The Lone Wolf by Louis Joseph Vance (ebook reader browser txt) đ
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first place, weâve barely money enough for our dinner; besides, theyâll
be watched closely; as for our embassies and consulates, they arenât
open at all hours, and will likewise be watched. There remainâunless
you can suggest somethingâonly the churches; and I can think of none
better suited to our purposes than the Sacrïżœ-Cour.â
Her fingers tightened gently upon his.
âI understand,â she said quietly; âif weâre obliged to separate, Iâm to
go direct to the Sacrïżœ-Cour and await you there.â
âRight! âŠBut letâs hope thereâll be no such necessity.â
Hand-in-hand like frightened children, these two stole down the
tunnel-like passageway, through a forlorn little court cramped between
two tall old tenements, and so came out into the gloomy, sinuous and
silent rue dâAssas.
Here they encountered few wayfarers; and to these, preoccupied with
anxiety to gain shelter from the inclement night, they seemed, no doubt,
some student of the Quarter with his sweetheartâLanyard in his shabby
raincoat, striding rapidly, head and shoulders bowed against the driving
mist, the girl in her trim Burberry clinging to his armâŠ.
Avoiding the nearer stations as dangerous, Lanyard steered a roundabout
course through by-ways to the rue de Sïżœvres station of the Nord-Sud
subway; from which in due course they came to the surface again at the
place de la Concorde, walked several blocks, took a taxicab, and in
less than half an hour after leaving the impasse Stanislas were
comfortably ensconced in a cabinet particulier of a little restaurant
of modest pretensions just north of Les Halles.
They feasted famously: the cuisine, if bourgeois, was admirable and,
better still, well within the resources of Lanyardâs emaciated purse.
Nor did he fret with consciousness that, when the bill had been paid
and the essential tips bestowed, there would remain in his pocket
hardly more than cab fare. Supremely self-confident, he harboured no
doubts of a smiling futureânow that the dark pages in his record had
been turned and sealed by a resolution he held irrevocable.
His spirits had mounted to a high pitch, thanks to their successful
evasion. He was young, he was in love, he was hungry, he wasâin
shortâvery much alive. And the consciousness of common peril knitted
an enchanting intimacy into their communications. For the first time in
his history Lanyard found himself in the company of a woman with whom
he daredâand caredâto speak without reserve: a circumstance
intrinsically intoxicating. And stimulated by her unquestionable
interest and sympathy, he did talk without reserve of old Troyonâs and
its drudge, Marcel; of Bourke and his wanderings; of the education of
the Lone Wolf and his career, less in pride than in relief that it was
ended; of the future he must achieve for himself.
And sitting with chin cradled on the backs of her interlaced fingers,
the girl listened with such indulgence as women find always for their
lovers. Of herself she had little to say: Lanyard filled in to his
taste the outlines of the simple history of a young woman of good
family obliged to become self-supporting.
And if at times her grave eyes clouded and her attention wandered, it
was less in ennui than because of occult trains of thought set astir by
some chance word or phrase of Lanyardâs.
âIâm boring you,â he surmised once with quick contrition, waking up to
the fact that he had monopolized the conversation for many minutes on
end.
She shook a pensive head. âNo, againâŠ. But I wonder, do you
appreciate the magnitude of the task youâve undertaken?â
âPossibly not,â he conceded arrogantly; âbut it doesnât matter. The
heavier the odds, the greater the incentive to win.â
âBut,â she objected, âyouâve told me a curious story of one who never
had a chance or incentive to âgo straightââas you put it. And yet you
seem to think that an overnight resolution to reform is all thatâs
needed to change all the habits of a lifetime. You persuade me of your
sincerity of today; but how will it be with you tomorrowâand not so
much tomorrow as six months from tomorrow, when youâve found the going
rough and know youâve only to take one step aside to gain a smooth and
easy way?â
âIf I fail, then, it will be because Iâm unfitâand Iâll go under, and
never be heard of againâŠ. But I shanât fail. It seems to me the very
fact that I want to go straight is proof enough that Iâve something
inherently decent in me to build on.â
âI do believe that, and yetâŠâ She lowered her head and began to trace
a meaningless pattern on the cloth before she resumed. âYouâve given me
to understand Iâm responsible for your sudden awakening, that itâs
because of a regard conceived for me youâre so anxious to become an
honest man. Suppose ⊠suppose you were to find out ⊠youâd been
mistaken in me?â
âThat isnât possible,â he objected promptly.
She smiled upon him wistfullyâand leniently from her remote coign of
superior intuitive knowledge of human nature.
âBut if it wereâ?â
âThenâI think,â he said soberlyââI think Iâd feel as though there
were nothing but emptiness beneath my feet!â
âAnd youâd backslideâ?â
âHow can I tell?â he expostulated. âItâs not a fair question. I donât
know what Iâd do, but I do know it would need something damnable to
shake my faith in you!â
âYou think so now,â she said tolerantly. âBut if appearances were
against meââ
âTheyâd have to be black!â
âIf you found I had deceived youâ?â
âMiss Shannon!â He threw an arm across the table and suddenly
imprisoned her hand. âThereâs no use beating about the bush. Youâve got
to knowââ
She drew back suddenly with a frightened look and a monosyllable of
sharp protest: âNo!â
âBut you must listen to me. I want you to understandâŠ. Bourke used to
say to me: âThe man who lets love into his life opens a door no mortal
hand can closeâand God only knows what will follow in!â And Bourke was
rightâŠ. Now that door is open in my heart, and I think that whatever
follows in wonât be evil or degradingâŠ. Oh, Iâve said it a dozen
different ways of indirection, but I may as well say it squarely now:
I love you; itâs love of you makes me want to go straightâthe hope that
when Iâve proved myself youâll maybe let me ask you to marry meâŠ.
Perhaps youâre in love with a better man today; Iâm willing to chance
that; a year brings many changes. Perhaps thereâs something I donât
fathom in your doubting my strength and constancy. Only the outcome can
declare that. But please understand this: if I fail to make good, it
will be no fault of yours; it will be because Iâm unfit and have proved
itâŠ. All I ask is what youâve generously promised me: opportunity to
come to you at the end of the year and make my reportâŠ. And then, if
you will, you can say no to the question Iâll ask you and I shanât
resent it, and it wonât ruin me; for if a man can stick to a purpose
for a year, he can stick to it forever, with or without the love of the
woman he loves.â
She heard him out without attempt at interruption, but her answer was
prefaced by a sad little shake of her head.
âThatâs what makes it so hard, so terribly hard,â she saidâŠ. âOf
course Iâve understood you. All that youâve said by indirection, and
much besides, has had its meaning to me. And Iâm glad and proud of the
honour you offer me. But I canât accept it; I can never accept itânot
now nor a year from now. It wouldnât be fair to let you go on hoping I
might some time consent to marry youâŠ. For thatâs impossible.â
âYouâforgive meâyouâre not already married?â
âNoâŠ.â
âOr promised?â
âNoâŠ.â
âOr in love with someone else?â
Again she told him, gently, âNo.â
His face cleared. He squared his shoulders. He even mustered up a smile.
âThen it isnât impossible. No human obstacle exists that time canât
overthrow. In spite of all you say, I shall go on hoping with all my
heart and soul and strength.â
âBut you donât understandââ
âCan you tell meâmake me understand?â
After a long pause, she told him once more, and very sadly: âNo.â
XV SHEER IMPUDENCEThough it had been nearly eight when they entered the restaurant, it
was something after eleven before Lanyard called for his bill.
âWeâve plenty of time,â he had explained; âitâll be midnight before we
can move. The gentle art of housebreaking has its technique, you know,
its professional ethics: we canât well violate the privacy of Madame
Omberâs strong-box before the caretakers on the premises are sound
asleep. It isnât done, you know, it isnât class, to go burglarizing
when decent, law-abiding folk are wide-awakeâŠ. Meantime weâre better
off here than trapezing the streetsâŠ.â
Itâs a silent web of side ways and a gloomy one by night that backs up
north of Les Halles: old Paris, taciturn and sombre, steeped in its
memories of grim romance. But for infrequent, flickering, corner lamps,
the street that welcomed them from the doors of the warm and cosy
restaurant was as dismal as an alley in some city of the dead. Its
houses with their mansard roofs and boarded windows bent their heads
together like mutes at a wake, black-cloaked and hooded; seldom one
showed a light; never one betrayed by any sound the life that lurked
behind its jealous blinds. Now again the rain had ceased and, though
the sky remained overcast, the atmosphere was clear and brisk with a
touch of frost, in grateful contrast to the dull and muggy airs that
had obtained for the last twenty-four hours.
âWeâll walk,â Lanyard suggestedââif you donât mindâpart of the way at
least; itâll eat up time, and a bit of exercise will do us both good.â
The girl assented quietlyâŠ.
The drum of their heels on fast-drying sidewalks struck sharp echoes
from the silence of that drowsy quarter, a lonely clamour that rendered
it impossible to ignore their apparent solitudeâas impossible as it
was for Lanyard to ignore the fact that they were followed.
The shadow dogging them on the far side of the street, some fifty yards
behind, was as noiseless as any cat; but for this circumstanceâhad it
moved boldly with unmuffled footstepsâLanyard would have been slow to
believe it concerned with him, so confident had be felt, till that moment,
of having given the Pack the slip.
And from this he diagnosed still another symptom of the Packâs
incurable stupidity!
Supremely on the alert, he had discovered the pursuit before they left
the block of the restaurant. Dissembling, partly to avoid alarming the
girl, partly to trick the spy, he turned this way and that round
several corners, until quite convinced that the shadow was dedicated to
himself exclusively, then promptly revised his first purpose and,
instead of sticking to darker back ways, struck out directly for the
broad, well-lighted and lively boulevard de Sïżœbastopol.
Crossing this without a backward glance, he turned north, seeking some
cafïżœ whose arrangements suited his designs; and, presently, though not
before their tramp had brought them almost to the Grand Boulevards,
found one to his taste, a cheerful and well-lighted establishment
occupying a corner, with entrances from both streets. A hedge of
forlorn fir-trees knee-deep in wooden tubs guarded its terrasse of
round metal tables and spindle-shanked chairs; of which few were
occupied. Inside, visible through
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