Bought and Paid For; From the Play of George Broadhurst Part 13

"I think we'd better go home!" she gasped.

Virginia alone remained cool.

"Don't be foolish," she said.

"Wait a bit! Wait a bit!" cried Jimmie; picking up the pieces and putting them together. "Look here. How's that for luck? They fit perfectly. No one will know the difference." Replacing the mended vase where he had found it, he added: "We'll leave it just like that and he'll think the j.a.p did it."

"Fine!" cried f.a.n.n.y thoughtlessly, grasping at any excuse which promised to exonerate them.

But Virginia would not permit it.

"We'll do nothing of the kind," she exclaimed indignantly.

"If we don't, he'll think we've done it," said Jimmie apprehensively.

The girl gave him a look that made him quail.

"He's not only got to think it," she said severely--"he has got to know it."

"But if he does--"

As he spoke the front door bell rang in the outer hall. Quickly he added: "I'll bet that's him! Shall you tell him?"

"I certainly shall if you don't," replied Virginia firmly.

Oku pa.s.sed hurriedly through the room on his way to open the front door.

"Excuse, please, excuse--"

Nervous at meeting her host, f.a.n.n.y began to mop her face desperately.

"I'm so nervous!" she said. "Do I shake hands with him when I'm introduced or just say 'pleased to meet you?'"

Virginia laughed heartily.

"Behave as you would with anyone else," she said.

"How do you feel, Jimmie?" inquired f.a.n.n.y.

There was an expression of comical consternation on the s.h.i.+pping clerk's face as he pointed to the broken vase.

"I'm not worrying about meeting him," he said ruefully. "I'm worrying about that--"

The next instant the door leading to the hall opened and Robert Stafford entered.

CHAPTER VIII

Their host advanced, hand extended, his frank, boyish face lit up with a cordial smile.

It was hard to realize that this youthful looking man with black hair not yet tinged by a suspicion of gray, and whose erect, athletic figure suggested the football field rather than the counting room, was one of the most influential railroad men in the country, the master of a large fortune ama.s.sed by his own painstaking efforts, his own energy, initiative and ability.

Attired himself in a plain business suit, a quick glance at his visitors' dress had already told him that he could dispense with the formality of changing for dinner. Shaking hands with Virginia, he said in his usual hearty fas.h.i.+on:

"Well, how are you? I'm so sorry I am late. Oku explained, didn't he?"

"Perfectly," smiled Virginia. "He took good care of us."

Turning to f.a.n.n.y, he said:

"This, I presume, is your sister--"

Virginia hastened to make introductions:

"f.a.n.n.y," she said, "let me introduce Mr. Stafford."

The host bowed and smiled pleasantly, while f.a.n.n.y, embarra.s.sed, not knowing whether to offer her hand, felt awkward and ill at ease, as do most people who, going seldom into society, are not in constant practice with its civilities.

"I'm very pleased, indeed, to meet you, Miss Blaine," said Stafford, bowing.

"And this," went on Virginia, turning to her brother-in-law elect, who stood gaping in the background, "is Mr. Gillie--just 'Jimmie' we call him, don't we, f.a.n.n.y?"

"Yes--Jimmie--of course," stammered f.a.n.n.y, blus.h.i.+ng furiously.

Stafford held out his hand and gave the s.h.i.+pping clerk a grip that made him wince.

"How do you do, Mr. Gillie?"

"How are you?" returned Jimmie with an indifferent nod as he nursed his crushed fingers behind his back.

Stafford beamed good-naturedly on all three. He looked genuinely glad to see them, and this immediately set his guests at their ease. He may not have really felt the cordial welcome he gave them, but he looked as if they were just the people whose society he enjoyed most, a happy knack which some men possess of adapting themselves to their environments, and which had always been the secret of his popularity with men and women both. His manner was so natural, so free from restraint and pose, that even f.a.n.n.y, timid and nervous as she was, felt rea.s.sured.

But while he was affable with all, he had eyes only for Virginia. The others he would willingly have dispensed with, especially the s.h.i.+pping clerk, whom he had sized up with one quick glance. He winced as he took note of the man's cheap, ready-made clothes and boorish manners.

Decidedly he was quite impossible, but for the pleasure of a few moment's _tete-a-tete_ with Virginia, he was ready to make any sacrifice--even to meet on equal social terms a Mr. Gillie.

"Are you quite sure," he went on apologetically, "that I am forgiven for keeping you waiting? Believe me, it was absolutely unavoidable or it wouldn't have happened."

"Oh, yes," rejoined Virginia quickly, "we're quite sure of that."

The host turned to the j.a.panese butler, who was busy at the table, placing the empty c.o.c.ktail gla.s.ses on the tray.

"Did you explain thoroughly, Oku?" he asked.

The man looked up.

"Yes, sir. I tell you have big meeting and say 'very much excuse, please.'"