leave newport when the season was at its height! the very thought of such a thing was bitterness itself to sally gardiner, this butterfly of fashion, who loved the whirl of society as dearly as the breath of life.
antoinette entered, bearing a bouquet of fragrant crimson roses in her hand.
sally sprung from the chair, into which she had sunk a moment before, with a frightened little cry.
what if jay gardiner had by chance been in the room when those roses were brought in, with victor lamont's card attached? what if he had snatched them from antoinette's hand, and discovered the note that was hidden in their fragrant depths?
"the handsome english gentleman sends these, with his compliments, to madame," whispered the girl, after casting a furtive glance about the apartment, to make sure doctor gardiner had gone.
"yes, yes," murmured sally, blushing furiously. "hand them to me, and then go into the next room. i shall not want you for a few moments. when i do, i will ring."
she could hardly restrain her impatience until the door had closed to learn what victor lamont had been so rash, after last night's escapade, as to write to her about.
she had little difficulty in finding the note.
there were but a few lines, and they read as follows:
"my dear mrs. gardiner—sally—i must see you without delay. i am pacing up and down the beach, waiting for you to come to me. you would not dare fail me if you knew all that depends upon my seeing you.
"yours, in haste and in waiting,
"victor."
"great heaven!" muttered sally, "how can i go to him after the stormy interview i have just had with my husband? it is utterly impossible, as we go from here within the hour. i ought to say good-bye to the poor fellow. but what if jay should be out on the beach, or on the piazza, or in the office, and see me slip out of the hotel? he would be sure to follow me, and then there would be a scene, perhaps a fight."
again and again she read the note, which she was twisting about her white fingers.
we all know what happens to the woman who hesitates—she is lost.
she touched the bell with nervous fingers.
"antoinette," she said, when her french maid appeared, "i should like to borrow your cloak, hat, and veil for a little while. one does not always like to be known when one goes out on a mission of charity."
"certainly, madame," replied antoinette. "take anything i have in welcome. but, oh, dear me, my smartest jacket will look wofully clumsy on madame's lovely form!"
"help me on with them quickly, my good girl," cut in sally, nervously; "and if any one asks for me when i am out—no matter who it is—say that i have lain down with a severe headache, and can not on any account, be disturbed."
in a few moments more, a trim, dainty figure was gliding swiftly along the beach, heavily veiled and all alone.
yes, he was there waiting for her. there was no mistaking that splendid figure, which was attracting the attention of so many young girls and their chaperons.
with a sweep of her white hand, sally put back her veil, and stood before him in the garb of her french maid.
for an instant, this unexpected discovery and the remembrance of the remark he had but just uttered recurred to him, and a dull red swept over his face.
"mrs. gardiner—sally!" he cried, rapturously, "i—i was just about to give the woman to whom i intrusted that note to give to your antoinette a fine setting out."
"let us walk leisurely along," he suggested. "we will then be less likely to attract attention. i was anxious to know if you reached your apartments in safety," he went on in his most winning tone; but before she had time to reply, he went on quickly: "i was not so fortunate in escaping recognition. i no sooner stepped into the office of the hotel, than a gentleman approached me.
"'ah, lamont,' he exclaimed, 'i am very glad to see you, though you have given me a deuce of a long wait.'
"turning quickly, i beheld, to my utter dismay, the gentleman from new york to whom i owed that large sum of money i told you about.
"'i was here in time to take in the ball last night,' he went on. 'i came on particularly to see you. you were having such a good time dancing, with that pretty little creature in white that i did not disturb you by letting you know of my presence; but after the ball you suddenly disappeared, and i have been waiting in this office for you, expecting you to appear every moment. i could not wait a moment longer than was absolutely necessary, my business with you is so imperative.'
"to make a long story short, mrs. gardiner—sally—he informed me that he should be obliged to draw upon me at once for money i owed him; in fact, that he must have it to-day."
"oh, what will you do, mr. lamont?" cried sally, sympathetically. "what in the world will you do—what will you say?"
"that is just the trouble—what shall i do—what can i say to him? he is a man of iron will and terrible temper. he knows, he has learned through my bankers in new york, that i drew out every cent i had in their bank to pay him. how am i to face him, and tell him that it is gone? i know full well he will have me arrested, and the coachman will be brought forward who drove me up to the door, and then the whole story will leak out."
"oh! oh! oh!" cried sally, standing quite still on the sands, wringing her hands and commencing to cry, "if that story comes out, i am ruined. jay gardiner will leave me, and i will be a beggar!"
"just so," returned victor lamont, softly. "we must make every effort to keep the matter quiet, and there is but one way out of the tangle—only one."
"and what is that?" cried sally.
"you must save me, and in doing so, save yourself. sally—mrs. gardiner," he whispered, rapidly, "you must help me raise money somehow to meet this man's demands."
"but i haven't any money!" moaned sally. "i have spent the money my husband gave me—spent it long ago!"
"you must get it somehow," he declared, hoarsely. "borrow it from some of the husbands of your lady friends, and tell them not to let jay gardiner know. you are a woman of wealth and influence; you can easily raise the money i want—and you must do it!"
"i shall not have time to even try to get the money," she declared. "we leave newport within the hour. antoinette is packing the trunks now. it will be almost time to leave when i reach the hotel."
"you must ask jay gardiner for the money, then," he replied, doggedly, "and instruct antoinette to hand it to me in the reading-room, and that, too, ere you step into your carriage."
"is that a threat?"
she had hardly time to ask the question, ere she saw antoinette coming hurriedly toward her.
with a hurried, "you heard what i said; do not fail me," victor lamont raised his hat, turned on his heel, and strode away.
she was racking her brains as to how she should raise the money for victor lamont in a half hour's time, in order to save herself from the exposure that would be sure to follow if she failed to do so.
she was driven to extremities. yes, there was no other way but to borrow it from some of the guests she knew, and this could not be accomplished without antoinette's assistance.
by the time the girl returned, she had made up her mind as to what course she would pursue. to-day's work would put her forever in the french maid's power; but there was no help for it—none whatever.
"antoinette," she said in an unsteady voice, as soon as she had drained the wine the maid had brought, "i am in trouble, and i want you to help me."
"you can rely upon me, my lady," replied the girl. "i will do anything in the world for you, and tell no one."
"you are very good," murmured her young mistress incoherently. "i—i have lost something valuable belonging to my husband. it will take a great deal of money to replace it, and it must be replaced at once, before he misses it. to do this, i am obliged to borrow money until i get my next allowance from him. there are several persons in the hotel who would willingly loan me the money if they but knew of my predicament. i must see one after another in that little private parlor off the reception-room, until i have secured the amount i need. you will bring them to me."
"i understand, my lady," nodded the maid.
flushed, and trembling with excitement, sally stepped down to the private parlor, after giving antoinette a score of names on a slip of paper.
one by one, the clever french maid conducted the persons she had been sent in search of to her mistress.
each gentleman listened in surprise to the appeal young mrs. gardiner made to them—she the bride of a man worth millions.
in most instances, the gentlemen carried large sums of money with them, and their hands flew to their well-filled pockets at once. they would be only too pleased, they declared. how much would she need?
sally named as large a sum as she thought each of them could stand, and in less than half an hour she had the full amount which victor lamont had said he must have.
