She shrank back with a great dread in her heart. Marlanx, of all men!
Why was he in the park at this hour of the night? There could be but one
answer, and the very thought of it almost suffocated her. He was drawing
the net with his own hands, he was spying with his own eyes. For a full
minute it seemed to her that her heart would stop beating. How long had
he been standing there? What had he seen or heard? Involuntarily she
peered over the rail for a glimpse of Baldos. He had gone out into the
darkness, missing the men at the lamp-post either by choice or through
pure good fortune. A throb of thankfulness assailed her heart. She was
not thinking of her position, but of his.
Again she drew stealthily away from the rail, possessed of a ridiculous
feeling that her form was as plain to the vision as if it were broad
daylight. The tread of a man impelled her to glance below once more
before fleeing to her room. Marlanx was coming toward the verandah. She
fled swiftly, pausing at the window to lower the friendly but forgotten
umbrella. From below came the sibilant hiss of a man seeking to attract
her attention. Once more she stopped to listen. The "hist" was repeated,
and then her own name was called softly but imperatively. It was beyond
the power of woman to keep from laughing. It struck her as irresistibly
funny that the Iron Count should be standing out there in the rain,
signaling to her like a love-sick boy. Once she was inside, however, it
did not seem so amusing. Still, it gave her an immense amount of
satisfaction to slam the windows loudly, as if in pure defiance. Then
she closed the blinds, shutting out the night completely.
Turning up the light at her dressing-table, she sat down in a state of
sudden collapse. For a long time she stared at her face in the
mirror. She saw the red of shame and embarrassment mount to her cheeks
and then she covered her eyes with her hands.
"Oh, what a fool you've been," she half sobbed, shrinking from the
mirror as if it were an accuser.
She prepared for bed with frantic haste. Just as she was about to
scramble in and hide her face in the pillows, a shocking thought came to
her. The next she was at the windows and the slats were closed with a
rattle like a volley of firearms. Then she jumped into bed. She wondered
if the windows were locked. Out she sprang again like a flash, and her
little bare feet scurried across the room, first to the windows and then
to the door.
"Now, I reckon I'm safe," she murmured a moment later, again getting
into bed. "I love to go to sleep with the rain pattering outside like
that. Oh, dear, I'm so sorry he has to walk all night In this rain.
Poor fellow! I wonder where he is now. Goodness, it's raining cats and
dogs!"