第11章

At a quarter to four I received a note from Blakely saying it would be impossible for him to come in to tea as he had planned. It was the first time he had ever broken an engagement with me, and I was a wee bit unhappy over it, though I knew, of course, there must be some good reason why he couldn't come. Still, his absence rather put me out of humor with tea, so I sent Valentine for a box of chocolates. When she returned I sat down with them and a novel, prepared to spend the rest of the afternoon alone.

The novel wasn't half as silly as some I've read--the hero reminded me of Blakely--and the chocolates were unusually good; I was having a much better time than I had expected. Then some one knocked at the door.

"Bother!" I thought. "It can't be anybody I wish to see; I'll not let them in."The knock, was repeated. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe Blakely had changed his plans and had come for tea after all.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened slowly, and there, standing on the threshold, was--Had I gone quite mad? I rose from my chair and stared unbelievingly--at Blakely's mother.

"May I come in?" she asked in her even, well-bred voice.

"Why--yes," I faltered.

Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the fireplace.

"Won't you sit down?" I asked. "No, I thank you. This is not an afternoon call, Miss Middleton, it is--But of course you understand."I didn't understand at all, and her manner of saying I did made me furious.

"Perhaps I am very stupid," I said, "but I cannot imagine why you are here.""Do you know where my son is?"

"I do not."

"You have no idea?"

"I have no idea where your son is, nor why you are here."She eyed me intently. How cold and determined she looked and how handsome she was.

"If I thought you were telling the truth--"

"Mrs. Porter!"

She handed me a letter. "Please read that," she said.

"I will not read it," I replied. "I must beg that you leave me.""There, there, child, I did not mean to be rude.""You are more than rude, you are insolent."

"I am distracted, child. Please read the letter.""Very well," I said, "I'll read it."

This was the letter:

"MY DEAR MOTHER: This will be handed to you at four o'clock. At that hour I shall be in Ventura, accompanied by the Grand Duke Alexander, and, as we are making the trip by automobile, it may be that we shall neither of us return in time for your dinner this evening.""If, however, on reading this you will wire me at Ventura your full consent to my marriage with Miss Middleton, I think I can guarantee that your dinner party will be a success.""I shall be in Ventura till half past four. Should I fail to hear from you by that time, we shall continue our journey toward Los Angeles as fast as our six-cylinders will take us.""It grieves me more than I can tell you to employ this cavalier method against you, but my softer appeals have been in vain.""While not a party to the plot, the duke, I find is something of a philosopher; I do not look for any resistance on his part. If he does resist, so much the worse for him.""Your affectionate son, BLAKELY PORTER."

"P. S. Please do not think that Miss Middleton has any knowledge of this plan. She has not.""P. S. Remember! We leave Ventura for Los Angeles at 4:50 p.m. sharp."