Astra Read online

  “And you were walking through strange country lanes alone!”

  Cameron’s face was deeply disturbed. “How I wish I had known and might have gone with you! How gladly I would have driven you wherever you needed to go!”

  “Well, I certainly thank you!” said Astra, the color coming sweetly into her cheeks now. For the look in Cameron’s eyes stirred her more than she dared to believe. It was out of all proportion to the danger she might have been in. It gave her a sense of belonging to him, at least as a friend who was highly valued.

  She struggled to get above the embarrassment that the situation brought upon her. She must not act as if it were anything unusual for a young man to express concern about her. Probably her own weariness and anxiety were making more of it than was really there. Yet she could not rise above her embarrassment. She was so tired she wanted to sit down and cry, but she must get over this. Cameron was only being kind, and she mustn’t be silly.

  He sat there watching her for an instant, and then, seeming to sense what was the trouble, said in a matter-of-fact-tone, “When did you have your dinner?”

  Confusion came into her eyes as she glanced at the clock across the room.

  “Why—I—don’t just remember the hour,” she evaded.

  “Did you have any dinner at all?” he asked again, his eyes keenly upon her. The color came guiltily into her cheeks.

  “Why—I—don’t—know!” she said, and broke down laughing. “I guess I didn’t. I was so worried and so busy that I didn’t think of it till you mentioned it.”

  “Exactly!” said Cameron, reaching for his briefcase and hat. “That settles it. We’re going out for a good supper. I need a meal, too. I had nothing but a sandwich and some coffee about five o’clock, and I’ve been waiting for you ever since. You’ll have to take pity on me and eat some dinner! Come!”

  He arose and took her hand, lifting her to her feet.

  “Oh—no—I couldn’t,” she said with distress in her voice. “Do you know how many times you have had to feed me? I’m just ashamed. Please let me go. I have some milk and crackers up in my room. I really shall be all right. You go and get something to eat. Find some of your friends and don’t bother any more about me.”

  “Well, I’m sorry you don’t count yourself one of my own friends, for I was hoping you did. But friend or no friend, I’m going to make it my business once again to see that you eat a proper meal, and that before I take time out for conversation. And I really wanted to talk with you for a few minutes. Come on! I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Almost on the verge of tears, she lifted a sudden grateful smile to him and went.

  He put her into a taxi and took her to a very quiet little restaurant which he was sure Camilla would never have heard of, and he ordered a few delicious dishes for which he knew this special place was famous.

  “Now,” he said. “Do you like music? Maybe you’ll think that question is irrelevant, because there won’t be any music here. They never have it. I came here because I knew it would be quiet at this time of night, without a lot of blathering idiots screaming around and carrying on. But I really want to know if you like music.”

  She recognized that he was trying to put her at her ease, and she rallied quickly to be her normal self.

  “Why yes of course, I love it. I was going to try to hunt some up tonight, if it hadn’t been for that disturbing telegram that sent me off on a wild goose chase. Of course I love music. I wondered if this wasn’t the night for your great orchestra concert.”

  He smiled.

  “Yes, it was, but tomorrow night it’s the orchestra and Choral Society together. The Messiah, you know. I was wondering if you count me enough of a friend to go with me.”

  Then for an instant there came again that glad light into her eyes and shot down into his soul, doing definite things to their relation, the same light he had seen in her eyes when she came into the door and caught sight of him. His own heart bounded suddenly with a deep, solemn throb of definite joy.

  “Oh I do,” said Astra. “I don’t feel that I really have a right to call you that, because I’m just an utter stranger you picked up in an emergency, and I shouldn’t have any respect for myself if I presumed on that acquaintance, but you certainly have been very kind to me, and it is nice to have you willing to go on being kind. Of course, I’ll be glad to go to the concert with you. I’m not only hungry for food, but I’m really hungry for music. Father loved music, and we always had season tickets for the symphony concerts and a number of other wonderful things. But since Father is gone, I’ve scarcely heard any. You see, my cousins are not at all musical, and that rather barred me from even the radio concerts. If she heard a symphony or something really fine going on the radio, my young cousin would come and turn it off. She had no patience with what she called ‘stuffy music.’ So I’ve been really starving for a little real music!”

  “Well now, that’s nice! I’ve had all kinds of a time finding a companion who sincerely enjoys good music. Most of them want to talk and laugh while it is going on. I’m fed up with that kind of a companion. But I sort of divined that you would be different.”

  “Well, thank you. At least I can promise you I won’t do that. And I certainly am delighted to have a real concert to look forward to, after all the jazz I have had to endure the last two years.”

  That was the beginning, and soon they were launched on a subject that was of deep interest to both, and they forgot their momentary embarrassment and enjoyed their meal as they ate slowly and talked, and delighted to find how their opinions coincided.

  Sitting there in the soft candlelight of the quiet, pleasant shelter, they felt a oneness of spirit that brought a deep content. Even though both knew that it might be but a passing thing, still there was a great sweetness about it. And now and again their glances would meet and once more they would feel that flash pass between them.

  Sometimes Astra would remind herself that she ought not to have come here. This young man was a stranger, and there was the girl of the mink coat! She was probably a close friend. Didn’t a girl with a mink coat love real music? It scarcely seemed possible she did not. Besides, Astra was going to miss this after it was over, if she let it go on. She was going to long to have a friend like this one. Decidedly she ought not to have come! The food was excellent and the talk was exceedingly pleasant, but she should not have encouraged herself to enjoy things that could not be hers, for there would only be loneliness and heartache afterward if she got accustomed to delights like these.

  And Cameron, wondering at himself because he had not been a man to interest himself in girls or to feel that they cared to talk intelligently about real things in these days, admonished himself not to watch Astra’s beautiful eyes as they lifted with smiles that somehow went to his heart.

  And when dinner ended with a delicate ice and little enticing cakes, they sat slowly enjoying them, and Cameron suddenly spoke in a low, intimate tone, as if he had a right to speak.

  “Now, aren’t you going to tell me about that disturbing telegram? I know I have no right to ask, but it does seem since you have come to my aid in a trying time, that I might presume to help a little in yours. I’ll promise not to go any further in my probing than you are willing I should, and I’ll try not to be offensive in any advice, but I can’t be quite happy about you until I know at least the nature of the thing that is worrying you.”

  For all the time they had been talking, Cameron had been trying to figure out just what he ought to do. Dare he try to force her confidence? And would that precipitate an intimacy that would be unwise, or hasty, or one to which the girl could object? These thoughts were only in an undertone in the back of his mind, and at no time did his inclination or common sense yield to them in any way. His voice was uniformly kind and considerate, not in the least presuming, and neither did it seem to Astra.

  She hesitated a moment, looking down, a deeply troubled cloud suddenly overshadowing her face. Then she looked up, sm
iling, taking a deep breath and trying to speak naturally.

  “Oh, it wasn’t such a terrible thing,” she said. “It just upset me a little. I suppose there is no reason why I can’t tell you, if you are interested to know. You might think it is worse than it really is. You know I told you that I had been making my home with some cousins since the death of my father.”

  Cameron nodded.

  “Well, for some time I have been feeling that I would like to get away. They are rather worldly people and were insistent upon my going their way into fashionable society where I did not feel happy, nor find congenial friends. Also, there is a younger cousin who resents my presence in many ways and manages often to put me into false situations. I thought it was time for me to return to the place where all my friends were and manage my own life in the way my father and mother would have wanted me to do.

  “So while they were away on a trip to California, I decided suddenly to leave. I wrote them a letter, thanking them for all they had done for me—although at my father’s wish I had always paid my board while with them—and I told them I felt it was time I should go. They were not expecting to return for a couple of weeks, and I merely left the note with the servants in the house and started. I did not want a big argument about it, for I felt sure they would all be relieved to have the matter so amicably and quietly settled. But when I came back to my room this afternoon, I found a telegram from my cousin, ordering me to take the next train back to the house, and to wire him at once what train I was taking, or he would proceed to send the police after me. He said that he was my guardian and I must obey him at once! Naturally, I was a good deal disturbed. Cousin Duke is not my guardian at all. He isn’t even a real cousin. His wife was a second cousin of my mother’s. My father didn’t altogether trust him. He would never have put me in his care. I knew that Mr. John Sargent of this city was my legal guardian. I was sure there could not be a second guardian. But Mr. Sargent is sick in Florida. His son is away somewhere for over Christmas. Then I remembered there was a lawyer who looked after things, and I found his name in the book of instructions my father left for me and started out to find him.”

  “You poor child!” said Cameron. “I should think you did need a friend. I wish you had counted me enough of a friend to have called me up and asked my advice. I would have been so glad to have helped.”

  “Well, I didn’t think you ought to be troubled with the family affairs of a perfect stranger.”

  “Please, you’re not a stranger any longer, you know. But tell me, did you get real help from your lawyer? Did he remember who you are?”

  “Oh yes, he has known me since I was a child, and he told me definitely that Cousin Duke has absolutely no authority to give me orders. Mr. Sargent is my guardian. He advised me to send a telegram at once saying so and letting him know I was among friends.”

  “Have you sent it?”

  “No,” said Astra. “I was just going to my room to write it when I saw you. I ought to do it right away.”

  “Yes, surely,” said Cameron. “Have you planned what to say?”

  “Not altogether,” said Astra, with trouble in her eyes again. “It would have to be a pleasant message, for Duke has a terrible temper, and if he gets angry he can certainly make a lot of trouble, even at a distance.”

  Cameron got out his pen and a pad from his pocket, and together they worked out the message, which was finally sent.

  IMPOSSIBLE TO RETURN NOW. AM AMONG FRIENDS. QUITE SAFE. YOU ARE MISTAKEN ABOUT GUARDIANSHIP, MR. SARGENT IS LEGAL GUARDIAN. HIS LAWYER ADVISED STAYING AS I COME OF AGE SOON. THERE WILL BE BUSINESS TO TRANSACT. PLEASE FORGIVE MY HASTY ACTION. SORRY MIRIAM WAS DISTURBED. LETTER FOLLOWS BY AIRMAIL.

  LOVINGLY, ASTRA

  Astra felt much better when this epistle was composed and started on its way. She bade Cameron good night with a brave smile and a comforting memory of his close handclasp. Oh it was good to have a friend like this one, to whom she could tell her troubles and not be afraid. A friend in whom she could trust. Suppose he did have a friend with a mink coat? He had a right to other friends, and just because she hadn’t known him long didn’t make any difference, did it? She could see from the way he was accepted everywhere, from their contacts with the Faber lawyer, from all that he did, his judgments, his wise ways, and carefulness of her and her reputation, that there was nothing to fear from him. And suppose he was attractive? She had to live and move in a world where there might be many attractive people. She had to run the risk of falling in love with every attractive man that came along. She simply mustn’t allow herself to be silly or lonely.

  Yet as she fell asleep, quieted and comforted, that last look from Cameron’s eyes, that good night handclasp lingered in her heart with a glad little leap and sent her off into a world of dreams where arrogant cousins could not follow.

  Chapter 9

  Camilla Blair had been calling up Cameron all the evening, intermittently, and had finally settled down to a box of chocolates and a book that everybody said, of course, she ought to read, having left word for Cameron that he was to call her as soon as he came in. So there was the message in his box when he stopped at the desk.

  “Say, Mr. Cameron, that party sure is anxious to speak to you. She’s called every few minutes for some hours. She must be dead and buried by this time, or else all her family,” announced the fresh young clerk. He knew Cameron was not the kind that would report him. They were on pretty good terms, and Cameron always had a smile for those who served him.

  Cameron frowned as he looked at the same name, and made a little grimace.

  “That so, Jarvis? Sorry she made so much trouble for you. It’s likely only her handkerchief she wants picked up or her shoe is untied. All right, I’ll call her when I get upstairs.”

  So when Cameron was just ready to turn out his light, he called Camilla.

  “What’s the matter, Camilla?” he asked. “The house isn’t on fire or anything, is it, you calling up so late?”

  “Late? Oh Charlie! Don’t try to be funny! This isn’t late! The evening’s just begun. But I thought you never would return. What can have been keeping you?”

  “Business, always business,” he answered promptly. “I had to wait on someone else. But I don’t understand why you would say it isn’t late. Why fret now that I have come? What can I do for you? Is your hotel on fire? Do you need rescuing?”

  “Now, don’t be absurd, Charlie. I want a little amusement. I’m nearly dead from boredom. I want to be taken somewhere, either a late show or a place to dance, I’m not particular which, but at least you can come over and give me a sample of your brilliant conversation.”

  “You’re getting that now over the phone, aren’t you? You know I can’t work all day and then play all night. I’m dog weary, and I’m just about to climb into my little bed and sleep the sleep of the just. You’ll just have to find someone else to play with you. I’ve grown up.”

  “But Charlie! Don’t you ever take time off?”

  “Well, not at this time of the night if I can help it. Call up your friend Parkinson or that song-in-the-night you call Sorrel. I should think they’d be tickled to death to help you out.”

  “But Charlie! Please! I want to talk to you, seriously. Won’t you come over to the hotel just for a few minutes?”

  “Couldn’t do it, Miss Blair. I’m a working man, and I have work to do in the morning.”

  “Oh Charlie, how aggravating you are! Well then when can I see you? That was one of my chief reasons for coming to the city. I wanted to see you. I have a plan and I need you to help me carry it out.”

  “Well now, that’s too bad! But honestly, Camilla, I haven’t even a fragment of time from now till after New Year’s. It’s all been mortgaged up. Besides, I’ve promised my stepmother that I’d get home just as soon as possible and help her to have a pleasant holiday season. Nobody else will, I’m sure of that!”

  “Well, I should say not! How absurd you are! Such a stepmother! Why should you wan
t to do that? She certainly hasn’t made it pleasant for the rest of your family. But say, Charlie, if you really mean to do that, I might even sacrifice myself and come over for a few days and help you entertain your childish stepmother.”

  “Quite unnecessary, my lady. That stepmother of mine is more than uncommonly canny. She would see right through you like a pane of glass and know that you didn’t like her. I don’t think you’d feel at all comfortable, and I’m sure I shouldn’t. I would be feeling almost sorry for you, she has a dignity all her own that can show you up to yourself until you lose all your cocksureness, and you’d come out of it, if you stayed long enough for good results, wishing you hadn’t. And moreover, you’d have great respect for her, and almost admiration for her in spite of not liking her. However, when I go home to entertain my stepmother, I prefer to go unaccompanied. We get along excellently together when we are alone. And now, Camilla, isn’t that about all we have to say? Run along and hunt a playmate, for I’m sort of tired.”

  With a few more bitter words, Camilla Blair hung up sharply. She just wasn’t getting anywhere. She decided it must be another girl. Although all his sisters said there wasn’t one. Camilla decided there must be. But Charles Cameron went on about his preparations for rest with a genial grin on his face. He was wondering how much longer he was going to have to be hounded by this persistent Camilla. And as he drifted off to sleep, he was comparing her insistent demands to the quiet withdrawal of the girl he had found on the train. So far he hadn’t seen anything yet in Astra that disappointed him. Tomorrow night would be a good test. He could tell whether a girl enjoyed real music or whether she was just putting up a cultured front.