the party," laughed 
 Lady Coldstream. " I'm giving the 
 party the joke's on him." 
 * " Oh, I see. When you asked me I 
 thought it rather strange." 
 
 " The sinners are here, Mr. Willing. 
 But where is the publican? I, for one, 
 am thirsty," said Lady Coldstream, 
 turning to Dickie. 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," he answered, 
 with a meaning look at Eveline. " I 
 wasn't looking for Wendell." 
 
 " If you dare tell," expostulated 
 Eveline, with evident fright.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 145 
 
 " Oh, I was enjoying myself," Dickie 
 chuckled to himself. 
 
 " Well, find him, silly," interrupted 
 Lady Coldstream, sharply. Where 
 upon Dickie ambled leisurely toward 
 the door of Norman Wendell's bed 
 room, and rapping loudly, called, in 
 imitation of the falsetto tones of Bertie 
 Beacher: "Wake up, Dobbs; you're 
 wanted!" 
 
 The mandate, however, brought no re 
 sponse, so Dickie rapped again in vain. 
 
 " Open the door," suggested Mrs. 
 Dressier. 
 
 " Can't it's locked, " answered 
 Dickie after a vigorous rattling of the 
 door-knob. 
 
 " Rather suspicious, " said Lady 
 Coldstream. " These artists, you 
 know." 
 
 Dickie pounded again in a manner to 
 wake the dead, and at last the reponse: 
 "Hello! Who's there?" came faintly 
 through the door. 
 
 " We want you," called Lady Cold- 
 stream.
 
 i 4 6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "We want supper," shouted Dickie 
 Willing. 
 
 "Wait," was the muffled rejoinder, 
 " I'll be out in a minute." 
 
 So the besiegers awaited the capitu 
 lation, and meanwhile Nicholas Schuy- 
 ler vociferated his opinion to the long- 
 suffering Monty. 
 
 " I tell you," he exclaimed, " society 
 is going to the dogs. The young girls 
 know everything, and the married 
 women do everything." 
 
 " Rather," chuckled Monty. " It's no 
 longer a privilege to be a man." 
 
 " In my day, women were women." 
 
 "And men were brutes," interrupted 
 Lady Coldstream. "Just as they are 
 now." 
 
 The Knickerbocker's glance was in 
 tended to convey contempt, but as 
 Lady Coldstream only laughed, he felt 
 it had been futile, so he turned on his 
 heel and went to the window seat, where 
 he ensconced himself in a comfortable 
 corner and went to sleep, with the firm 
 conviction that he was justified in main-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 147 
 
 taining that society was going to the 
 dogs when such vulgar creatures as 
 Lady Coldstream were its representa 
 tives. 
 
 The bolts were withdrawn at last, 
 and Norman Wendell, with a sleepy, 
 disheveled appearance, came into the 
 room and rubbed his eyes. 
 
 " Well," he said, " you people seem to 
 have taken possession." 
 
 " Rather," growled Dickie Willing. 
 " Couldn't find anything else worth 
 taking." 
 
 "To whom am I indebted for this 
 surprise party?" Wendell continued, 
 looking about at the friends who had 
 so calmly possessed themselves of his 
 studio. 
 
 " To me," replied Lady Coldstream, 
 quite unabashed. " You looked so 
 bored at the opera I thought you needed 
 cheering up a bit." 
 
 "Yes; I couldn't stand but two acts, 
 so came home early. I was reading, 
 and must have fallen asleep." 
 
 " Do you always lock the door when
 
 i 4 8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 you read?" asked Mrs. Dressier, perti 
 nently. 
 
 " Yes. When the fellows next door 
 get thirsty they make a raid. I don't 
 mind their helping themselves, but I do 
 object to being routed out." 
 
 "You were so long about opening the 
 door," suggested Dressier, with a know 
 ing look, " that we thought perhaps you 
 were not alone." 
 
 "That would have been a surprise 
 party," laughed Lady Coldstream. 
 
 " Nothing so interesting, " said 
 Wendell. " I was merely asleep in a 
 beautiful pink dressing-gown nothing 
 worse. But how about supper?" 
 
 " Oh, I've ordered supper, all right, 
 all right," was Dickie's reassuring re 
 sponse. "Think I'll see how it's coming 
 on." Whereupon he made a hasty exit 
 in the direction of the dining-room. 
 
 "Well, I suppose you're all here," 
 said Wendell, with an effort to view the 
 situation as cheerfully as possible. 
 
 " Margaret's ill, but Schuyler said 
 he'd come," answered Lady Cold-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 149 
 
 stream, arranging the cushions on the 
 divan to support her back. " Didn't 
 act as though he wanted to though." 
 
 "I hesitated myself about coming," 
 said Renee Dressier, in a voice modu 
 lated for Wendell's ear alone; "but 
 Lady Coldstream insisted. Are you 
 surprised ? " 
 
 "After this afternoon, your hesita 
 tion, not your coming, is the surprise," 
 answered Wendell, coldly. 
 
 Renee Dressier looked at him in 
 tently. "Come, don't be nasty," she 
 said. "We're both playing the same 
 game." 
 
 Wendell turned away in disgust, 
 unwilling to honor such an insinuation 
 with a reply. 
 
 "Why didn't you keep your word?" 
 she asked, quickly. 
 
 "My word?" he exclaimed, in sur 
 prise. 
 
 " Yes. In the old days, when you 
 said you were going to the country you 
 usually went." 
 
 There was a photograph of Margaret
 
 i 5 o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 on the ledge of an old Spanish cabinet 
 near by. Mrs. Dressier picked up the 
 picture and looked at it. " But the 
 attractions of new York were not so 
 great then," she said, as she replaced 
 the photograph. 
 
 " I am not aware that my actions 
 concern you," he answered, shortly. 
 
 " Possibly not. But suppose I had 
 counted on your going. It might 
 have been very embarrassing, don't you 
 see?" 
 
 Wendell looked at her in amazement. 
 Her audacity was beyond his compre 
 hension. " Have you no conscience 
 whatever?" he asked. 
 
 Renee Dressier laughed. " Fancy 
 having a conscience in New York! 
 Conscience is only the fear of being 
 found out, and so many people are 
 found out nowadays that Mrs. Ferry 
 Dobbs no longer considers it a novelty 
 worthy of a dinner." 
 
 " Mrs. Dressier," said Wendell, calm 
 ly, " you are my guest. I can say noth 
 ing now."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 151 
 
 " But to-morrow," she thought, as he 
 walked away, " he will tell the lady 
 everything; and then, with the letter as 
 corroborative evidence well, we shall 
 see." 
 
 Dickie Willing appeared in the door 
 of the dining-room armed with a huge 
 glass of whisky-and-soda and a sand 
 wich. "Oh, I am enjoying myself," he 
 murmured, as he drained his glass; but 
 he was alone in his contentment. 
 
 "I say," yawned Monty Dressier. 
 " Isn't this party rather slow? " 
 
 The statement was not polite, but it 
 expressed the boredness of the party. 
 Wendell, in the role of compulsory host, 
 felt compelled to relieve the situation 
 of some of its monotony. So he went 
 to Eveline and asked her to play some 
 thing. 
 
 " Yes," exclaimed Lady Coldstream. 
 " One of those nigger things." 
 
 Eveline took the seat at the piano 
 and rattled off "A Georgia Camp Meet 
 ing," while Dickie Willing, inspired by 
 the rag-time music, seized Renee Dress-
 
 152 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 ler's hand, and together they performed 
 a sprightly cake walk to the accom 
 paniment of clapping hands. 
 
 Ainslee entered quietly just as the 
 merriment was at its height. 
 
 " Well, you all seem pretty festive," 
 he said, as he removed his coat. I 
 
 "You're just in time," called Monty 
 Dressier. " The performance is only 
 half-over." 
 
 'And after the performance," shouted 
 Dickie, " remember the concert in the 
 adjoining tent. Tickets only ten cents. 
 Gentlemanly ushers will now pass 
 among you!" 
 
 Someone started a popular chorus, 
 and as Parker threw back the portiere 
 of the dining-room Wendell mounted a 
 chair and called forth the welcome an 
 nouncement of: " Supper is now ready 
 in the dining-car." 
 
 " Tag you're it," said Dickie, giving 
 Renee Dressier a parting shove in the 
 direction of a huge chair, into which she 
 fell, panting for breath after the exer 
 tion in the cake walk, while Monty
 
 THE IDLE BORN 153 
 
 Dressier seized Eveline's hand and 
 dragged her away, shouting: " Come 
 on, Miss Innocence." 
 
 Wendell meanwhile descended from 
 his point of vantage, and, extending his 
 arm to Lady Coldstream, invited her to 
 " Come and help feed the animals." 
 
 '' Rather," exclaimed the beauty. 
 " I'm a bit peckish but I say," she con 
 tinued, looking about the room, "where* s 
 Mr. Schuyler?" 
 
 " Behold the sleeping beauty," laughed 
 Mrs. Dressier, pointing to the window 
 seat, where the courtly scion of old 
 New York was dozing sweetly, with 
 mouth wide open and accompany 
 ing noises dangerously approximating 
 snores. 
 
 "I say, Uncle Nicholas, wake up!" 
 said Ainslee, shaking him. 
 
 "Why why, what's the matter?" 
 grunted the slumberer, as he opened his 
 eyes in a dazed sort of way and gazed 
 about him. 
 
 "Supper champagne!" called Lady 
 Coldstream.
 
 iS4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "No beer," protested Wendell 
 " We're in Bohemia now." 
 
 "Aye," muttered the sexagenarian, as 
 Ainslee assisted him to his feet. " Bo 
 hemia, the land of the free and the 
 home of the beautiful. Oh, you artists ! " 
 he continued, giving Wendell a friendly 
 slap on the back. "Always jolly dogs. 
 Perhaps you think I am too old to be 
 young. Come, lead the way, I'm game 
 for anything." 
 
 Like a schoolboy in his teens he 
 capered merrily to the dining-room, fol 
 lowed by Lady Coldstream and the 
 host, while a salvo of popping corks 
 announced that Dickie Willing had dis 
 covered that champagne was not un 
 known in the wilds of electric-lighted 
 Bohemia.
 
 Ill 
 
 She is too subtle for thee. 
 
 As You Like It. 
 
 Renee Dressier had purposely stepped 
 aside to let Lady Coldstream pass. By 
 this manoeuvre she succeeded in barring 
 Ainslee's way to the dining-room. 
 
 "Well," she said, the moment they 
 were alone. " Have you nothing to say 
 to me?" 
 
 Her attitude was penitent, and for a 
 moment he stared at her in surprise, 
 unable to reconcile this humble pose 
 with her conduct of the afternoon. 
 
 " Nothing you would care to hear," 
 he said, turning away abruptly. 
 
 She went toward him and held out 
 her hands appealingly. " Then you re 
 fuse to forgive? " she pleaded. 
 
 "Good heavens!" he exclaimed, 
 "how can I? It was so heartless so 
 indecent!"
 
 i 5 6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Renee bowed her head submissively. 
 " Because I ask it," she said, " from the 
 bottom of my heart. Can I do more?" 
 
 " You can go to my wife and tell her 
 the truth." 
 
 She started angrily, then checked 
 herself. In a moment she was all hu 
 mility again. "And if I do as you ask ? " 
 she said. " If I go to her and humiliate 
 myself for for your sake? What 
 then?" 
 
 " I may forgive," he answered, coldly. 
 " But it would be hard even then." 
 
 "How can you be so cruel?" she 
 cried. "So unjust here, in this room! 
 If you had any heart you would remem 
 ber." 
 
 " I remember only too well. The first 
 taste of love is sweet enough the bit 
 terness lies in the dregs." 
 
 He was thinking of the time when he 
 shared the studio with Wendell, and 
 the painting of her portrait made her 
 coming possible in the eyes of the 
 world, in spite of the many days when 
 the canvas was untouched. Uncon-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 157 
 
 sciously he glanced toward the window- 
 seat, and she knew he was thinking of 
 the moments they had passed together. 
 
 "Ah, you do remember! I knew you 
 could not forget." 
 
 Norman Wendell came into the studio 
 to find them. He saw her place a hand 
 upon Ainslee's shoulder, and he drew 
 back quickly. He had no wish to play 
 the eavesdropper, but he could not help 
 hearing her say, in a way that made him 
 shudder at the thought of Margaret: 
 " Why are the others here? Why are 
 we not alone? We might have been." 
 
 Ainslee looked into her eyes, and his 
 pulses throbbed with the mad longing 
 to hold her in his arms. 
 
 "See," she whispered close to his face. 
 " There is where we used to sit. Think, 
 dear, of the old times." 
 
 For one brief moment he hesitated. 
 Then, with a sudden realization of her 
 treachery, he drew back in fear and 
 anger. 
 
 " Do you honestly think you can trick 
 me again?" he exclaimed.
 
 i 5 8 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Why won't you believe me?" she 
 said, with an injured look. 
 
 " Because you taught me unbelief," 
 he answered, taking a step toward the 
 dining-room. 
 
 She looked at him curiously, then 
 turned away with a sigh. "And you 
 think I do not care," she said, bitterly. 
 " How little a man ever knows of a 
 woman's heart! " 
 
 "A woman's heart," he muttered, " a 
 Chinese puzzle, not worth the solv 
 ing." 
 
 " I ought to hate you! " she exclaimed. 
 " I have tried hard to hate you, but 
 but I can't. God knows it has been 
 bitter it is always the woman who suf 
 fers." 
 
 " Then be generous to her," he said. 
 
 "Do you think she cares?" Renee 
 queried, significantly. " She has her 
 Norman Wendell." 
 
 "Stop!" he commanded. "Not an 
 other word." 
 
 " You shall listen," she said, angrily. 
 "Why, to-day I saw him holding her
 
 THE IDLE BORN 159 
 
 hand and kissing it. I heard him tell 
 her that he loved her." 
 
 " I need better evidence than your 
 word," he responded. 
 
 "What! When the whole world 
 knows it? Come! be a man take your 
 revenge." 
 
 <% And reap the whirlwind ? No, thank 
 you." He turned away, but she seized 
 his hand in both her own and drew him 
 toward her. 
 
 "Must I tell you in so many words?" 
 she cried. " Can't you see? Don't you 
 understand? I love you!" 
 
 Ainslee stared at her in amazement. 
 He could not believe she was serious. 
 Was it a new trick a clever play to en 
 trap him again ? She looked up tenderly 
 and met his eyes. 
 
 " You say it must be all or nothing," 
 she whispered, passionately. "Well?" 
 
 "Then let it be nothing," he said, 
 gruffly, releasing his hand and drawing 
 away from her quickly. 
 
 " Coward! " she cried. 
 
 He could only pity a woman who
 
 160 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 would so demean herself. " Don't you 
 see it is too late?" he said. 
 
 In a moment of wild passion she had 
 abandoned herself to him for she loved 
 him, in a morbid, frenzied way, because 
 he belonged to another, because she 
 could no longer trample him under her 
 feet at will. 
 
 "It is not too late!" she exclaimed. 
 "I love you! Do you hear? I love you 
 and you love me! " 
 
 Contempt drove the pity from Ains- 
 lee's heart. " I do not love you," he 
 declared. " I love my wife. Now do 
 you understand?" 
 
 The old tantalizing look came into 
 her eyes. She was herself again cold, 
 cynical, mysterious. 
 
 "So you think I am serious?" she 
 laughed. " You think I'm sentimental, 
 and really care for you! You did not 
 see through my little comedy? Well, I 
 was acting a part. And your wife is 
 acting a part, too. You don't see 
 through that, either. She was jealous 
 of me, wasn't she? And she made you
 
 THE IDLE BORN 161 
 
 feel like a brute, didn't she? And you 
 got down on your knees and groveled, 
 and she told you she would never trust 
 you again. And you, poor fool, loved 
 her all the more. Well, watch her, I 
 say and watch your friend, Mr. Nor 
 man Wendell." 
 
 Ainslee looked at her curiously. 
 "Renee," he said, "you are the 
 devil." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "Women are generally what men 
 make them." 
 
 " I say, Mrs. Dressier," said Dickie, as 
 he and Wendell appeared in the door 
 of the dining-room, " is Schuyler so fas 
 cinating you can't eat?" 
 
 " Fascinating?" laughed Renee. "He 
 was telling me about his domestic bliss. 
 I suppose when he has children his one 
 topic of conversation will be little 
 Schuyler's parlor tricks." 
 
 " Well, if that's the case," said Dickie, 
 holding back the portie're for her to 
 pass, " you must be driven to drink." 
 
 Ainslee started to follow. " One mo-
 
 i6a THE IDLE BORN 
 
 ment," said Wendell, stopping before 
 him. 
 
 " Well?" asked Ainslee, harshly. 
 
 " I was there just now," answered 
 Wendell, pointing to the door. " It was 
 quite by accident, but I couldn't help 
 hearing something." 
 
 "Then I'm sorry you didn't hear 
 more," Ainslee replied, taking a step 
 toward the door. 
 
 " I heard enough, and I saw enough," 
 Wendell said, angrily, barring his way 
 again. " Do you expect me to let this 
 go on without a protest?" 
 
 Ainslee turned toward him quickly, 
 his face pale with anger. " Since when 
 have I become accountable to you?" he 
 growled. 
 
 "Since that night at your uncle's, 
 when you gave me your word this affair 
 would stop," 
 
 "See here, Wendell," cried Ainslee, 
 " I refuse to be answerable for my con 
 duct to anyone but my wife, least of all 
 to you, when you make it your business 
 to play the spy."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 163 
 
 Wendell, remembering his guests, 
 checked his impulse to continue the 
 controversy. "Ainslee," he said, " I have 
 played fair from the start, but you have 
 broken your word. I owe you nothing 
 now. I give you fair warning it is you 
 against me." 
 
 " Then let the best man win," hotly 
 replied Ainslee, as he turned and left 
 the room.
 
 IV 
 
 I do suffer love, indeed, for I love thee against my 
 will. Much Ado About Nothing. 
 
 For a year Norman Wendell's life 
 had been inspired by the feeling that 
 Margaret's happiness had been realized, 
 and that, come what might, he had 
 acted an honorable part. His love, 
 however, was not a momentary passion 
 or sentimental fancy that time might 
 cure, for men such as he seldom love 
 but once. He had suffered cheerfully 
 because he believed that Margaret had 
 married the man she cared for most. 
 But now, as he stood there alone, after 
 the stormy interview with Ainslee, and 
 realized that her happiness was ended, 
 a wild thought flashed through his mind: 
 Margaret's duty to her husband was 
 ended. His own love would make her 
 forget what she had suffered. 
 
 The consequences? He did not stop 
 '65
 
 166 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 to consider them. But, inspired by the 
 impulse of the moment, he went to the 
 Spanish cabinet, and taking up her pic 
 ture, gazed at it long and earnestly. 
 
 " Poor girl," he thought, " and what 
 of you? You chose between us once 
 and now?" 
 
 The hall door was opened softly, and 
 Margaret stole down the stairs into the 
 studio. With a frightened look she 
 glanced nervously about the room. An 
 unfinished canvas standing upon the 
 easel separated her from Wendell, and 
 she did not see him. She was in street 
 dress and wore a thick veil. A fur cape 
 hung loosely about her shoulders. Hear 
 ing laughter, she crept cautiously toward 
 the dining-room. Dickie Willing's voice 
 broke forth in comic song, and she drew 
 back quickly. The fur cape dropped 
 from her shoulders and lay upon the 
 floor. 
 
 The song aroused Wendell from his 
 revery. Replacing the picture where he 
 had found it, he turned and saw her 
 standing there.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 167 
 
 "Margaret!" he exclaimed. 
 
 "Norman!" she said, with a start, 
 "you here?" 
 
 "Yes. What does this mean?" 
 
 She glanced toward the dining-room. 
 " Hush," she whispered, " they must not 
 know." 
 
 Wendell went to the door and closed 
 it quietly. " Tell me," he asked, com 
 ing toward her again, " why are you 
 here?" 
 
 " I I thought you were at Westbury," 
 she faltered. 
 
 "I didn't go. Mrs. Egerton wired 
 me she was ill. But why did you 
 come if if you thought I was not 
 here?" 
 
 Margaret hesitated. " I I expect 
 ed" she said finally. " Oh, it's noth 
 ing. I was mistaken." 
 
 The laughter and applause that 
 greeted Dickie's song came faintly 
 through the door. " Why are those 
 people here?" she said. 
 
 " It was Lady Coldstream's idea a 
 sort of surprise party."
 
 i68 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Is Mrs. Dressier there?" she in 
 quired. 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And my husband?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Margaret paced the floor excitedly. 
 " Did he know you weren't at West- 
 bury?" she asked. 
 
 " Lady Coldstream must have told 
 him." 
 
 " You did not expect them ? " she said, 
 looking at him searchingly. " You knew 
 nothing about their coming?" 
 
 "Absolutely nothing," he answered 
 in amazement. " But why do you ask 
 me those questions? What does it 
 mean? Surely you can trust me." 
 
 She came toward him quickly. 
 There's no one else I can trust," she 
 replied, with a sigh. " Oh, how can I 
 tell you? This afternoon" her eyes 
 flashed angrily, and she pressed her lips 
 together " after you were gone, I found 
 a letter from Schuyler she left it in 
 her muff. It told her to meet him here 
 to-night."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 169 
 
 "Here?" he exclaimed. "Did you 
 think I could lend myself to that?" 
 
 "I did not stop to think I only 
 wanted to meet them face to face. Oh, 
 you don't know what it is to be jealous 
 this mad beating of the heart and 
 all the furies of hell dancing before 
 your eyes and screaming in your ears! " 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Wendell, impatiently. 
 " But the letter ! Have you the let 
 ter?" 
 
 "No," she answered, removing her 
 veil mechanically and folding it care 
 fully, without thought of what she was 
 doing. " I sent it back in the muff. I 
 did not want her to know I had seen it. 
 But I remember every word of it. ' N. 
 W. is going to the country. Meet me at 
 the studio at 11.30. The door will be 
 open, so do not ring.' " She looked up 
 with misty eyes. " Now do you under 
 stand ?" she asked. 
 
 Wendell did not reply. He was re 
 calling the events of the day and trying 
 to fit together the different bits of evi 
 dence. " Oh, I see it all," he finally ex-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 claimed, clenching his hands together 
 angrily. 
 
 " You believe it is true ?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes," he answered. "Shall I tell 
 you why ?" 
 
 " Why not? It is only a little more to 
 bear." 
 
 "Schuyler knew I was going to the 
 country I told him yesterday and he 
 has a key to the studio." 
 
 "A key?" she exclaimed, in astonish 
 ment. 
 
 " Yes. You know before you married 
 we shared these rooms; he had one 
 then he has never given it back. They 
 used to meet here when I was painting 
 her portrait." 
 
 An injured look came into her eyes, 
 "And you did not tell me!" she said, 
 reproachfully. "You let me marry him." 
 
 " How could I tell you," he protested, 
 "when I knew you loved him? If I had, 
 you would not have believed me." 
 
 " No," she answered thoughtfully, " a 
 woman must see with her own eyes be 
 fore she will believe."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 171 
 
 But Wendell did not hear. He was 
 thinking of Ainslee's perfidy. " That 
 night," he continued, "when he asked 
 you to marry him, he gave me his word 
 it was ended." 
 
 " Go on," she said. 
 
 " To-night she had the impertinence 
 to insinuate that I upset their plans, and 
 I overheard her say to him: " Why are 
 we not here alone, as we might have 
 been?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, I see." She put her hands 
 to her eyes wearily. " The letter the 
 key her words." 
 
 " Forgive me for telling you," he said, 
 feelingly. " I have only made it the 
 harder for you." 
 
 " It was your duty to tell me. It has 
 been harder for you, too, but I had to 
 know some time." 
 
 There was a moment of silence, when 
 each waited for the other to speak. Fi 
 nally Margaret put out her hand. "Good 
 bye, she said, with an effort. Wendell 
 took her hand and pressed it to his 
 lips.
 
 172 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "And you, Margaret," he asked/'what 
 will you do?" 
 
 She released her hand and stood gaz 
 ing at the floor. " Oh, I shall go on 
 living somehow," she answered, with a 
 sigh. 
 
 " He will insult you every day that 
 you live!" cried Wendell. "Think, 
 Margaret, think what that means!" 
 
 She looked at him reproachfully. 
 " Would you have me acknowledge that 
 I have been beaten humiliated by her? 
 No, no. That I will never do never. 
 When I came here to-night my one 
 thought was to expose them to the world. 
 But what would that mean? A scandal 
 a divorce my name dragged through 
 the courts." 
 
 She turned away to go. She wished 
 to be free to think. The air stifled her. 
 
 "You won't go back to him ?" he cried, 
 "You want to do that?" 
 
 "Why not?" she asked, shrugging her 
 shoulders indifferently, as though her 
 future mattered little now. 
 
 With a sudden impulse Wendell
 
 THE IDLE BORN 173 
 
 caught both her hands and held them 
 tightly. " Because I love you," he said, 
 looking into her eyes passionately. "Do 
 you hear? I love you! Don't sacrifice 
 my love again. You owe him nothing 
 absolutely nothing." 
 
 " I am still his wife," she said. " Is 
 that nothing ?" 
 
 " No!" he exclaimed. "You are free! 
 He has broken every promise; he has 
 flaunted his infidelity in your face!" 
 
 With a startled cry she drew away. 
 
 " Do you mean ? No, you can't 
 mean that! " 
 
 " I love you! " he repeated. " I love 
 you with all my soul with all my life! 
 There has never been a moment when 
 I have not loved you!" 
 
 "Stop! stop!" she said, covering 
 her face with her hands. "Are you 
 mad?" 
 
 "Yes mad!" he exclaimed, forcibly 
 seizing her in his arms. " I have waited 
 all my life, and now you are mine!" 
 
 She heard laughter and the clinking 
 of glasses. " Let me go," she cried,
 
 174 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 struggling to release herself. " Let me 
 go they will hear!" 
 
 "Let them hear! Let the whole 
 world hear!" 
 
 He took her by each shoulder and 
 held her away so that he could look 
 into her eyes. 
 
 " No, no," he said, " I can't lose you 
 again." 
 
 Margaret gazed at him in absolute 
 amazement. She could not believe 
 this man was the quiet long-suffering 
 friend she had always trusted. " You 
 don't know what you are asking," she 
 pleaded. "Let me go! Wait! Wait 
 until to-morrow!" 
 
 "Until to-morrow," he reiterated, 
 with a vague, hopeless look, his hands 
 dropping despondently to his side. 
 
 "We want Normy Wendell," came all 
 at once from the chorus of voices in the 
 other room 
 
 "Oh, if they see me! "she cried, in 
 fright. 
 
 Renee Dressier opened the door. 
 
 " Leave it to me," she said, standing
 
 THE IDLE BORN 175 
 
 in the doorway and talking to the 
 people in the dining-room. " I will find 
 him." 
 
 "That woman!" gasped Margaret. 
 "Quick," she cried, seizing Wendell's 
 arm and looking about with terror. 
 
 "Where can I go?" 
 
 For a moment Wendell stood dazed; 
 then, suddenly realizing the danger, 
 he dragged her to his bedroom, just as 
 Renee Dressier turned and stepped 
 into the studio. 
 
 " Normy must have a girl there, after 
 all," called Dickie Willing through the 
 open door. 
 
 "Then I'll find the girl," laughed 
 Renee, as Wendell closed the portiere 
 with a jerk and placed himself before it.
 
 V 
 
 We have caught her madam. 
 
 Much Ado About Nothing. 
 
 Renee Dressier walked slowly about 
 the studio, humming a tune. Casting 
 an occasional critical glance at the 
 sketches that adorned the wall, she 
 managed in the course of time to edge 
 her way towards the door where Wen 
 dell was standing guard. 
 
 "Very clumsy, Mr. Wendell," she 
 said, smiling. " If you did not wish me 
 to be suspicious, you should have drawn 
 the portie're gently and walked away. 
 Who is she?" 
 
 "She?" said Wendell, with an effort 
 to conceal his agitation. " There is no 
 'she,' that I am aware of." 
 
 Renee Dressier laughed outright; 
 then she looked him full in the eyes. 
 " There is a woman in that room," she 
 declared. " What is the use of pretend 
 ing there is not. 
 
 177
 
 178 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Her attack was so sudden that for a 
 moment he could find no words to reply. 
 " Really," he stammered, at last, " you 
 are mistaken, I assure you." 
 
 " Then it won't be indiscreet for me 
 to get my handkerchief, she said, 
 naively, taking a step toward the bed 
 room. " I left it in my cloak." 
 
 Now thoroughly alarmed and alive to 
 the situation, Wendell recovered himself 
 quickly. " Pardon me," he answered, 
 with a gesture toward an old settle by 
 the stairs where the wraps of the party 
 had been left. " Your cloak is there. 
 Shall I get it?" 
 
 " If you will be so considerate." He 
 moved toward the settle. The moment 
 his back was turned she tip-toed 
 stealthily in the direction of the bed 
 room. Wendell, suspecting her strata 
 gem, wheeled about suddenly. 
 
 " Pardon me again," he said, ap 
 proaching her quickly, " that is my 
 bedroom." 
 
 "Eh? "she laughed. "That doesn't 
 frighten me."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 179 
 
 " You might at least wait for an invi 
 tation," he replied, pointedly. 
 
 " Mr. Wendell there is a woman in 
 that room," she said. " She was there 
 when we came. I advise you to take 
 me into your confidence." 
 
 He looked her steadily in the eyes; 
 then he laughed. 
 
 " How very clever you are! Well, to 
 be frank, there is a woman there a 
 friend of mine a a model. You see 
 I did not expect visitors to-night." 
 
 She gave a little cry of fright and 
 turned away quickly, covering her eyes 
 with her hand. "Oh, how shocking!" 
 she laughed. " Do let me see her. If 
 she's like most models she's used to 
 being seen." 
 
 " But she's a lady! " he exclaimed. 
 
 "Oh!" said Renee, quickly. 
 
 " I mean she's not exactly the ordi 
 nary model." Wendell was growing 
 desperate. " Come, play fair," he 
 pleaded. "You might be sportsman 
 enough to give me a chance to get her 
 out."
 
 i8o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Renee shrugged her shoulders. Then 
 she turned toward a sketch from the 
 nude which stood against the wall. 
 
 "Is that the model?" she asked 
 " If so, I should call her a model of 
 impropriety." 
 
 Wendell quietly leaned against the 
 doorpost and folded his arms. " Well, 
 if you insist upon being so disagree 
 able," he said, resignedly, " I suppose I 
 must make the best of it. But here I 
 stay until you go." 
 
 "Oh, very well," she said. "If you 
 don't mind, I'm sure I don't." With 
 exasperating persistency she prepared 
 for the siege by suppressing a yawn. 
 Then she hummed another tune and 
 beat time with her fingers on the table. 
 Suddenly her eyes rested on Margaret's 
 cloak lying on the floor. 
 
 "Very pretty," she said, stooping and 
 picking it up. 
 
 Wendell felt the color mounting to 
 his cheeks. 
 
 " Shouldn't mind having it myself." 
 she continued, holding the cloak up and
 
 THE IDLE BORN 181 
 
 glancing at it admiringly. " Do models 
 always wear Russian sable capes? " she 
 asked, with an innocent look, as she 
 laid the cape carefully on a chair. 
 " Rather expensive for you painters, I 
 should think." 
 
 Before he could reply Lady Cold- 
 stream and Ainslee entered the room. 
 
 "Oh, there you are!" exclaimed 
 Lady Coldstream. " Ton my word, Mr. 
 Wendell, you are casual rum sort of 
 host to desert your guests completely. 
 When I give you another surprise 
 party " 
 
 "Oh, don't blame Mr. Wendell," 
 interrupted Renee Dressier. " He's 
 been very much occupied with a de 
 lightful model." 
 
 "A model!" cried Lady Coldstream. 
 
 "Yes," said Renee, with a glance of 
 triumph at Wendell. "You remember 
 our suspicions the locked door the 
 pink dressing gown? Well " 
 
 " Mrs. Dressier, I beg you," protested 
 Wendell. 
 
 " Mr. Wendell was at that moment
 
 i8 2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 engaged," she continued, regardless of 
 the interruption " very much engaged, 
 I take it with the model for his new 
 picture." 
 
 "What picture?" asked Lady Cold- 
 stream, wondering at Wendell's appar 
 ent discomfiture. 
 
 "The one with which he intends to 
 astonish us all," Renee continued. 
 "Something very French a wife sur 
 prised by her husband. ' The Day of 
 Reckoning,' I think you will call it, 
 Mr. Wendell," she added, with a mean 
 ing smile. 
 
 " Really, Lady Coldstream," cried 
 Wendell, in despair. " Mrs. Dressier 
 is drawing upon her imagination." 
 
 "Hardly," Renee contradicted. "The 
 picture I refer to is a study from real 
 life, so it will prove most instructive to 
 husbands." She looked at Ainslee. 
 " To you in particular, Schuyler," she 
 added insinuatingly. 
 
 Ainslee, who had been listening 
 rather indifferently, looked up in aston 
 ishment.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 183 
 
 " I fail to see the humor of all this," 
 he said. 
 
 " Possibly," laughed Renee. " But if 
 you will persuade Mr. Wendell to open 
 a certain door, I think you will see the 
 humor of the situation." 
 
 " What do you mean?" he asked. 
 
 " Merely that your wife is in Mr. 
 Wendell's bedroom." 
 
 " My wife," he exclaimed. 
 
 "Ainslee, that is not true," cried 
 Wendell, desperately. 
 
 "OM, O la!" caroled Mrs. Dressier, 
 deprecatingly. " I never lie," she went 
 on, pointing to the door, " when it is so 
 easy to prove the truth." 
 
 Ainslee strode forward. " Wendell," 
 he demanded, " is my wife in that 
 room?" 
 
 Wendell looked him full in the face. 
 
 " No, she is not," he said sullenly. 
 
 "Then prove it." 
 
 " Is not my word sufficient?" 
 
 " Not against mine," interrupted 
 Renee, defiantly. 
 
 For a moment the two men stood
 
 i8 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 rigidly face to face. Nicholas Schuyler 
 and Dressier came into the room and 
 looked wonderingly from one to the 
 other, not understanding the meaning 
 of it all. Finally Ainslee, his face 
 paling with anger, stepped toward 
 Wendell. 
 
 " Wendell," he said, " open that 
 door." 
 
 Wendell did not move. " I will not," 
 he muttered, his face flushing hotly. 
 "There is someone there it is not 
 Mrs. Ainslee. You can't compel me to 
 compromise a woman." 
 
 Mrs. Dressier quietly picked up Mar 
 garet's cape and came toward Ainslee. 
 " Not when the lady has already com 
 promised herself?" she said, holding 
 the cape before his eyes. 
 
 " Margaret's," he gasped. Then with 
 an imprecation he advanced upon 
 Wendell menacingly. 
 
 " Stand back! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " Never," said the artist, planting 
 himself firmly before the door. 
 
 " By God, you shall! " cried Ainslee
 
 THE IDLE BORN 185 
 
 seizing Wendell roughly by the arm 
 and pushing him against the wall. 
 The two men grappled, and Wendell 
 struggled desperately to hold his 
 ground; but Ainslee was by sheer 
 weight forcing him gradually from the 
 door, when the portiere was thrown 
 back and Margaret walked calmly into 
 the room.
 
 VI 
 
 Grim and comfortless despair. 
 
 Comedy of Errors. 
 
 Ainslee's hands dropped mechanic 
 ally to his side. For a moment he 
 stood gazing at his wife, completely 
 bewildered. Her manner was so com 
 posed and defiant that even Renee 
 Dressier was taken aback, while poor 
 Wendell stared at her as though she 
 were an apparition from the lower 
 world. 
 
 "Margaret!" Ainslee gasped, when 
 he had recovered from his astonishment 
 sufficiently to speak. 
 
 "Why not?" she answered coldly. 
 " Does it surprise you? " 
 
 "Oh, dear, no," interrupted Renee 
 Dressier, quickly. " One can never be 
 surprised at anything nowadays." 
 
 Ainslee turned toward Wendell. 
 "You shall answer for this," he said. 
 187
 
 i88 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " When we settle accounts," replied 
 Wendell, sternly, "the balance won't 
 be on your side." 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler stepped between 
 them. " Enough of this," he com 
 manded. " Let her explain. I, for one, 
 refuse to believe Margaret Ainslee ever 
 did anything wrong." 
 
 "The lady is caught," sneered Renee 
 Dressier, " in her admirer's room. Is 
 any explanation necessary?" 
 
 "And you dare say that!" cried 
 Margaret, her eyes glowing with anger. 
 
 "K*/" 
 
 " Certainly," answered Renee with 
 a mock curtsy. "Can you deny it? 
 Have we no eyes? " 
 
 " Isn't your anxiety to convict rather 
 keen for a disinterested party?" inter 
 rupted Lady Coldstream. " How does 
 this affair concern you?" 
 
 "Oh, merely as a friend of the family," 
 returned Renee, with a deprecatory 
 shrug. 
 
 " Well, deliver me from such a friend!" 
 said Lady Coldstream, in disgust.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 189 
 
 Ainslee turned toward his wife. 
 " Margaret," he asked, his voice trem 
 bling as he spoke, "have you no ex 
 planation?" 
 
 "Yes," she answered, quickly, "if I 
 choose to give it." 
 
 " My dear," interrupted Lady Cold- 
 stream, "remember the position you 
 are in." 
 
 Margaret did not reply. For a mo 
 ment she looked her husband full in the 
 eyes. 
 
 "For God's sake, say something!" 
 he said. 
 
 " I will," she answered, scornfully. 
 " But remember that for your sake I 
 was willing to be silent." 
 
 " For my sake?" he exclaimed. 
 
 " Yes, I came here to meet you and 
 her. Now do you understand?" 
 
 Ainslee stared at her in astonishment. 
 "What do you mean?" he asked. 
 
 " I mean that I saw your letter." 
 
 " Not a word! " whispered Renee aside 
 to her husband. Dressier nodded know 
 ingly.
 
 i 9 o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Have I said enough?" Margaret 
 continued, "or shall I go on?" 
 
 " Go on, go on," Ainslee exclaimed 
 " if you know what you are talking 
 about." 
 
 " Oh, you know what I mean," she 
 said, angrily. " I found the letter you 
 wrote Mrs. Dressier, telling her to meet 
 you to-night. How unfortunate that 
 N. W. did not go to the country!" 
 
 "Are you crazy?" he gasped, utterly 
 unable to understand her meaning. 
 
 "Ask Mrs. Dressier where she left 
 her muff this afternoon. The letter 
 was in it, and I read it." 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler stepped forward 
 quickly. "Schuyler," he said, angrily, 
 " if this is true " 
 
 " I tell you it isn't true," protested 
 Ainslee, indignantly. " I have not writ 
 ten to Mrs. Dressier since my marriage. 
 I came here, as you know, at Lady 
 Coldstream's invitation." 
 
 "Oh! oh!" cried Margaret. "How 
 dare you say that? " 
 
 "Very clever, Mrs. Ainslee," said
 
 THE IDLE BORN 191 
 
 Renee Dressier. "Very well acted. 
 But where is the letter?" 
 
 Margaret gave her enemy a wither 
 ing glance. " You know perfectly well 
 where it is," she answered. 
 
 Renee Dressier smiled. " My dear 
 Mrs. Ainslee, since you see fit to accuse 
 me in order to save yourself, I must tell 
 you that you do not speak the truth. I 
 have never, as your husband says, re 
 ceived any letter from him since his 
 marriage." 
 
 Margaret grew very pale. " That is 
 a lie!" she exclaimed. 
 
 Lady Coldstream seized Margaret's 
 arm. "Margaret," she pleaded, "stop! 
 You don't know what you are say 
 ing." 
 
 " I do know," she answered, slowly. 
 " I say again that it's a lie." 
 
 Mrs. Dressier turned to Ainslee. " I 
 appeal to you, Mr. Ainslee, to defend 
 me," she implored. 
 
 Ainslee controlled his anger suffi 
 ciently to speak calmly. " Before you 
 accuse others," he said to his wife, " re-
 
 i 9 2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 member your own position. You said 
 you were too ill to leave the house, and 
 I find you, alone, in the room of a man 
 who was in love with you. I know 
 positively he did not expect visitors. 
 What is more, he denied you were there, 
 and tried forcibly to prevent my finding 
 you. Instead of explaining, you make 
 ridiculous accusations which you cannot 
 substantiate." 
 
 Margaret gazed at her husband in 
 utter bewilderment. She could not be 
 lieve he would be so base as to sacrifice 
 her to save himself. 
 
 Wendell, who had been listening, at 
 tentively, finally resolved to assume the 
 blame if the opportunity presented it 
 self. From his point of view the entire 
 affair was a conspiracy between Renee 
 Dressier and Ainslee to compromise 
 Margaret in order that suspicion might 
 be diverted from themselves. This 
 miserable cowardice was more than he 
 could bear in silence. 
 
 " You know perfectly well why she is 
 here," he said, suddenly, to Ainslee. " If
 
 THE IDLE BORN 193 
 
 you are coward enough to protect your 
 self at her expense, I am not. You 
 want me to acknowledge it, do you, so 
 that you can go scot free ? Very well, 
 then; I do love your wife." 
 
 "Damn you!" responded Ainslee, 
 hoarsely. 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler stepped before his 
 nephew. "Stop, Schuyler," he warned; 
 " you'll only demean yourself." 
 
 Margaret looked at Wendell hope 
 lessly. " Norman," she uttered, in de 
 spair, " what have you said ? What have 
 you done?" 
 
 " The only thing possible." 
 
 She believed he had compromised 
 her intentionally, to make the rupture 
 with her husband complete. With a 
 cry of pain she turned to Ainslee. " No! 
 No! " she exclaimed; "it is not true. I 
 tell you I am innocent!" 
 
 Ainslee turned his back without reply 
 ing. In desperation she seized Nicholas 
 Schuyler's arm. "You don't believe! 
 Tell him you don't believe!" 
 
 " You have disgraced us all," Nicho-
 
 i 9 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 las Schuyler said, coldly. " I am sorry 
 that I lived to see it." 
 
 Wendell held out his arms appeal- 
 ingly. " Margaret," he said in a tone 
 of despair. 
 
 " Don't speak to me! " she cried. " I 
 hate you!" 
 
 He stared at her in dismay. She had 
 killed the one hope that made life toler 
 able. 
 
 Nicholas Schuyler laid his arm gently 
 upon his nephew's shoulder and led him 
 slowly toward the door. " My poor 
 boy! " he said. " My poor boy! " 
 
 When they had gone, Margaret stag 
 gered toward a chair and sank down, 
 crushed and humiliated. The revenge 
 of Renee Dressier had been com 
 plete. 
 
 Lady Coldstream took Margaret's 
 hand quietly. " I never went back on 
 a pal yet," she whispered, " and I won't 
 begin now." 
 
 Margaret glanced up with a wild, ap 
 pealing look, and pressed Lady Cold- 
 stream's hand gratefully to her heart.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 195 
 
 "A very successful surprise party!" 
 said Renee Dressier, cheerfully. " Lady 
 Coldstream, I congratulate you!"
 
 PART IV 
 ONE MORNING
 
 I 
 
 You speak like a green girl. 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 When Lady Coldstream entered the 
 library, on the following morning, her 
 usually imperturbable disposition was 
 visibly ruffled. Her first action was to 
 ring the bell; then she walked to the 
 table, and, taking up a morning paper, 
 glanced over its columns nervously. 
 
 " Is it in the papers?" she said half- 
 aloud. "Just like that Dressier woman 
 to give it out!" Her eyes rested on a 
 glaring headline. " Oh, I say," she ex 
 claimed. '"Scandal in High Life 
 Rumors of a Divorce.' " After quickly 
 scanning the article, she put the paper 
 down with a sigh of relief. " No," she 
 continued, " some other woman. Pretty, 
 of course. The only consolation plain 
 women have is being virtuous." 
 
 " Did your ladyship ring?" asked the 
 servant who answered the bell. 
 199
 
 200 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " Yes," she said unfolding another 
 paper with the thought that possibly its 
 news-gatherers were more enterprising 
 than those of the journal she had just 
 inspected. " Is your master back yet? " 
 
 " No, my lady," replied the servant, 
 with uncomprising gravity. "'E slept 
 at the club. Horders came just now 
 for the valet to take his things there." 
 
 "Oh!" said Lady Coldstream, with 
 an inflection that might mean a great 
 many things. " Has your mistress had 
 breakfast?" 
 
 " Yes, my lady, but I'm afraid she's 
 hill. The tray came down just now 
 with nothink touched." 
 
 Lady Coldstream continued to scan 
 the columns of her paper. After a 
 moment's hesitation, the man made so 
 bold as to interrupt. " I beg pardon, 
 my lady," he said, apologetically, " but 
 the lady's maid say the mistress do look 
 'orrible pale. Hought I to send for the 
 doctor?" 
 
 " No," answered Lady Coldstream, 
 with the domineering tone the English
 
 THE IDLE BORN 201 
 
 employ toward servants. " You may 
 go." 
 
 " Very good, my Lady." 
 
 "Fancy sending for a doctor!" she 
 laughed when the man had disap 
 peared. " A lawyer would be more to 
 the point." 
 
 Lady Coldstream was not alone in 
 her anxiety, for Eveline presently 
 bustled into the room with an air of 
 great excitement. She carried a large 
 basket filled with envelopes stamped 
 and addressed, which she was bearing 
 hastily in the direction of the hall, when 
 Lady Coldstream hailed her. 
 
 'I say, what's all that?" asked the 
 English beauty, eyeing the basket of 
 notes suspiciously. 
 
 " Don't bother me," answered Eve 
 line, in a tone of great importance. 
 " I'm recalling the invitations for the 
 dance." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Lady Cold- 
 stream, dropping her paper in as 
 tonishment. " Who told you to do 
 that?"
 
 202 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " My own intelligence," replied the 
 girl, with a defiant toss of her head. 
 " You couldn't expect Cousin Margaret 
 to consider such details after the 
 scandal of last night? " 
 
 "Scandal! Child! there hasn't been 
 any scandal." 
 
 "Oh, indeed!" answered Eveline, 
 testily. " The wife is discovered by the 
 husband in the rooms of her lover. If 
 that isn't a scandal, what is?" 
 
 Lady Coldstream gasped for breath. 
 " Well, 'pon my word! " she exclaimed, 
 when she had recovered from her as 
 tonishment. " For little Miss Innocent, 
 fresh from a convent, you're doing 
 rather well." 
 
 " Of course, there'll be a duel," said 
 Eveline, continuing her progress toward 
 the hall. " How romantic! Quite like 
 a French novel." 
 
 Lady Coldstream stepped forward 
 and barred Eveline's route of egress. 
 " And what do you know about French 
 novels, pray?" she asked. 
 
 " Oh, I've read a lot," answered Eve-
 
 THE IDLE BORN 203 
 
 line triumphantly. " A girl needs to 
 know everything nowadays if she wants 
 to get on." 
 
 " What you need is a good spank 
 ing." 
 
 Eveline glared at her resentfully. 
 " You seem to forget I'm out," she 
 exclaimed, drawing herself up to the 
 commanding height of five feet three. 
 
 " Well," muttered Lady Coldstream, 
 " you'd better go in again and stay in 
 till you're ripe. As for these," she con 
 tinued taking the basket of notes from 
 Eveline's hands, " I'll take care of them. 
 The dance will not be postponed not 
 if I can prevent it." 
 
 Without further ado she emptied the 
 contents of the basket into the fire and 
 walked calmly to the drawing-room, 
 before the terrified Eveline could 
 recover from her astonishment. 
 
 Eveline threw herself into a chair 
 so energetically that she broke a 
 spring. 
 
 " Nasty old thing! " she muttered. 
 " How'd she like it if I told everybody
 
 204 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 she rouges and bleaches her hair? I 
 will, too!" 
 
 She might have formed even direr 
 plans for vengeance on the recalcitrant 
 beauty had not Dickie Willing mean 
 dered into the room with a consequen 
 tial air, induced by the possession of a 
 new suit of clothes from Sackville 
 street. 
 
 "Good morning, Miss Crosspatch," 
 he murmured, after tiptoeing lightly 
 to a position of vantage behind her 
 chair. 
 
 Eveline jumped to her feet. " What! 
 you dare come here?" she said, with all 
 the haughtiness she could command, 
 which, to tell the truth, was not very 
 much. 
 
 " Rather! " chuckled Dickie, gleefully, 
 depositing his hat on the table and re 
 moving his gloves, with the evident 
 intention of holding his ground. " Is 
 the dance on or off?" 
 
 Eveline gave him a look of scorn. 
 " Didn't I tell you never to speak to me 
 again? " she demanded.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 205 
 
 " That's why I'm doing it," he gur 
 gled. 
 
 "Your impertinence is sublime." 
 
 " From the sublime to the ridiculous; 
 it's up to you." 
 
 "Indeed!" she exclaimed, with a 
 petulant shake of her pretty head that 
 to Dickie was most alluring; but it 
 required more courage to embrace that 
 particular opportunity than even he 
 possessed, especially as experience had 
 taught him that girls resent being kissed 
 before luncheon. 
 
 " I say," he said, appealingly, " let's 
 make up." 
 
 " Not until you apologize for your 
 unpardonable behavior of last night." 
 
 Eveline accompanied her words with 
 a frown that Dickie evidently relished, 
 for, instead of apologizing, he laughed. 
 
 " I love you," he said, when he had 
 recovered from his merriment. " What 
 more do you want?" 
 
 " Words, meaningless words," she 
 answered, with a deprecatory wave of 
 her little hand.
 
 206 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 "Well, I like that, by Jove!" he 
 whined. " Been off my feed for a 
 month. Got so thin, clothes won't fit. 
 Got to get a new kit. Damned ex 
 pensive loving you." 
 
 "Such language to a lady!" Eveline 
 exclaimed, indignantly. 
 
 " Apologize didn't mean to swear 
 that is, anything but eternal devotion." 
 Then an idea occurred to Dickie, 
 " Perhaps you'd like me to do it up 
 brown. Well, here goes!" Whereupon 
 he dropped upon both knees with a 
 thud that shook the house. But, unfor 
 tunately for his calculations, Lady 
 Coldstream came into the room at that 
 moment and was a witness to his 
 intensity. 
 
 "Oh, Eveline, Eveline!" he pleaded, 
 with arms extended, " say that you'll be 
 mine!" 
 
 As Eveline was unquestionably on 
 the point of wavering, Lady Cold- 
 stream thought it wise to prevent the 
 appeal from becoming irresistible; so, 
 coming forward with a cushion snatched
 
 THE IDLE BORN 207 
 
 from a neighboring divan, she placed 
 it carefully before the astonished 
 Dickie. 
 
 "Allow me," she said. "You may 
 find the floor a trifle hard." 
 
 Dickie cocked his head on one side 
 and looked up at Lady Coldstream 
 with a fetching smile. " Ha! " he 
 chuckled. " Rather neat, what?" 
 
 Eveline, however, saw nothing hu 
 morous in the situation. " Perhaps, 
 Mr. Willing," she said, sharply, as, with 
 much difficulty, that irrepressible youth 
 struggled to his feet, " you will be good 
 enough to fulfil the object of your visit; 
 the decorations are still incomplete, 
 and " with a chilling glance at the 
 English beauty " Lady Coldstream in 
 sists that the dance is on." 
 
 Having delivered this tirade with all 
 the irony she could command, she 
 turned haughtily on her heel and 
 flounced out of the room. 
 
 Dickie followed meekly. When he 
 reached the door he turned and winked 
 at Lady Coldstream. " Oh, I am
 
 208 
 
 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 enjoying myself," he murmured, as he 
 disappeared behind the portiere. 
 
 " He's not such a fool as he looks," 
 said Lady Coldstream, settling herself 
 comfortably in an arm-chair. " But 
 what are rich girls for, if it isn't to pro 
 vide for poor young men?"
 
 II 
 
 I appeal to your own conscience. 
 
 The Winter's Tale, 
 
 Lady Coldstream's experience of the 
 world had convinced her that there is a 
 woman at the bottom of everything, be 
 it good or bad, and it did not need a 
 great deal of acumen to satisfy her that 
 the source of all evil for the Ainslee 
 family was Renee Dressier. Although 
 intuition firmly convinced her that Mar 
 garet was innocent of any intrigue with 
 Norman Wendell, she was as yet 
 unable to divine a way out of the 
 dilemma in which her friend had be 
 come involved. While carefully sifting 
 the different circumstances of the case 
 so far as she understood them with 
 the hope of discovering a way to solve 
 the mystery, she was interrupted by the 
 entrance of Margaret herself. She was 
 pale and careworn, and had evidently 
 209
 
 2io THE IDLE BORN 
 
 passed a night of anguish. Lady Cold- 
 stream went toward her quickly. 
 
 " Mornin', dear. I hope you slept." 
 
 " I never closed my eyes," answered 
 Margaret, wearily. 
 
 " Nonsense. You look fit as a fiddle," 
 said Lady Coldstream, putting her arm 
 about her waist and leading her toward 
 a chair. With a sigh Margaret sank 
 into the chair and looked up at her 
 friend despondently. 
 
 " I shall never forget, dear, how good 
 you were to me never. 1 ' 
 
 " I only stood by a pal it's a poor 
 sort who wouldn't." 
 
 " I don't know another woman who 
 would." 
 
 "There, there," said Lady Cold- 
 stream, cheerfully. " This isn't the time 
 for sentiment. We've got to pull you 
 out of this mess before it's all over 
 town. The first thing to do is to find 
 Schuyler and tell him everything." 
 
 "Oh, he won't believe," said Mar 
 garet, bitterly. " He doesn't want to 
 believe."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 211 
 
 Lady Coldstream's face assumed an 
 expression of disgust. " Now, what's 
 the use of funking?" she protested. 
 
 "You heard what he said. He denied 
 writing the letter, to to save himself." 
 
 "Spoof! Schuyler isn't that sort." 
 
 "I tell you I read it," retorted Mar 
 garet. " I tell you I saw that woman in 
 his arms." 
 
 "And he found you in Wendell's 
 rooms," said Lady Coldstream, with up 
 lifted brows. " Don't forget that." 
 
 Margaret sprang to her feet. " Don't 
 speak of that man! " she cried, angrily. 
 
 Lady Coldstream looked at her and 
 laughed. " Why not? " she asked, in an 
 irritating way. " By your own confes 
 sion you knew he was in love with you. 
 Now, a tame cat is all very well, pro 
 vided he's a cat, but when he happens 
 to be a man, look out! " 
 
 " Oh, I admit I was wrong; but is that 
 any excuse for him?" 
 
 " Men don't look for excuses; they 
 look for opportunities." 
 
 "Well, he had his," said Margaret,
 
 2i2 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 bitterly, " and he behaved like a 
 cad." 
 
 " I'm not so sure of that," responded 
 Lady Coldstream, with a doubtful shake 
 of the head. " Take your own story. 
 You went there to catch your husband 
 and the Dressier woman. Common 
 sense should have told you that was the 
 last place in the world they would 
 choose. Well, you didn't find them. 
 You found Wendell and a supper party. 
 Did you go home decently and say noth 
 ing about it? No; you poured forth 
 your tale of woe to a man you knew was 
 in love with you, and he promptly of 
 fered to console you just as any self- 
 respecting lover would." 
 
 Lady Coldstream paused. Margaret 
 was looking out of the window with a 
 hopeless, woe-begone expression in her 
 eyes. The beauty smiled to herself. 
 
 " Did you rise in your wrath and in 
 dignation? " she continued. "Did you 
 call for help? No; you meekly told him 
 to wait until to-morrow, and when you 
 heard some one coming you lost your
 
 THE IDLE BORN 213 
 
 head completely and fled to his bed 
 room. He lost his head, too, but he 
 lied like a gentleman. Then, when you 
 were caught, and nobody believed your 
 story, did he ,run to cover? No; he 
 stood up to it like a man. If you'd 
 been even half in love with him you'd 
 have fallen into his arms on the spot 
 and taken the next steamer for the 
 South of France." 
 
 "The one man," said Margaret, re 
 gretfully, " I thought I could trust. How 
 I have been deceived in him! " 
 
 "Yes," replied Lady Coldstream, "it's 
 the clever women who are taken in by 
 men it's the silly women who take men 
 in." 
 
 Margaret turned away from the win 
 dow. 
 
 "Oh, I know I've been a fool," she 
 
 said. 
 
 "Well, we won't argue that point." 
 
 Lady Coldstream heard a step behind 
 
 her and looked up. Ainslee had entered 
 
 the room quietly, and was gazing at his 
 
 wife. Margaret turned and met her
 
 2i 4 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 husband's eyes. For a moment they 
 stared at each other coldly. 
 
 Lady Coldstream looked first at one 
 and then at the other. "Well," she 
 asked, finally, with a desire to relieve the 
 situation, "shall I leave you?" 
 
 "If you will," said Ainslee. "I wish 
 to speak to Margaret alone." 
 
 " No, no, Muriel," protested Margaret; 
 " don't go! I prefer you to hear." 
 
 "As you please," said Lady Cold- 
 stream, resuming her seat. 
 
 Ainslee took a step toward his wife, 
 then hesitated. He was haggard and 
 careworn, and was evidently struggling 
 to control his emotions. 
 
 " Well," said Margaret, " I am wait 
 ing." 
 
 " Margaret," he said, drawing a hand 
 wearily across his eyes, "all last night I 
 walked the streets trying to find some 
 justification for you. Even if what you 
 suspected were true, is that any excuse 
 for you?" 
 
 "If you are here to upbraid me " 
 she protested.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 215 
 
 "No; I leave that to your own con 
 science." 
 
 Margaret's face flushed angrily. 
 " When you are ready to beg forgive 
 ness for your insults," she said, " I will 
 listen." 
 
 He started to reply, but she turned 
 away abruptly and walked out of the 
 room.
 
 Ill 
 
 Give him this letter ; do it secretly. 
 
 The Merchant of Venice. 
 
 When Ainslee had recovered from 
 his astonishment at Margaret's extra 
 ordinary behavior, he turned to Lady 
 Coldstream. 
 
 "I beg forgiveness of her?" he said, 
 in amazement. 
 
 Lady Coldstream looked at him and 
 laughed. "My dear boy," she replied, 
 "there are two kinds of fools those 
 who are born so, and those who make 
 fools of themselves. You belong to the 
 latter class." 
 
 "You take her part, of course! "he 
 retorted. 
 
 " Rather, when you aren't sportsman 
 enough to ride straight." 
 
 "I?" he exclaimed. "What do you 
 mean?" 
 
 Lady Coldstream calmly lighted a 
 217
 
 218 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 cigarette before replying. " Oh, the 
 usual domestic drama," she said, as she 
 blew out the match. " The frisky hus 
 band and the wicked lady." 
 
 " Go on play your part you've got 
 it pat enough." 
 
 Lady Coldstream made rings of 
 smoke. " Naturally, the wife is jeal 
 ous," she continued, regardless of his 
 irony. " Was there ever a woman who 
 was not? When she catches the hus 
 band with the lady in his arms he tries 
 to deny it. Was there ever a man who 
 wouldn't?" 
 
 " Yes," he said, impatiently, " the trick 
 of an unscrupulous woman." 
 
 " Circumstantial evidence, however; 
 many a man has been hung on that." 
 
 Ainslee walked back and forth ex 
 citedly. "I told Margaret the truth," 
 he protested. " She refused to believe." 
 
 " Naturally," observed his companion, 
 dryly. " When she finds a letter mak 
 ing a date with the lady." 
 
 "There is no such letter!" he ex 
 claimed.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 219 
 
 " Beg pardon, there is such a letter." 
 
 He stopped suddenly and looked 
 Lady Coldstream in the eyes. " Do 
 you mean to tell me that Margaret is 
 innocent?" he asked. 
 
 " Rather! I'd stake my last penny on 
 it." 
 
 " Then prove it," he said, earnestly. 
 "God knows I want to believe it!" 
 
 Lady Coldstream gave him a look 
 of disgust. " Why, man," she replied. 
 " her own words prove it. Guilty 
 women don't stand up and accuse they 
 get down on their knees and beg." 
 
 For a moment Ainslee stared vacantly 
 at the floor; then he drew his hand 
 across his eyes as if he were trying to 
 gather his thoughts. " Oh, if I could 
 believe it!" he said. " You don't know 
 what tortures I went through last night. 
 I was mad, Muriel, raving mad! There 
 was nothing I couldn't have done. 
 Then, somehow, I began to think of the 
 men here in New York whose lives had 
 been wrecked like mine. The divorce 
 court that is their story. One poor
 
 220 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 fellow went to France and fought; an 
 other killed himself. It made me will 
 ing to give her one more chance. That 
 was why I came to-day for the sake of 
 the future for the sake of my name. 
 And she refused to listen." 
 
 " Can't you see she believes you 
 guilty?" 
 
 "Guilty?" he exclaimed, turning 
 toward her in astonishment. " Why, 
 Renee Dressier played me that trick 
 because I refused what most men would 
 have jumped at." 
 
 " Yes," remarked Lady Coldstream, 
 airily, " she has played you from the 
 word go." 
 
 This irony was lost on Ainslee. His 
 mind was too much occupied with his 
 own misery. 
 
 " And I tried to be square. I made 
 her give me back the letters I wrote her 
 before I was married, and I burned 
 them there," he said, pointing to the 
 fireplace. " Does that sound like play 
 ing fast and loose?" 
 
 He stopped suddenly. "Wait," he
 
 THE IDLE BORN 221 
 
 said, hurriedly realizing the events of 
 the previous day. " Could it have been 
 one of those letters?" 
 
 "Oho!" muttered Lady Coldstream, 
 " a bit of daylight at last." 
 
 Ainslee plunged his hands into his 
 pockets and paced the floor thought 
 fully. " Yes," he said, " I did write such 
 a letter once but she was out of town. 
 Heaven knows what might have hap 
 pened otherwise! " 
 
 " I say," interrupted Lady Cold- 
 stream, impatiently, " are you going to 
 drivel over the past, or are you going 
 to do something? You've got to explain 
 that letter it's your only chance." 
 
 " Easily said, but how? " 
 
 " Make her tell, even if you have to 
 make love to her." 
 
 He turned toward her quickly. "By 
 Jove!" he exclaimed; "an idea!" 
 
 " Well it's about time." 
 
 " Yes, it may work," he said, going to 
 the writing table. Seizing a pen, he 
 wrote a hurried note, while Lady Cold- 
 stream watched him curiously out of
 
 222 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 the corner of her eye. When he had 
 finished the missive he blotted it care 
 fully, directed an envelope, and then 
 handed it to her for perusal. 
 
 "There, that may do it," he said, 
 touching the bell for a servant. 
 
 Lady Coldstream took the letter and 
 read as follows: 
 
 "My Dear Dressier: 
 
 " Your wife has a letter I wrote her 
 some months ago. If you will get it, 
 bring her here immediately, and induce 
 her to tell the truth ; I will cancel your 
 note and waive the interest. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 "Schuyler Ainslee." 
 
 " Oh, I see," she said, as she handed 
 back the letter. " Hush money." 
 
 " Not quite so bad as that," he an 
 swered, putting the letter in the en 
 velope and sealing it carefully. " I was 
 rather in love with Renee Dressier 
 once, and when Dressier asked for a 
 loan well, he got it. The fellow is an 
 all-around cad." 
 
 " If he does what you ask," remarked
 
 THE IDLE BORN 223 
 
 his companion, indignantly, " he's an 
 out-and-out ' rotter.' " 
 
 Without replying, Ainslee turned to 
 the servant who had answered the 
 bell and handed him the letter. "Take 
 that note to Mr. Dressier," he said. 
 " Hand it to him yourself. If he is out, 
 bring it back. Under no circumstances 
 give it to anyone else." 
 
 When the man had gone he turned 
 to Lady Coldstream. " Muriel," he 
 said, " until I knew Margaret I never 
 took love seriously. It was a game 
 of chance, and it didn't much matter 
 with whom I played." 
 
 "Yes," she grunted, sententiously; 
 " I've known men before with hearts 
 like a hand-organ a tune for every 
 street." 
 
 " Oh, it's been a lesson to me," he 
 said, despondently. 
 
 "And to her, too," replied Lady 
 Coldstream, drily. 
 
 A footman entered the room and 
 handed Ainslee a card. He glanced at 
 it carelessly, then started.
 
 224 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " Muriel, look! " he exclaimed, hand 
 ing the card to his companion. She 
 read the name. It was " Mr. Norman 
 Wendell." 
 
 "Whom did he ask for? " she asked 
 the man. 
 
 " For Mr. Ainslee, my Lady." 
 
 " For me?" exclaimed Ainslee, in as 
 tonishment. 
 
 "Why not? "said Lady Coldstream. 
 " The morning's the sweet time for 
 repentance." Turning to the man, 
 she ordered him to show in Mr. 
 Wendell. 
 
 " Do nothing of the kind," Ainslee 
 commanded. 
 
 "Show him in," she repeated, em 
 phatically. The footman was in a 
 quandary, but, inspired by the awe 
 of the nobility which is inborn in every 
 Briton's heart, he hastily proceeded to 
 execute Lady Coldstream's command. 
 
 " Muriel," protested Ainslee, " I will 
 not see him." 
 
 "You've got to see him," she said, 
 rising from her chair. "You know
 
 THE IDLE BORN 225 
 
 something he knows the rest. Hear 
 what he has to say. When you have 
 put two and two together, I'll wager 
 you'll say ' Forgive me, old chap; we've 
 both been wrong! ' 
 
 " Not until he proves he isn't a black 
 guard," he muttered. 
 
 " Keep your temper, dear boy," said 
 Lady Coldstream, sweetly. Hearing 
 Wendell's step, she hastily beat a 
 retreat. 
 
 " In case you need a lawyer, I'll be 
 in there," she continued, in a whisper, 
 pointing to the drawing-room.
 
 IV 
 
 What proof shall I make of that? 
 
 Much Ado About Nothing. 
 
 Ainslee turned and bowed stiffly as 
 Wendell entered the room. For a 
 moment the two men faced each other 
 in silence. Ainslee was the first to 
 speak. 
 
 " May I inquire the reason for this 
 visit?" he asked, coldly. 
 
 "Ainslee," said Wendell, struggling 
 to control his emotion, " I can't let this 
 affair go any further without an expla 
 nation. I'm not here to defend myself; 
 you and I have a long score to settle, 
 but I want to tell you, on my honor, 
 that your wife is innocent." 
 
 "Why, man, you confessed!" ex 
 claimed Ainslee, in surprise. 
 
 "Oh, I don't take back what I said; 
 I love Margaret you know that per 
 fectly well. But I've been straight 
 227
 
 228 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 with you. I kept my word until you 
 broke yours. When she came there 
 last night I don't think she even sus 
 pected what was in my heart. I tell 
 you, she is true as steel. It's more than 
 you deserve." 
 
 Ainslee looked at him searchingly. 
 "Then why was she in your room?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "She found your letter. She came to 
 confront you and Renee Dressier." 
 
 "Then why did you lie to me?" 
 
 " Because she was caught like a rat 
 in a trap, and when she told the truth 
 you were coward enough to save your 
 self." 
 
 Ainslee gazed at the floor thought 
 fully. For a moment he did not reply. 
 
 "Wendell," he said, finally, looking 
 his enemy straight in the eye, " if you 
 think I wrote such a letter if you 
 believe " 
 
 " I saw with my own eyes," broke in 
 Wendell. "I heard " 
 
 "You saw a clever woman play a bold 
 game to get even with me for refusing
 
 THE IDLE BORN 229 
 
 to be her monkey-on-a-chain. If you 
 had waited you would have heard the 
 truth." 
 
 " But, man, your letter!" cried 
 Wendell. 
 
 " Is one I wrote months ago, before I 
 was married if there is such a letter." 
 
 "Ainslee," asked Wendell, "is this 
 true?" 
 
 " I give you my word of honor." 
 
 " Then I have misjudged you." 
 
 Ainslee came toward him quickly. 
 "You said she was innocent; now 
 prove it." 
 
 "What! You love her?" said Wen 
 dell, in astonishment. 
 
 " Love her! I'd give my life to save 
 her this disgrace." 
 
 Wendell looked at him in silence, not 
 knowing what to think. 
 
 "Why do you stare like that?" ex 
 claimed Ainslee. " You are concealing 
 something. Tell me the truth every 
 word of it." 
 
 "Then send for her," said Wendell, 
 quietly.
 
 2 3 o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " For Margaret?" 
 
 " Yes. I wish to prove what I say in 
 a way that will leave no doubt in your 
 mind. You don't know what it will cost 
 me but you will be satisfied." 
 
 Ainslee drew back in surprise " I 
 don't understand," he said. 
 
 " Send for Margaret," repeated Wen 
 dell. "When she comes," he continued, 
 pointing to the drawing-room, " listen 
 there to what I have to say." 
 
 " No," said Ainslee, firmly, " I am no 
 eavesdropper." 
 
 " If you value your happiness, do as I 
 say. Only promise me not to interrupt, 
 no matter what you hear." 
 
 Wendell was so thoroughly in earnest 
 that Ainslee wavered. He had tried in 
 vain to fathom the mystery of Mar 
 garet's conduct. Now he felt it his 
 duty to leave no stone unturned to 
 satisfy himself of her innocence. 
 
 "Well, he said, finally, " I promise." 
 
 "Schuyler," said Wendell, turning 
 toward him suddenly, " if you'd been 
 frank with me last night this would not
 
 THE IDLE BORN 231 
 
 have happened. Remember that, won't 
 you?" 
 
 Ainslee looked at him in surprise. 
 "Yes," he said; "but I don't under 
 stand." 
 
 "You will, soon enough. Now, 
 quick get Margaret." 
 
 Ainslee turned and walked to the 
 door of the drawing-room. " Muriel!" 
 he called, "Muriel!" 
 
 " Yes," said Lady Coldstream, faintly, 
 from behind the portiere. 
 
 "Will you send Margaret here?" he 
 continued. " Don't let her know that I 
 want her, or that Mr. Wendell is here. 
 Make any excuse you can." 
 
 " I understand." 
 
 Wendell waited until he heard Lady 
 Coldstream's step in the hall beyond. 
 
 " Did she hear? " he asked. 
 
 " But for her I should have refused to 
 see you," said Ainslee. " She's been a 
 trump from the start." 
 
 " Don't let her hear now." 
 
 "Well, as you please," and Ainslee 
 walked away abruptly and entered the
 
 232 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 drawing-room. As he drew the por 
 tiere he felt like a culprit for playing 
 the spy, but he hoped and prayed it was 
 for the best. 
 
 Wendell walked back and forth, 
 anxiously waiting for Margaret. "If I 
 had only known," he said. " If I had 
 only known!" 
 
 Finally Margaret entered the room, 
 unsuspectingly. She had been told 
 that Nicholas Schuyler had called, in 
 the hope of effecting a reconciliation. 
 There are times when it is a sin to 
 tell the truth, and Lady Coldstream 
 was convinced that this was one of 
 them. 
 
 Margaret saw Wendell and drew 
 back. " YOU!" she said, in surprise. 
 
 " Yes,'.' he answered, coming toward 
 her quickly. 
 
 "Why are you here?" she asked, 
 almost harshly. 
 
 " For my answer." 
 
 "Your answer?" 
 
 " You said 'Until to-morrow.' Is it to 
 be always 4 Until to-morrow'? "
 
 THE IDLE BORN 233 
 
 She colored angrily and turned away. 
 " Last night," she said, " I was charitable 
 enough to think you mad. If you had 
 any heart you would go." 
 
 " No, no," he cried, passionately. " I 
 cannot go I love you I love you! 
 You are my paradise, my torment!" 
 
 "Don't, don't," she exclaimed, draw 
 ing back in fright. " Can't you see it is 
 useless? Are you blind?" 
 
 "Yes, blind! I see only you." 
 
 "Go, go," she cried, "Show some 
 pity, and go." 
 
 He was acting a mean part, knowing 
 full well that she would hate him for 
 the sacrifice he was making, but there 
 was bitter truth in every word he spoke. 
 "You are mine, by every right on 
 earth!" he cried. 
 
 "Because he forgets I am his wife?" 
 she said indignantly. 
 
 "His wife! "he laughed. 
 
 "Stop," she commanded. " Because 
 I told you my wretched story because 
 I trusted you have you the right to 
 insult me?"
 
 234 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 " Is it an insult to think, to dream, to 
 feel only you ? " 
 
 " And I believed you were my 
 friend! "she said, bitterly. "Can any 
 woman make a man her friend?" 
 
 " No. Not the man who loves her 
 with every fibre of his heart," he cried, 
 grasping her wrists. 
 
 "Oh, oh," she pleaded, struggling to 
 release herself. " If you had any sense 
 of honor! " 
 
 " Listen, Margaret," he whispered, 
 passionately. " What is left except my 
 love?" 
 
 "You coward!" she said, throwing 
 him aside with all her strength. 
 
 For a moment he stood looking at 
 her. He thought she had never been 
 so beautiful before. 
 
 "So this is the end! " he said at last. 
 " You would have married me once 
 and now when you are free you will 
 not listen." He took a step toward 
 her quickly. "Answer me," he said. 
 " I have a right to know. Is it because 
 you love him? "
 
 THE IDLE BORN 235 
 
 " Yes," she said, looking him firmly 
 in the eyes, " because I love kirn." 
 
 Wendell strode swiftly toward the 
 drawing-room. "Schuyler," he shouted, 
 "Schuyler! Did you hear?" 
 
 Ainslee threw aside the curtain and 
 came toward him excitedly. "If I had 
 known the price you meant to pay " 
 he began. 
 
 "Ah, Schuyler," answered Wendell. 
 " there has never been a moment when 
 it was not you. Down on your knees 
 and beg forgiveness." 
 
 Without a word Ainslee approached 
 his wife and held out his hands appeal- 
 ingly. " Margaret," he said, " forgive 
 me. You said you would listen when I 
 could beg forgiveness." 
 
 Margaret drew back, her cheeks 
 burning. " So you set a trap for me 
 you' played the spy! It was mean it 
 was cruel!" 
 
 " It was I, Margaret," interposed 
 Wendell. " I begged him to listen. 
 Think what I said to him last 
 night!"
 
 236 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 She did not answer. She could not 
 find it in her heart to answer. 
 
 " You have proved your innocence," 
 Wendell said. " But what must he 
 think of me?" There was despair in 
 his tone. 
 
 Ainslee grasped his hand. " I wish I 
 had half your courage," he said. 
 
 Wendell looked up gratefully. He 
 felt the sacrifice had not been in vain. 
 
 Lady Cold stream came into the room 
 quietly, and stood for a moment wait 
 ing. Finally Ainslee turned to his 
 wife. 
 
 " Forgive me! " he said. It was love 
 for you that made me doubt." 
 
 " Forgive you ? No. Not until you 
 show me that I can forgive. I need 
 proof as well as you. Why don't you 
 set a trap for her and let me play the 
 spy?" 
 
 She turned away to go. 
 
 Lady Coldstream stepped before her. 
 "For shame, Margaret! It's a woman's 
 duty to forgive." 
 
 Margaret threw her arms about Lady
 
 THE IDLE BORN 237 
 
 Coldstream's neck and buried her face 
 on her shoulder. 
 
 " I I can't, Muriel," she cried. 
 "They have killed what little heart 
 was left."
 
 V 
 
 Forgive him ! and forgive us all. 
 
 Measure for Measure. 
 
 Lady Coldstream was convinced that 
 half the battle had been fought and 
 won, but she was not at all certain 
 about the outcome of the other half, for 
 Renee Dressier was yet to be explained. 
 Fortunately for the success of her 
 schemes, the butler entered the room at 
 the very moment when she was most at 
 a loss for a plan of campaign, and 
 gravely heralded the arrival of "Mr. 
 and Mrs. Dressier." 
 
 At the sound of those detested 
 names, Margaret turned toward her 
 husband. " That creature dares come 
 here?" she exclaimed. 
 
 "Hush!" said Lady Coldstream, 
 quickly, placing a finger over her 
 lips to enjoin caution. " Your cue is 
 silence." 
 
 239
 
 2 4 o THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Renee Dressler's reception was not 
 of the most cordial nature. Lady Cold- 
 stream and Ainslee bowed coldly, while 
 Margaret turned her back abruptly. 
 Renee saw, however, by Wendell's pres 
 ence, and the worried expression on the 
 faces about her, that she had inter 
 rupted the domestic drama at an inop 
 portune moment, and this conclusion 
 aroused a smile of satisfaction. 
 
 "What a charming funeral!" she 
 said, with an amused glance about the 
 room. " Is one expected to send flow 
 ers?" 
 
 The chilliness of the atmosphere, 
 however, was in no wise tempered by 
 this remark. 
 
 " Have you got it ? " Ainslee whispered 
 hastily, to Dressier. 
 
 Dressier placed a letter quietly in 
 Ainslee's hand. " I found it in her 
 desk," he said, keeping an eye on the 
 movements of his wife. " If she won't 
 tell the truth, I will." 
 
 " I seem to be the corpse," remarked 
 Renee Dressier, after several futile
 
 THE IDLE BORN 241 
 
 attempts to gain recognition for her 
 self. 
 
 " Not yet," said Lady Coldstream, in 
 a manner that foreboded evil. 
 
 " Oh, really! " replied Renee, defiantly. 
 " I'll die hard, you'll find." 
 
 " A cat usually has nine lives," re 
 marked Lady Coldstream sotto voce to 
 Wendell. 
 
 Renee Dressier began to suspect that 
 Monty had been up to some deviltry. 
 
 " You asked my husband to bring me 
 here," she said to Margaret, suddenly. 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I ? " exclaimed Margaret, in surprise. 
 
 " My wife," interrupted Ainslee, 
 quickly, " wishes you to explain the cir 
 cumstances connected with this letter." 
 
 He quietly took the letter Monty had 
 given him from its envelope and held it 
 before her eyes. But she was equal to 
 the occasion. 
 
 " Oh," she said, after a careless glance 
 at the writing, " the letter you wrote me 
 yesterday." 
 
 "Then you did receive a letter yes-
 
 242 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 terday?" said Lady Coldstream, point 
 edly. 
 
 For a moment Ainslee was discon 
 certed by the audacity of her defense, 
 but he recovered himself quickly. 
 
 " There is no date," he said, examin 
 ing the letter carefully. "Are you quite 
 sure yesterday was not a year ago?" 
 
 Renee looked at him with an expres 
 sion of surprise. " Oh, how stupid of 
 me!" she said, with feigned naivete. 
 " If I'd only known the story you meant 
 to tell! Well, I've done it we may as 
 well face the music." 
 
 "Very clever, very clever," answered 
 Ainslee, quietly. " But, if you do not 
 care to tell the truth, I think your hus 
 band will spare you the trouble." 
 
 "What! Monty tell the truth!" she 
 laughed sarcastically. " I adore new 
 sensations." 
 
 " My dear," said her husband, in a 
 careless way that augured trouble, 
 "when you returned Mr. Ainslee the 
 letters he wrote you before his mar 
 riage, this one was overlooked. I found
 
 THE IDLE BORN 243 
 
 it, and, as it bears no date, and might 
 be misconstrued, I took the liberty of 
 returning it myself/' 
 
 " Fool! " she hissed, under her breath. 
 
 A quiet smile of satisfaction crossed 
 Monty's lips. " Oh, I'm not sure of 
 that," he said. "Mr. Ainslee appreciates 
 my kindness so thoroughly that you 
 ought to share my gratitude." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders con 
 temptuously and turned away. 
 
 "Well," she muttered, " as you have 
 made it a matter of business." 
 
 " One moment, my dear," he an 
 swered, stepping quickly before her and 
 barring her way. " Is what I say true, 
 or do you prefer a scandal?" 
 
 "Oh, dear, no!" she laughed scorn 
 fully. " Scandals are so common now 
 adays that I couldn't even become a 
 sensation." 
 
 "Then you acknowledge I speak the 
 truth?" 
 
 " My dear, your reputation for verac 
 ity is such that I wouldn't attempt to 
 contradict you."
 
 244 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Ainslee had been struggling to con 
 trol his anger, but it broke forth at last. 
 "Then tell my wife," he cried, "that what 
 she saw yesterday was a damnable trick 
 played by you in a moment of pique." 
 
 " Don't Schuyler," protested Renee, 
 " you know I hate heroics." 
 
 "Tell her the truth," he commanded. 
 
 " When you refrain from talking long 
 enough to give me the opportunity." 
 
 She turned to Margaret. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Ainslee," she said, 
 " you really ought to exhibit your hus 
 band under glass. A man who loves 
 his wife is such a curiosity that the pub 
 lic ought not to be deprived of the 
 pleasure of seeing one." 
 
 Margaret had listened in silence to 
 all that had been said. The anger in 
 her heart had slowly given place to 
 hope, until finally she realized that she 
 had been the victim of a cowardly 
 revenge. 
 
 "Mrs. Dressier," she said, haughtily, 
 " I thank you for your sincerity. I wish 
 I could forgive your cruelty."
 
 THE IDLE BORN 245 
 
 For a moment Renee forgot the part 
 she was acting. " You see the husband 
 I have," she said. " Can you blame me 
 for envying you yours?" It was only 
 a momentary glimpse of the woman 
 beneath the mask, but it was enough to 
 tell the story of a life, for women are 
 usually what men make them tender 
 creatures of sentiment, or devils. 
 
 Renee regretted what she had said, 
 for the old reckless look came into her 
 eyes, and her lip curled contemptuously. 
 " You really must excuse me," she con 
 tinued, quickly. " I'm lunching out." 
 
 She put out her hand, but her cruelty 
 was more than Margaret could forgive. 
 Renee shrugged her shoulders and 
 glanced about the room defiantly. 
 
 " Good morning, everybody," she 
 said. Ainslee and Wendell looked the 
 other way. Lady Coldstream turned 
 her back. 
 
 " I see," she continued, as a parting 
 shaft, " that the manners of good 
 society are becoming quite as bad as 
 the morals."
 
 24 6 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 Beaten, but not humiliated, she turned 
 away, and walked slowly out of the 
 room, her head held high in defiance, 
 and her eyes flashing contempt for the 
 world that had turned its back upon 
 her. When she had gone Dressier 
 quietly touched Ainslee's arm. 
 
 " How about ? you know," he said, 
 suggestively. 
 
 " This afternoon, at my office," Ains- 
 lee replied, shortly. 
 
 Dressier smiled, and nodded famil 
 iarly to Margaret and Lady Cold- 
 stream. " Good morning, ladies," he 
 said, walking toward the door. " Hope 
 you don't mind my hurrying. The 
 missis'll give me the deuce if I keep 
 her waiting." 
 
 When Lady Coldstream heard his 
 step in the hall she turned to Wendell. 
 "'Pon my word," she exclaimed, 
 " there's a brace of birds for you." 
 
 " Vultures!" commented Wendell, 
 vigorously. 
 
 Eveline came rushing into the room, 
 dragging Dickie Willing after her.
 
 THE IDLE BORN 247 
 
 " Cousin Margaret," she called, " we 
 we're engaged." 
 
 " Ha! Rather neat, what?" chuckled 
 Dickie. 
 
 The moment for the promulgation of 
 this startling news was not opportune, 
 and nobody realized this so thoroughly 
 as Lady Coldstream. Before Eveline 
 could recover from the astonishment 
 caused by the frigid reception of the 
 announcement that she had selected a 
 partner for life, Lady Coldstream seized 
 her by the hand and dragged her 
 forcibly out of the room. 
 
 "Who cares if you are engaged?" 
 she said. " Come, this is no place for 
 you." 
 
 Dickie followed meekly. " Oh, I am 
 enjoying myself," he muttered, as he 
 went. 
 
 When Lady Coldstream and her 
 charges had disappeared, Margaret 
 and Ainslee looked at each other. 
 They both felt very foolish, and for a 
 moment neither had the courage to 
 speak. Ainslee, however, finally
 
 248 THE IDLE BORN 
 
 stepped forward manfully and assumed 
 the burden of blame. 
 
 "Margaret," he said, "can you for 
 give?" 
 
 "Oh, Schuyler, I've been such a 
 fool! "she cried, burying her face on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 For the moment they forgot poor 
 Wendell. He stood there alone, gaz 
 ing at the last act of a comedy in which 
 he had played the only mournful r61e. 
 The sight of their happiness affected 
 him profoundly. Dazed and unnerved, 
 he turned away. 
 
 Ainslee looked up suddenly. " Why, 
 Norman, old man," he said, " you're not 
 going?" 
 
 "Yes, I'm going." 
 
 " But where ? " asked Margaret, cheer 
 fully. 
 
 "God knows!" 
 
 THE END.
 
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