Читать книгу The Affair at Flower Acres - Carolyn Wells - Страница 4

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Dusk is in itself sinister. Bright noonday or black midnight are definite, positive, even tangible, but dusk is uncertain, mysterious, eerie. And once it begins its creeping, insidious progress, it comes faster and more inexorably with every moment, until its first gray, wavering shadows turn to dense and menacing shapes.

At Flower Acres, the beautiful Long Island home of the Raynors, a September dusk was stretching its first long fingers of shadow across the terraces and massed flower beds. The blue spruces and yellow arbor vitae lost their color, and merged into the deepening gray, while the blossoming plants faded to nothingness.

The sun parlor, on the south side of the great house, had reflected from its huge panes the pink and gold of the sunset, and now was dimming to grayness with the rest.

Through the falling darkness rang out a single shot.

In the wide doorway between the house and the sun parlor the glimmer of a white-clad figure pierced the gloom, and a door facing east and a door facing west, both swung on their hinges.

And on the red stone floor, crumpled into an ungainly heap, lay the inert form of Douglas Raynor, its outline indistinguishable in the sudden complete darkness, till a click of a switch button sounded and the bright lights flashed out.

* * * * * * * * *

Three days before, Malcolm Finley had returned from Japan.

Not directly; he had spent the few last weeks of his two years’ absence in London and had come home from there.

As the liner steamed up the Hudson, Finley gazed on the Manhattan sky-line with the sense of proud proprietorship that all good Americans feel in that tidy mass of rectangles. He recognized the old familiar buildings and noted the new ones with pleased satisfaction, while he responded courteously to the bromides about them from his fellow-passengers.

The quickly successive sensations incident to landing and reaching a hotel all pleased him, and in sheer delight he noted or missed old landmarks until alone in his room at the Waldorf, he began to feel a longing for human companionship.

Accordingly he reached for the telephone and confided his wishes to Ezra Goddard.

“Of course I’ll dine with you,” that old chum responded. “Trusty old Waldorf, eh? Good! Be there in fifty minutes. Good-by.”

During a somewhat lengthy and extremely satisfactory dinner, Finley learned all that he wanted to know about business, politics and friends. Goddard was a storehouse of information on these points, and guided by an occasional question, he placidly poured forth his torrents of news until Finley’s parched curiosity was fairly inundated.

“All right, Goddard, that’s enough about the Jerrold scandal. And I’m fed up with Wall Street details. So now,—what about—Nancy?”

Ezra Goddard looked at his host thoughtfully. “You went away when she married, didn’t you?”

“Yes,—when she married that unspeakable man!”

“Because she married him?”

“Partly. Also, I had a fine opportunity offered in my Japan trip. What about the girl? Do you ever see her?”

“Oh, often. They live out on Long Island,—fine, big estate, magnificent, really.”

“Then he has done her well?”

“As to setting,—yes.”

“Is she—is she happy? Is he good to her?”

“Can’t answer either question. You know Nancy,—if she weren’t happy she’d never let anybody know it. As to his being good to her,—he is and he isn’t.”

“How—isn’t?”

“Hard to put it into words. But, he’s—oh, he’s impossible!”

“A bounder?”

“No,—not that. But he’s a tyrant, a despot—an overseer!”

“My God! Does he tyrannize over Nan!”

“Does he! It makes my blood boil,—but what can one do when she resents the slightest comment on his actions, or even allusions to them?”

“Then she loves him?”

“She can’t. No woman could. But,—oh, there are so many sides to it all,—so many complications—”

“Tell me all about it. If that man is unkind to little Nan—”

“You can’t do anything. The best thing you can do, Mal, is to keep away. Raynor’s always been a bit jealous of you—”

“Of me? What nonsense! Why, Nan and I were the merest friends—so far as any one knew—”

“Including Nan herself?”

“Why, yes,—I should say so. There was nothing between us—”

“But you loved her?”

“And do still. But I’m man enough to realize she’s the wife of another,—only,—if that other—”

“Why did she marry him? Why, Malcolm?”

“I don’t know, Goddard. But never mind conjecture,—give me facts. What does that brute do to her?”

“Nothing tangible,—nothing you could lay your hand on. But he teases her, irritates her, criticizes her unjustly, and in a mean way,—until sometimes I should think she would kill him!”

“Not Nancy,—she’s the gentlest of girls—”

“Was. But of late she seems to be getting to the end of her rope, the limit of her patience. If it weren’t for Orry,—I almost think she might rebel openly—”

“Why Orry?”

“His influence is good over her. They adore each other,—I never knew a more devoted brother and sister,—and when Raynor stirs Nan up beyond endurance, Orry is the one who pours oil on the troubled waters.”

“He never seemed to me to have much go—”

“No, he hasn’t. Orville Kent is a dreamer, an artist. But he has a fine nature, and he also has a good sense of proportion,—a real knowledge of relative values. And so he quiets Nan now and then,—but truly it’s seldom necessary, for the girl is so well poised herself. If she ever regrets her marriage, no one is allowed to guess it from her words or actions.”

“Bless her heart! Perhaps it isn’t so very bad. Raynor had big qualities—”

“Yes, but also some mighty small ones! He can jab the iron into his wife’s soul, and then twist it around in the wound with a diabolical cleverness.”

“Is she alone with him, except for Orville?”

“Lord, no. There’s quite a household. Raynor’s sister, Miss Mattie, is there,—also a nurse.”

“A nurse?”

“Not exactly,—that is, she’s what they call a dietitian,—you see, Raynor has developed a hippy concern as to his health, and he lives on calories or carbohydrates or something,—anyway, they have to be weighed and counted by a trained dietary person, hence, the nurse.”

“H’m,—an old man, apprehensive about his health is a fine mate for lovely Nancy Kent!”

“Exactly. Why did she marry him?”

“I’d like to go down there, Goddard. Would it be taking my life in my hands?”

“Unless Raynor invites you, yes.”

“Won’t he? Can’t you make him? You seem to be on an intimate footing down there.”

“I’ll ask him, gladly.”

“Do it now.”

Goddard stared at the determined face before him. Tall, strong and thirty, Malcolm Finley was the sort of man who gives instructions in the full expectation of their being carried out.

His rather fair hair was thick, and showed a suspicion of waviness as it tossed back from his wide brow. His eyes were gray and deep set and his mouth showed sweetness as well as firmness in its sensitive curves.

But his chin was the index of his nature. Strong and square, it was the chin of a fighter, modified by wisdom and judgment. And wisdom and judgment were the prominent traits of Finley’s character.

A most casual glance at him gave the impression of capability and efficiency with indomitable determination and persistence. Moreover, he usually spoke with a decision that cut off possible objections.

Wherefore Goddard obediently went to a telephone and returned not much later with a mystified expression on his face.

“I don’t quite understand it,” he said, resuming his seat at the table, and lighting a fresh cigar, “but old Raynor says he will be charmed to see you. Suffering you to come, I could have understood,—but charmed! Looks tricky to me.”

“Meaning?”

“That he expects to get some fun out of your visit, somehow. I told him you were home, and that I was dining with you, and that you wanted to run down to his place with me and renew old acquaintance, and he fell for it so quickly and so cordially that I can’t see through it. I thought he’d have conscientious objections of some sort. But he was positively urgent. Said for you to come with me on Friday for the week-end, and as much longer as you could content yourself there. It’s an enormous place, you know,—big as a hotel, full of servants and guests and neighbors—”

“Neighbors? Thought it was country.”

“Oh, big adjoining estates,—almost like an English countryside. Now, look here, Mal, you must be careful. I’m sure the old brute has something up his sleeve, and it’s most likely to be a wicked hope of catching you making love to his wife, which will give him a chance for deviltry of some sort. So carry yourself with great circumspection—”

“Circumspection be hanged! I’ll adopt whatever attitude toward Nancy I see fit! Old friend, for choice,—but if he gets funny—”

“He won’t get funny,—but,—he’ll take it out of her.”

“Oh, will he! If he does, he’ll have to settle with me. Look here, Goddard, that’s why I want to go there, to see what that girl is up against. I’m not going to please myself,—Lord knows it’s a dangerous matter, anyway. For when I see Nan,—dear little Nan, again,—I shall have all I can do to hold myself in leash. But,—if that man is bothering her—”

“I’m not sure I’ll take you, Mal, if you talk like that. Don’t stir up trouble, will you?”

“I promise nothing. But I go.”

* * * * * * * * *

And so he did.

The two friends went down to Flower Acres in Goddard’s beautiful little roadster, preceded by a motor load of luggage and Goddard’s man.

For that worthy citizen, Goddard, was by way of being luxurious, and had foregone the expense of married life in order to pamper himself with lavish bachelor comforts.

As they neared the place and the full meaning of its name burst upon him, Finley stared in delight at the scene. Literally acres of flowers, late blossoms now, spread over the earth, and among and between box or yew hedges, rows of poplars and clumps of evergreens, were great beds of asters, cosmos, goldenglow, chrysanthemums, salvia and late roses, while formal gardens showed more rare and choice blossoms.

The whole effect was a blaze, a riot of color, and the perfection of detail and harmony of arrangement bespoke a master mind back of it all, as well as the heart of a flower-lover.

“Who does it?” asked Finley, almost in a voice of awe, as one vista after another met his eyes.

“Nan,” said Goddard, briefly. “It’s her hobby.”

“Well, if the brute gives her full swing like this, he can’t be all bad.”

“Never said he was. Now, Malcolm, remember my warning. Don’t be fool enough to disregard it. Do not flirt with Nancy Raynor, nor even seem to do so. I’m positive there’s something behind this willingness of Raynor to have you here, and you must not let him have even an imaginary cause for jealousy.”

“Oh, shut up, Goddard, what do you take me for? If you think I’m a disturber of families or a troublemaker of any sort, you’re greatly mistaken.”

“I don’t think you are—on purpose. But—”

“Well, shut up, anyway. If, when and as you see me going wrong it will be time enough to read me lectures,—as if I were a callow schoolboy!”

They neared the house, whose front façade of dull red brick with white painted trimmings showed a wide and hospitable looking entrance.

Pausing before entering, Finley turned to look at the picture. From the terrace, one first glanced over more flower acres, then some woodland of low growths, then a great stretch of uneven beach, and finally a horizon of sea and sky.

It was so beautiful that Finley hoped in his heart his bedroom might face this way.

Yet when, a short time later, he presented himself to the family, already at tea on the western terrace, he found the outlook even more picturesque. For here the flower acres ran to a denser wood, behind which was even now being staged a particularly theatrical sunset.

Goddard was already there, and Finley’s arrival was a trifle dramatic.

As he stepped through the French window from the library to the western terrace, he saw first the face of Nancy Raynor. She looked at him over the cup of tea she was pouring, and if the cup shivered a little on its saucer, she instantly stilled it, and continued her occupation.

“Charlotte, like a well-conducted person, went on cutting bread and butter,” Finley said, lightly, though his heart was pounding as he went toward her.

For that one startled glance of her dark eyes, that one little rattle of the cup on its saucer, had told volumes to the man seeking information.

“How do you do, Malcolm?” she said, holding out her hand with a cordial yet detached air. “It is pleasant to meet again.”

“Indeed it is,” he said, warmly, then catching Goddard’s significant glance, he checked his enthusiasm, and turned to greet the master of the house.

“Mr. Raynor?” he said with a slightly interrogative inflection.

“You know it’s Mr. Raynor,” and his host touched his hand for a moment, “why the question mark? Have you forgotten me?”

“No, indeed;” and for once Malcolm Finley was almost disconcerted. “But the beauty and charm of your place has gone to my head, and I’m not quite sure of anything.”

“Oh,—that is what has gone to your head, is it? The beauty of the place?”

Not only was the emphasis unmistakable, but a brief glance in the direction of his wife added meaning to the man’s words.

“Yes, indeed,” Finley went on, lightly. “I’ve just come from Japan, but even there I saw no profusion of flowers that so charmed my senses as your gardens here.”

“Nor no such beautiful women as we have here?” Again the slight glance at Nancy, which was accomplished by merely moving his eyes and not his head.

Finley felt himself clinching his hands, and with all his power of control in force, he returned, “Japan is the land of beautiful women, if one cares for that type. Ah, Orville, old chap, how are you?”

He left Raynor and crossed the terrace to shake hands with Orville Kent, Nancy’s brother, who greeted him with a smile.

“It’s good to see you again, Malcolm. You’ve been away a long time.”

“Two years. You look just the same, Orry. In fact, I find little changed except the traffic laws.”

“Prohibition?”

“Oh, well, that’s liquor traffic law,—and, too,—is it very much changed?”

“Miss Raynor,” Orville said, as he turned to an alert-eyed lady, who was quite evidently impatient for introduction, “I want you to know Malcolm Finley,—an old friend of ours, just back from Japan.”

“How wonderful!” she exclaimed, “you must tell me all about it. Will you, Mr. Finley? All about the kickshaws, or whatever they are,—and the cherry-blossom carnivals and everything.”

“Surely I will, if you want to hear it.”

“But not now,” Orville interrupted, seeing that the good-natured Finley was willing to begin at once. “Let’s go for a stroll, Malcolm. I’ll show you the swans on the lake.”

Feeling that the whole situation was fraught with an undercurrent of danger, Finley, after an instant’s hesitation, agreed, and the two went off.

“I’m glad you came down here,” Kent began, soon after they left the house; “you may be able to cheer things up a bit. We’re in doleful dumps, somehow.”

“What about? Servants leaving?” Finley asked, lightly, uncertain what line to pursue.

“No. But Douglas is getting so queer.”

“Mentally, morally or physically?”

“Oh, every way. He’s fiendish to Nan—”

“What?” and Finley’s sharp tone made Orville turn and stare at him.

“Oh,” he said, and then fell into a silence.

After a moment he resumed, “I say, perhaps it wasn’t a good thing for you to come either. I see you still care for her.”

“Look here, Orville, cut that out. It’s nobody’s business whether I care for anybody or not. When you see anything in my conduct toward your sister that calls for criticism, come and tell me so. Until then, I must ask you to refrain from even thinking about it.”

“All right, old fellow, I understand. And so I’ll tell you how I see it. Douglas is hateful to Nan, but it’s partly her own fault.”

“I don’t believe it!” This burst involuntarily from Finley, and quickly, in order to cover it, he said: “I mean, I can’t think Nan would do anything deserving of Raynor’s censure.”

“Censure? Oh, no. That isn’t it. But she’s never of the same mind with him,—never sees things as he does,—never really agrees with him. Yet she pretends to. And that, to a man like Raynor, who can’t be deceived by anybody, is unbearable.”

“And just what can I do about it?”

“Oh, nothing definite. Of course not. But I thought maybe your being here for a time would divert the current, shift the cards about, and give us all a new angle on things.”

“You expect an unusual effect from a mere casual guest.”

“Don’t take it so seriously. I don’t expect anything. But if you could just influence Nan a little to be more lenient to Douglas’ ways, or rather to his opinions and convictions that differ from her own. That’s the trouble, they never see things alike.”

“But, my dear boy,—I can’t—”

“I tell you, don’t take it like that. I don’t want you to do anything definite,—only—oh, pshaw, I thought you’d understand!”

“Same little old Orry! Petulant, impatient and unreasonable. Well, son, I’ll do this; I’ll look about a bit, and if I can act the part of guide, philosopher and friend to your sister, you can just bet I’ll do it!”

“Or to Douglas. He must like you or he wouldn’t have asked you down. Can’t you get round him, get chummy with him,—and then ask him to try to understand Nan better?”

“My dear boy! Advise a husband of two years to understand his wife better!”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand,” and Orville sighed.

Why Did She Marry Him?