“Well,” she said, after a long pause, “I must admit that at first I was angry with you. Now”––and her eyes grew a bit scornful––“I am angry with Martial, instead. In fact, I think I shall wash my hands of him. I have no sympathy with a man who allows himself to be placed in a ludicrously painful position that reflects upon his friends.”
“Especially when he has the privilege of your particular favour,” added Nasmyth.
Mrs. Acton laughed. “That,” she returned, “was a daring observation. It, at least, laid a certain obligation on Martial to prove it warranted, which he has signally failed to do. I presume you know why he took some little pains to make himself unpleasant to you?”
Nasmyth fancied that she was really angry with Martial, and that he understood her attitude. She was a capable, strong-willed woman, and had constituted herself the ally of the unfortunate man who had brought discredit on her by permitting himself to be shamefully driven from the field. It was also evident that she resented the fact that a guest from her husband’s yacht should have been concerned in any proceedings of the nature that the schooner’s deck-hand had described.
“I think I suspect why he was not cordial to me,” Nasmyth admitted. “Still, the inference is so flattering that one would naturally feel a little diffident about believing that Martial’s suppositions were correct.”
“That,” replied Mrs. Acton, “was tactfully expressed.” She looked at the young man fixedly, and her next remark was characterized by the disconcerting frankness which is not unusual in the West. “Mr. Nasmyth,” she said, “unless you have considerable means of your own, it would be wiser of you to put any ideas of the kind you have hinted at right out of your head.”
“I might, perhaps, ask you for one or two reasons why I should adopt the course you suggest.”
“You shall have them. Violet Hamilton is a lady with possessions, and I look upon her as a ward of my own. Any way, her father and mother are dead, and they were my dearest friends.”
“Ah,” agreed Nasmyth, “that naturally renders caution advisable. Well, I am in possession of three or four hundred dollars, and a project which I would like to believe may result to my advantage financially. Still, that is a thing I cannot be very sure about.”