the darkness was gathering by the time that rent came back and kate charlock had her property gathered together. she had not packed up many things—just the necessaries for an extravagant woman like herself. the rest could follow later. she trusted to her tact and discretion to make the future smooth. rent would have been dismayed if he had known how clearly she could read his mind. she had no intention of compromising herself. she was merely going to make use of him. but he need not know that yet. he need not know how perfectly she was able to take care of herself. a deep plot lay at the back of her mind, a means by which she could bring her husband to his knees. this was no senseless, confiding creature putting her future in the hands of a man she had known only for a few months. that she had seen more of him than her husband was aware mattered nothing. she did not fail to note that rent looked greatly annoyed.
"i have been detained," he explained. "a business matter. i may have to come back to-morrow. but i can take you in the car i have borrowed as far as portsmouth. then we can get on to devonshire as soon as possible, where i want you to stay with my mother. i know she will be glad to help you. that will be the means of stopping all idle gossip."
"how thoughtful you are," kate charlock murmured, as the chauffeur disappeared. "i have not burdened myself very much, because i thought that later—but i hardly dare to think of that. if you knew how frightened and terrified i am——"
the speaker broke off and a little sob came from her throat. it was dark now, and rent took her in his arms and soothed her with loving words. it was too dark to see the outline of the figure standing by a belt of shrubs facing the door. but on the still air every word and sound carried, so that john charlock, from his hiding-place, missed nothing. he would have been hard put to say why he had returned. perhaps his conscience had smitten him. perhaps it had occurred to him that he was treating his wife with undue severity. but the fact remained that he was back there again, prepared with a new proposition.
for the moment he had forgotten arnold rent. the man had never come into his mind again, though, at the time, he had meant to give rent a sharp lesson on the prudence of minding his own business. he had come back through the shrubbery in time to witness a tender little scene in the porch. a wave of sudden anger passed over him. then he grew calm and collected. after all, why should he interfere? why should he come between this heartless woman and her platonic flirtation with this besotted fool—this business man gone mad?
for, man of the world as he was, charlock had not yet grasped the true inwardness of the situation. that his wife was an actress to her fingertips he had learnt by bitter experience. doubtless rent had arrived to keep the appointment and thus these two had come together. charlock smiled bitterly to himself as his mind dwelt upon the dramatic story which his wife must have had to tell. he could imagine how the woman would play upon the feelings of the man as a master plays upon an instrument. and the setting to the play was worthy of the great actress herself. no doubt rent had been so moved by the whispered wrongs of this outraged wife that he had placed all he possessed at her disposal. doubtless he was removing her to the loving custody of some relation who would take care of her for the present. but how far things had gone charlock did not know. if he had, he might have interfered—and again he might not. it all depended upon his sardonic mood for the moment. he stood there now, erect and motionless, and disposed to watch the thing to the end. presently the great car jumped forward, and a few moments later the tail lights had vanished down the drive.
"well, why not?" charlock murmured. "unless i am greatly mistaken, arnold rent is a long way from being a fool. a little more knowledge of the world, and he is likely to be a force to cope with. let him find out for himself. let him learn what i have had to put up with. it will be an education for him. upon my word, though he little knows it, i am going to prove that young man's greatest benefactor."
meanwhile, the great car sped on through the darkness, with kate charlock and rent behind and the driver in front. they were very quiet and subdued, for, after the first moments of his mid-summer madness, rent could not be blind to the seriousness of the step he had taken. and the woman by his side, following his every mood and phase of thought, played up to him like a past mistress in the art of emotions. she laid her head tenderly on his shoulder and sighed, as she nestled up to him.
"you do not regret already?" she whispered.
"regret?" rent murmured passionately. "i will never do that. but one does not burn one's boats and mock all the shibboleths without realising the responsibilities that one is casting aside. i do hope that you understand that much, kate."
under cover of the darkness, the woman yawned slightly. she was beginning to long now for the life and bustle of the hotel, and, besides, she had not dined as yet, and, like most people who have their feelings well in hand, she was possessed of a healthy appetite. she jumped down briskly from the car as it pulled up at the royal solent hotel, and the hall porter, majestic in his uniform, threw back the heavy plate-glass doors. to rent's annoyance, the lounge was thronged with people in evening dress. he had forgotten the presence of royalty in portsmouth. he had expected to have the hotel pretty much to kate and himself. it was no far cry to southampton, and there was the chance of being recognized by somebody who knew one or another of them. still, sooner or later, the ordeal would have to be encountered and dealt with. the thought had hardly flashed through rent's mind before a strikingly handsome woman in evening dress rose from the lounge and came towards kate charlock. then, as she caught sight of the man by her side, she appeared to hesitate, and something like a scornful smile swept across her dark features, and she slowly went back to her seat. but, all the same, she continued to stare at kate charlock and her companion. kate grasped rent's arm.
"lady strathmore," she whispered. "i am certain that she recognised us. did you see how she came down the hall and then turned back? i wish we hadn't come here."
it was the first blow, and the woman staggered under it. she stood there, perplexed and uneasy. in a dim kind of way she comprehended the fact that arnold rent was ordering rooms for himself and mrs. charlock. it all came to her in a kind of dream. but she roused herself presently as rent laid his hand upon her arm.
"this way," he said. "come along."
they passed up the whole length of the lounge, so near to lady strathmore that kate charlock could have touched her. for the life of her she could not restrain one glance in the direction of the woman in black, and just for a brief moment their eyes met. lady strathmore's face was rigid as a mask, and her features had just a tinge of scornful amusement upon them. but there was not the slightest trace of recognition. then, as the couple passed by, lady strathmore turned and whispered something to her companion, and both broke into a rippling laugh. with a feeling of thankfulness, kate charlock opened the sitting-room door.
"that is done," arnold rent said. he placed his hands on the woman's shoulders and looked down into her eyes. "never mind, kate. always be kind to me, because, for your sake, i have given up my life's ambition to-night."
in a kind of fever, rent went down the stairs in the direction of the lounge. he was furiously angry now and inclined to be quarrelsome. he would have liked to have it out with the woman who had slighted kate charlock. a month ago he would have laughed at his own folly and been scornfully amused at the idea that he should so far forget himself, though he had long had a passionate admiration for kate. even now, he was not quite clear what he was going to do. up to the present he was inclined to play the honourable part. even now he had only the woman's true interests at heart. strange that he should have been so foolish. strange that he should have imagined that his mother would take the same view of the matter as himself. but, then, she had always spoilt him in the past, and, though she was a rigid puritan, doubtless she would continue to do so in the future.
rent was shaken out of these thoughts by a hotel servant who approached him with a telegram. the man held out the envelope.
"you are mr. rent, sir?" he said. "pardon me, but i think this must be for you. it is so strange a name."
rent looked at the envelope in wonderment. no doubt the message was for him, though he was at a loss to know how any friend could have found him out. he opened the message and read:
"danger here. come back at once."
"how did they find me?" he murmured. "how did they get on my track? it was thoughtful, at any rate. still, danger or no danger, i cannot go back."
