第33章 MARKED MONEY(1)

Mary had scarcely received from Aggie an account of Cassidy's threatening invasion, when the maid announced that Mr.Irwin had called.

"Show him in, in just two minutes," Mary directed.

"Who's the gink?" Aggie demanded, with that slangy diction which was her habit.

"You ought to know," Mary returned, smiling a little."He's the lawyer retained by General Hastings in the matter of a certain breach-of-promise suit.""Oh, you mean yours truly," Aggie exclaimed, not in the least abashed by her forgetfulness in an affair that concerned herself so closely."Hope he's brought the money.What about it?""Leave the room now," Mary ordered, crisply."When I call to you, come in, but be sure and leave everything to me.Merely follow my lead.And, Agnes--be very ingenue.""Oh, I'm wise--I'm wise," Aggie nodded, as she hurried out toward her bedroom."I'll be a squab--surest thing you know!"Next moment, Mary gave a formal greeting to the lawyer who represented the man she planned to mulct effectively, and invited him to a chair near her, while she herself retained her place at the desk, within a drawer of which she had just locked the formidable-appearing document received from Harris.

Irwin lost no time in coming to the point.

"I called in reference to this suit, which Miss Agnes Lynch threatens to bring against my client, General Hastings."Mary regarded the attorney with a level glance, serenely expressionless as far as could be achieved by eyes so clear and shining, and her voice was cold as she replied with significant brusqueness.

"It's not a threat, Mr.Irwin.The suit will be brought."The lawyer frowned, and there was a strident note in his voice when he answered, meeting her glance with an uncompromising stare of hostility.

"You realize, of course," he said finally, "that this is merely plain blackmail."There was not the change of a feature in the face of the woman who listened to the accusation.Her eyes steadfastly retained their clear gaze into his; her voice was still coldly formal, as before.

"If it's blackmail, Mr.Irwin, why don't you consult the police?"she inquired, with manifest disdain.Mary turned to the maid, who now entered in response to the bell she had sounded a minute before."Fanny, will you ask Miss Lynch to come in, please?"Then she faced the lawyer again, with an aloofness of manner that was contemptuous."Really, Mr.Irwin," she drawled, "why don't you take this matter to the police?"The reply was uttered with conspicuous exasperation.

"You know perfectly well," the lawyer said bitterly, "that General Hastings cannot afford such publicity.His position would be jeopardized.""Oh, as for that," Mary suggested evenly, and now there was a trace of flippancy in her fashion of speaking, "I'm sure the police would keep your complaint a secret.Really, you know, Mr.

Irwin, I think you had better take your troubles to the police, rather than to me.You will get much more sympathy from them."The lawyer sprang up, with an air of sudden determination.

"Very well, I will then," he declared, sternly."I will!"Mary, from her vantage point at the desk across from him, smiled a smile that would have been very engaging to any man under more favorable circumstances, and she pushed in his direction the telephone that stood there.

"3100, Spring," she remarked, encouragingly, "will bring an officer almost immediately." She leaned back in her chair, and surveyed the baffled man amusedly.

The lawyer was furious over the failure of his effort to intimidate this extraordinarily self-possessed young woman, who made a mock of his every thrust.But he was by no means at the end of his resources.

"Nevertheless," he rejoined, "you know perfectly well that General Hastings never promised to marry this girl.You know----" He broke off as Aggie entered the drawing-room,Now, the girl was demure in seeming almost beyond belief, a childish creature, very fair and dainty, guileless surely, with those untroubled eyes of blue, those softly curving lips of warmest red and the more delicate bloom in the rounded cheeks.

There were the charms of innocence and simplicity in the manner of her as she stopped just within the doorway, whence she regarded Mary with a timid, pleading gaze, her slender little form poised lightly as if for flight"Did you want me, dear?" she asked.There was something half-plaintive in the modulated cadences of the query.

"Agnes," Mary answered affectionately, "this is Mr.Irwin, who has come to see you in behalf of General Hastings.""Oh!" the girl murmured, her voice quivering a little, as the lawyer, after a short nod, dropped again into his seat; "oh, I'm so frightened!" She hurried, fluttering, to a low stool behind the desk, beside Mary's chair, and there she sank down, drooping slightly, and catching hold of one of Mary's hands as if in mute pleading for protection against the fear that beset her chaste soul.

"Nonsense!" Mary exclaimed, soothingly."There's really nothing at all to be frightened about, my dear child." Her voice was that with which one seeks to cajole a terrified infant."You mustn't be afraid, Agnes.Mr.Irwin says that General Hastings did not promise to marry you.Of course, you understand, my dear, that under no circumstances must you say anything that isn't strictly true, and that, if he did not promise to marry you, you have no case--none at all.Now, Agnes, tell me: did General Hastings promise to marry you?""Oh, yes--oh, yes, indeed!" Aggie cried, falteringly."And I wish he would.He's such a delightful old gentleman!" As she spoke, the girl let go Mary's hand and clasped her own together ecstatically.

The legal representative of the delightful old gentleman scowled disgustedly at this outburst.His voice was portentous, as he put a question.

"Was that promise made in writing?"