A Woman's Will Part 37

"And you," he exclaimed eagerly, "how bad you also are! you never even try to be agreeable, and when I speak with great seriosity you are often more amused than before, even."

Rosina tried to look sorry, but found it safer, even in the twilight, to look the other way.

"The truth is," he went on vigorously, "I am very much too good with you! I have never taken my time to an American before, and I am always fearful. I have been a fool. I shall not be a fool any more."

"How do you intend to begin to grow wise?"

"You will see."

The threat sounded dire, but they were now at the corner by the Maximiliansstra.s.se, and supper was too near for her to feel downcast.

"I hope that we are to have potato salad to-night," she said cheerfully.

He continued to meditate moodily.

"Oh, we are much too much together," he announced at last.

"Well," she replied, "if you go to the Tagernsee to-morrow that will give us a little mutual rest."

"I may miss the train," he added thoughtfully; "if I do--"

"You can take the next one," she finished for him.

He looked at her witheringly.

"If I do miss the train, I will carry my violin to you and we will make some music in the evening."

Rosina stopped, fairly paralyzed with joy.

"Oh, monsieur," she cried, "will you really?"

"Yes, that is what I will; _if_ I miss the train."

They had entered beneath the long arcade, which was dark and altogether deserted except for one distant figure.

"I almost want you to miss your train," she said eagerly. "You do not know how very, very anxious I am to hear you play."

"I can miss it," he said thoughtfully; "it is very simple to miss a train. One can sleep, and then here in Munich one may say the cabman a wrong Gare. If I say 'Ostbahnhof' when I must go from the Starnberg, I shall surely miss the train, you know."

He looked at her gravely and she burst out laughing at the picture he had drawn for her mind, because there is all of three or four miles between those two particular stations.

"But I don't want you to miss the train," she said presently. "You can play for me after you come back, I--"

At this moment the figure which had been coming towards them suddenly resolved itself into that of a stalwart young man, who, just as he was directly in front of them, stopped, seized Rosina in his arms and kissed her. She very naturally screamed in fright, and her escort delivered a blow at the stranger which sent him reeling backwards against one of the stone pillars.

The man, who was well dressed and appeared to be a gentleman, recovered himself with surprising quickness, and laughed oddly, saying:

"My Lord, what a welcome!"

At the sound of his voice Rosina screamed afresh, this time in quite another tone, however, exclaiming:

"It's my cousin Jack!"

"It is your--some one you know?" stammered Von Ibn. "Then I must demand a thousand pardons."

"Not at all," said Jack, taking his hand and shaking it heartily; "that's all right! don't say a word more. The trouble was that when I saw Rosina I forgot that she had gotten out of the habit of being kissed. Of course I scared her awfully. Are you over it yet, dear?"

Rosina stood between the two men, and appeared completely stunned by her cousin's arrival.

"Where did you drop from, anyhow?" she asked, finding her tongue at last.

"Came over to go back with you; left Paris last night."

"Where will you stay? There isn't an empty corner in the _pension_, one has to write ever so long ahead."

"I'm going to stay at the Vierjahreszeiten, just beside you. I'm all right."

"Yes," said Von Ibn suddenly, "you are very right; I stay there too."

Rosina thought despairingly, "They'll see a lot of one another, and Jack will dislike him and he'll hate Jack."

By this time they were come to her door and paused there.

"I'm going in with you," the cousin said. "Madame was so glad to see me again that she wanted me to come back and sit next to her at supper. I was awfully glad to see her. She's even younger and prettier than when I last saw her--when you and I were kids there that winter, don't you remember?"

Von Ibn was staring sombrely at Rosina and she was sure that Jack would notice it, and wished that he wouldn't. Then he gave a little start and held out his hand.

"I shall not come to-night," he said, "and to-morrow I go to the Tagernsee; so it is 'good-bye' here."

She felt choked.

"Good-bye," she said, keenly aware of being watched, but striving to speak pleasantly notwithstanding. He shook her hand, raised his hat, and left them.

Then her cousin swung the big _porte_ open and they entered the pa.s.sage and went towards the stairs. At the first step he paused and said in a peculiarly pointed tone of voice:

"Well, are you going to marry him?"

She jumped at the suddenness of the question, and then, recovering herself quickly, answered coldly:

"Of course not."

"Why of course not?"

Her neck took on a quite new poise--not new to the man behind her, however.

"I asked you, 'Why of course not'?" he repeated.

"You know how foolish such a question is."