It puzzled him not a little that all his fascinations seemed to go for so
little with Laura; it was beyond his experience with women. Sometimes
Laura was exceedingly kind and petted him a little, and took the trouble
to exert her powers of pleasing, and to entangle him deeper and deeper.
But this, it angered him afterwards to think, was in private; in public
she was beyond his reach, and never gave occasion to the suspicion that
she had any affair with him. He was never permitted to achieve the
dignity of a serious flirtation with her in public.
“Why do you treat me so?” he once said, reproachfully.
“Treat you how?” asked Laura in a sweet voice, lifting her eyebrows.
“You know well enough. You let other fellows monopolize you in society,
and you are as indifferent to me as if we were strangers.”
“Can I help it if they are attentive, can I be rude? But we are such old
friends, Mr. Brierly, that I didn’t suppose you would be jealous.”
“I think I must be a very old friend, then, by your conduct towards me.
By the same rule I should judge that Col. Selby must be very new.”
Laura looked up quickly, as if about to return an indignant answer to
such impertinence, but she only said, “Well, what of Col. Selby, sauce-
box?”
“Nothing, probably, you’ll care for. Your being with him so much is the
town talk, that’s all?”
“What do people say?” asked Laura calmly.
“Oh, they say a good many things. You are offended, though, to have me
speak of it?”
“Not in the least. You are my true friend. I feel that I can trust you.
You wouldn’t deceive me, Harry?” throwing into her eyes a look of trust
and tenderness that melted away all his petulance and distrust. “What do
they say?”
“Some say that you’ve lost your head about him; others that you don’t
care any more for him than you do for a dozen others, but that he is
completely fascinated with you and about to desert his wife; and others
say it is nonsense to suppose you would entangle yourself with a married
man, and that your intimacy only arises from the matter of the cotton,
claims, for which he wants your influence with Dilworthy. But you know
everybody is talked about more or less in Washington. I shouldn’t care;
but I wish you wouldn’t have so much to do with Selby, Laura,” continued
Harry, fancying that he was now upon such terms that his, advice, would
be heeded.
“And you believed these slanders?”
“I don’t believe anything against you, Laura, but Col. Selby does not
mean you any good. I know you wouldn’t be seen with him if you knew his
reputation.”
“Do you know him?” Laura asked, as indifferently as she could.
“Only a little. I was at his lodgings’ in Georgetown a day or two ago,
with Col. Sellers. Sellers wanted to talk with him about some patent
remedy he has, Eye Water, or something of that sort, which he wants to
introduce into Europe. Selby is going abroad very soon.”
Laura started; in spite of her self-control.
“And his wife! –Does he take his family? Did you see his wife?”
Yes. A dark little woman, rather worn–must have been pretty once
though. Has three or four children, one of them a baby. They’ll all go
of course. She said she should be glad enough to get away from
Washington. You know Selby has got his claim allowed, and they say he
has had a run, of luck lately at Morrissey’s.”
Laura heard all this in a kind of stupor, looking straight at Harry,
without seeing him. Is it possible, she was thinking, that this base
wretch, after, all his promises, will take his wife and children and
leave me? Is it possible the town is saying all these things about me?
And a look of bitterness coming into her face–does the fool think he can
escape so?
“You are angry with me, Laura,” said Harry, not comprehending in the
least what was going on in her mind.
“Angry?” she said, forcing herself to come back to his presence.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223