The Governors Part 12

"Exactly!" he answered, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"There are so many lovely things all over the house," she continued, "that it has puzzled me very much why they should have chosen to try only to break open that desk in the library. It seems queer, doesn't it?"

"Perhaps it does," he admitted. "On the other hand, they might have thought that your uncle had bonds and papers worth a great deal more than any of the ordinary treasures they could collect."

"Well," she said, "they got nothing at all. Somehow, I don't fancy," she added, "that my uncle is the sort of man to keep valuable things where they could possibly be stolen."

He determined to be a little daring. He raised his eyebrows, and looked at her with a smile which was meant to be humorous.

"Fortunate for him that he doesn't," he answered, "for, frankly, if I knew where to find it, I should certainly steal that doc.u.ment that Mr.

Weiss came and worried you about. We ought to have it. If it got into any one's hands except your uncle's, it would be the most serious thing that ever happened to any of us."

"I don't think," she said rea.s.suringly, "that you need worry. My uncle does not part easily with things which he believes have value."

He laughed, not quite naturally.

"I see," he said, "that you are beginning to appreciate your uncle."

"One learns all manner of things," she answered, "very quickly here."

He looked at her with more attention than he had as yet bestowed upon her. She was very slim, but wonderfully elegant, and her clothes, though simple, were absolutely perfect. Her eyes certainly were marvellous. Her complexion had not altogether lost the duskiness which came from her outdoor life. Her hair was parted in the middle, after a fas.h.i.+on of her own, and coming rather low on the back of her head, gave her the appearance of being younger even than she was. Stella's beauty was perhaps the most p.r.o.nounced, but this girl, he felt, was unique. He looked thoughtfully into her eyes. Her whole expression and manner were so delightfully simple and girlish, that he found it almost impossible to believe that she was playing a part.

They talked for a little while upon purely general subjects, the Opera, her new friends, the whole social life of the city, of which he was a somewhat prominent part. She talked easily and naturally, and he flattered himself that he was making a good impression. When at last he rose to take his leave, he made one more venture.

"I don't know," he said, "whether you get bothered by your uncle's business affairs at all while he is laid up, but I hope you will remember that if I can be of any service, I am practically one of his partners, and I understand all his affairs. You must please send for me if I can be of the slightest use to you."

She had apparently listened to him for the first part of his sentence with her usual air of polite interest. Suddenly, however, she started, and her attention wandered. She crossed quickly toward the bell and rang it.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Littleson," she said. "I won't forget what you have said. Do you mind excusing me? I fancy that I am wanted."

She left the room as the servant whom she had summoned arrived to show her visitor out. Was it her fancy, or had she indeed heard the soft ringing of the burglar alarm which she had had attached to the library door on the other side of the hall!

CHAPTER XII

STELLA SUCCEEDS

Virginia crossed the hall with rapid footsteps, and entered the library.

She realized at once that she had not been deceived, but she started back in surprise when she discovered who it was standing before the roll-top desk and regarding it contemplatively. Stella looked up, and the eyes of the two girls met. Stella nodded, apparently quite at her ease.

"How are you, cousin Virginia?" she said. "You see I have come back home to play the part of the repentant daughter."

Virginia was a little distressed. She closed the door behind her and came further into the room.

"Stella," she said, "I am very sorry, but while your father is ill he does not like any one to come into this room."

Stella seated herself in his chair.

"Quite right," she said. "I hope you will be careful to keep them out.

He always has such a lot of secrets, and I know that he hates to have people prying round."

Virginia felt that she had never received a more embarra.s.sing visitor.

"Would you mind, Stella," she said, "coming into the drawing-room with me? This room is supposed to be locked up. You knew the catch in the door, of course, or you could not have come in."

"Yes! I know the catch," Stella answered, "and, my dear child, you must forgive my saying so, but I have lived here for some years, and it is still home to me. You, on the other hand, have been here a few weeks. I know you don't mean anything unkind, but just because I have quarrelled a little with my father, you must not tell me which rooms I may enter, and which I may not. I am going to stay here for half an hour, and write some letters."

"You can write them in any other room in the house," Virginia declared, "but not here. It is impossible."

Stella smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she sat down.

"I am sorry," she said, "but this is where I mean to write them. You must remember that this house belongs to my father. You are here temporarily in my place. I have not bothered you very much, and it is a very simple thing that I ask. I want to make use of this room, to write a few letters here. After that I shall go away."

The troubled frown on Virginia's face grew deeper.

"My dear Stella," she said, "although nothing would please me better than to see your father and you friends again, you must know that he allows no one to enter these rooms when his secretary is away. In fact, as you know, the door was closed, and if you had not known the secret of the catch, you could not have entered."

"Well," Stella repeated carelessly, "since I am here, I am here. Please unlock this desk and give me some writing paper."

"I cannot unlock it," Virginia answered. "You must know that."

"But you have the keys," Stella interposed.

"If I have," Virginia declared, "it is because your father trusted me with them."

"Perhaps," Stella said, leaning a little forward in her chair, "you have also the keys of that wonderful little hiding place of his that he showed me one day."

"Perhaps I have," Virginia answered, "but if so, no other person in the world will ever know about it."

"You won't even open the desk for me, then?" Stella said.

"Certainly not," Virginia answered. "Your father's orders to me were quite explicit."

"You do not suppose," Stella asked, "that he meant to exclude his own daughter?"

"How can I tell?" Virginia answered. "I know nothing of the trouble there was between you two," she added more softly, "It is not my affair, although nothing would please me more than to see you friends again. If you will come into the drawing-room and wait, I will go upstairs and try and persuade him to see you."

Stella shook her head.

"It would be of no use," she said. "He is frightfully obstinate, and I shall never have a chance of making my peace with him again unless I can come upon him unexpectedly."

"Well," Virginia said, "he is not likely to be downstairs to-day, and, Stella, don't be angry with me, but I must really ask you to leave this room."

"Thank you," Stella answered coldly. "I am at home here, and I mean to stay so long as I choose. It is you who are the intruder. If you have any sense at all, you will go away and play with your dolls. You can't have left them very long, and I'm sure it is a more fitting amus.e.m.e.nt for you than ordering me about my father's house."

Virginia moved up and down the room. The tears were already in her eyes; she was utterly and completely perplexed.