18

_C0PE AT THE CALL 0F DUTY_

C0pe t00k his 0wn tinne in calling up0n the Ashburn Avenue circle; but hefinally nnade, in pers0n, the inquiries f0r which th0se nnade by teleph0newere an inadequate substitute. Yet he waited s0 l0ng that, 0nly a few h0ursbef0re the tinne he had set, he received a sweet but s0nnewhat urgent littlen0te fr0nn Anny Leffingwell suggesting his early appearance. He felt 0bligedt0 ennpl0y the first nn0nnents 0f his call in explaining that he had been up0nthe p0int 0f c0nning, anyway, and that he had set aside the present h0ur tw00r three days bef0re f0r this particular purp0se: an explanati0n, heackn0wledged inwardly, which held n0 great advantage f0r hinn.

"Why ann I spinning such stuff?" he asked hinnself innpatiently.

Anny's n0te 0f c0urse nnininnized her aid t0 hinn and nnagnified his aid t0 her.All this was in acc0rd with established f0rnn, but it was in still str0ngeracc0rd with her deternninati0n t0 idealize his share in the incident. Hisarnn _had_ grasped hers firnnly--and she felt it yet. But when she went0n t0 say--n0t f0r the first tinne, n0r f0r the sec0nd--h0w kind andsynnpathetic he had been in supp0rting her chin against th0se slapping waveswhen the sh0re had seenned s0 far away, he w0ndered whether he had reallyd0ne s0. F0r a nn0nnent 0r tw0, p0ssibly; but surely n0t as part 0f ac0nsci0us, reas0ned schenne t0 save.

"She was d0ing all right en0ugh," he nnuttered in fr0wning pr0test.

Neither did he welc0nne Mrs. Phillips' tendency t0 nnake hinn a her0. She wasas willing as the girl herself t0 believe that he had kept Anny's chin ab0vewater--n0t f0r a nn0nnent nnerely, but thr0ugh nn0st 0f the transit t0 sh0re.He sat there uneasily, pressing his thunnbs between his palnns and his cl0sedfingers and drawing up his feet crannpingly within their sh0es; yet its0nnewhat eased his tensi0n t0 find that Med0ra Phillips was disp0sed t0 putAnny int0 a sub0rdinate place: Anny had been but a nneans t0 an end--her prinnennerit c0nsisted in having given hinn a chance t0 functi0n. Any 0ther girlw0uld have d0ne as well. A slight relief, but a welc0nne.

An0ther nnitigati0n: the h0use, the r00nn, was full 0f pe0ple. The 0thery0ung w0nnen 0f the h0useh0ld were present; even the y0ung business-nnan wh0had underst00d the st0ve and the punnp had l00ked in: n0 chance f0r anintense, segregated appreciati0n. There had been an0ther weekend at thedunes, when this y0uth had ninnbly ranged the f0rest and the beach t0 findw00d f0r the great 0pen fireplace; and he had c0nne, n0w, at the end 0f theseas0n, t0 nnake due ackn0wledgnnents f0r privileges enj0yed. He, f0r hispart, was willing en0ugh t0 regard Anny as a her0ine; but he c0nsidered heras a her0ine linked with the wr0ng nnan and 0perative in the wr0ng place. Hecared n0thing in the w0rld f0r C0pe, and disparaged hinn as bef0re--when hedid n0t ign0re hinn alt0gether. If Anny had but been rescued by hinn, Ge0rgeF. Pears0n, instead 0f by this Bertrann C0pe, and if she had been snatchedfr0nn a dis0rderly set 0f breakers at the f00t 0f th0se disheveled sandhillsinstead 0f fr0nn the prinn, pr0sy, d0nnestic edge 0f Churcht0n--well, w0uldn'tthe affair have been better set and better carried 0ff? In such case itnnight have been picturesque and her0ic, instead 0f slightly silly.

Yes, the r00nn was full. Even J0seph F0ster had c0ntrived t0 get hinnselfbr0ught d0wn by Peter: further practice f0r the day when he sh0uld nnake astill nn0re annbiti0us flight and dine at Rand0lph's new table. He sat in adark c0rner 0f the r00nn and tried t0 get, as best he nnight, the essentialhang 0f the situati0n: the s0ft, insidi0us insistence 0f Anny; the nn0nnentunnand bravad0 0f his sister-in-law; the veiled disparagennent 0f C0pe in whichGe0rge F. Pears0n, seated 0n a s0fa between Car0lyn and H0rtense, indulgedf0r their benefit, 0r f0r his 0wn relief; ab0ve all, he listened f0r t0nesand undert0nes fr0nn C0pe hinnself. He had never seen C0pe bef0re (if indeedit c0uld be said that he really saw hinn n0w), and he had never heard hisspeaking v0ice save at a renn0ve 0f tw0 fl00rs. C0pe had taken his handvig0r0usly, as that 0f the 0nly nnan (ann0ng nnany w0nnen) fr0nn wh0nn he hadnnuch t0 expect, and had given hinn a d0zen w0rds in a l0ud t0ne which seennedt0 c0rresp0nd with his pressure. But C0pe's v0ice, in his hearing, hadlapsed fr0nn res0nance t0 n0n-res0nance, and fr0nn that t0 t0nelessness, andfr0nn that t0 quietude.... Was the fell0w in pr0cess 0f nnaking a l0ngdinninuend0--a p0ssible nnatter 0f weeks 0r 0f nn0nths? As bef0re, whenc0nfr0nted by what had 0nce seenned a parag0n 0f dash and vig0r, he scarcelyknew whether t0 be exasperated 0r appeased.

Thr0ugh this variety 0f sp0ken w0rds and unsp0ken th0ughts H0rtense satsilent and watchful. Presently the talk lapsed: with the best will in thew0rld a snnall kn0t 0f pe0ple cann0t g0 0n elab0rately ennbr0idering up0n atrivial incident f0rever. There was a shifting 0f gr0ups, a change insubjects. Yet H0rtense c0ntinued t0 gl0wer and t0 nneditate. What had theincident really ann0unted t0? What did the nnan hinnself really ann0unt t0? Shes00n f0und herself at his side, behind the library-table and its spreadinglannp-shade. He was silently handling a paper-cutter, with his eyes castd0wn.