Her forehead contracted slightly and she pressed her
lips together.
"I suppose that even then the conspiracy was thoroughly
arranged," I said tauntingly, laughing a little
perhaps, and wishing to wound her, to take vengeance
upon her.
She rose and stood by her chair, one hand resting
upon it. I faced her; her eyes were like violet seas.
She spoke very quietly.
"Mr. Glenarm, has it occurred to you that when I
talked to you there in the park, when I risked unpleasant
gossip in receiving you in a house where you had
no possible right to be, that I was counting upon something,
-foolishly and stupidly,-yet counting upon it?"
"You probably thought I was a fool," I retorted.
"No;"-she smiled slightly-"I thought-I believe
I have said this to you before!-you were a gentleman.
I really did, Mr. Glenarm. I must say it to justify
myself. I relied upon your chivalry; I even thought,
when I played being Olivia, that you had a sense of
honor. But you are not the one and you haven't the
other. I even went so far, after you knew perfectly
well who I was, as to try to help you-to give you another
chance to prove yourself the man your grandfather
wished you to be. And now you come to me in a shocking
bad humor,-I really think you would like to be
insulting, Mr. Glenarm, if you could."
"But Pickering,-you came back with him; he is
here and he's going to stay! And now that the property
belongs to you, there is not the slightest reason why
we should make any pretense of anything but enmity.
When you and Arthur Pickering stand together I take
the other side of the barricade! I suppose chivalry
would require me to vacate, so that you may enjoy at
once the spoils of war."
"I fancy it would not be very difficult to eliminate
you as a factor in the situation," she remarked icily.
"And I suppose, after the unsuccessful efforts of Mr.
Pickering's allies to assassinate me, as a mild form of
elimination, one would naturally expect me to sit calmly
down and wait to be shot in the back. But you may tell
Mr. Pickering that I throw myself upon your mercy.
I have no other home than this shell over the way, and
I beg to be allowed to remain until-at least-the bluebirds
come. I hope it will not embarrass you to deliver
the message."
"I quite sympathize with your reluctance to deliver
it yourself," she said. "Is this all you came to say?"
"I came to tell you that you could have the house,
and everything in its hideous walls," I snapped; "to
tell you that my chivalry is enough for some situations
and that I don't intend to fight a woman. I had accepted
your own renouncement of the legacy in good
part, but now, please believe me, it shall be yours to-morrow.
I'll yield possession to you whenever you ask
it,-but never to Arthur Pickering! As against him
and his treasure-hunters and assassins I will hold out
for a dozen years!"