Astra (7 page)

The mink coat had stopped to greet Cameron, and Astra could see his pleasant smile, his easy attitude. The girl must be one of his close acquaintances. He paused, and they talked together. The girl was evidently telling him something that surprised him. She lifted a wide mink muff heavy with tails and gestured with it. Astra could see that the young man look startled, was asking a question or two, gave a glance at the clock, talked another minute or two earnestly, and then with another glance at his watch, bowed and hurried toward the room where she sat.

But as he came on, Astra was conscious that something had changed, and the mink coat had done it! How absurd! This young man was nothing to her, of course, just a passing stranger who had commandeered her for a bit of work. But there had been a pleasant exhilaration in seeing him come toward her a moment ago which had vanished with the advent of the mink coat. And with a glimpse of the startling handsome face of the girl who wore it, as she turned to go away through the door labeled T
AXIS
. Somehow, the whole tenor of things seemed to have changed now that there was a girl like that in the offing. Astra berated herself. What was
she
? A foolish little romantic fool? Why should she care? Of course he would have women friends, and it only showed that she had rated him adequately, that he should have friends like that. Anyhow, he was nothing to her. Why had she wasted idle thoughts on a stranger who had been merely kind? She would probably never see him again after this business was over, and she hoped it would be over soon. It was perfectly sickening that she should so pity herself for being lonely, just because it was almost Christmas and she had no place to go.

When Charles Cameron entered the room where he had asked that Astra wait for him, her fine patrician face was lifted indifferently, almost a bit haughtily, and she greeted him most distantly.

If she had known that Cameron was mentally comparing her to the brilliant beauty with whom he had just been talking and thinking how sweet and unspoiled Astra seemed in comparison, she certainly would have been amazed.

“Are you all right?” he asked, and there was a pleasant, friendly concern in his voice that surprised her and dissipated the dignity in which she had been trying to envelop herself.

She gave him a quick look and saw that there seemed to be real interest in his eyes. She answered his searching glance with a bright smile.

“I? All right? Why yes, of course.” She gave a light, surprised laugh, and then suddenly she felt as if she were going to cry at the almost tender concern of his tone. If she hadn’t laughed she would have cried, she was sure, for it was such a sudden relief from her own lonely feeling, sitting there pitying herself as she thought of the approaching empty Christmas.

And then because the feeling of quick tears hadn’t quite left her, she went on to say brightly, “I think it is yourself who should be asked if you are all right. From all I hear from the porter, your morning has been filled with tasks that couldn’t all have been congenial. If the old lady was as irate as she was last evening it certainly couldn’t have been a pleasant trip taking her home.”

Cameron’s face softened into a grin, and he said with a sigh, “No, not too pleasant. It was mainly occupied in her attempt to extract information from me. Where had her husband known me? When did he speak to me and tell me he was sick? Why didn’t I send for her at once in the diner? What was
your
name, and how had I known you, and was I sure that you were honest? Why didn’t I take the dictation myself, and what was it about anyway?”

“Oh! I’m sorry you had to bear that!” said Astra. “She started in on me like that, only she took a different line. She assumed that I was the offender, daring to take an interest in a sick man to whom I hadn’t been introduced!”

“Yes, I know,” said Cameron, with a contemptuous grin. “She tried to convince me that I didn’t understand human nature or I never would have selected a good-looking, stylish, forward girl as a stenographer for a respectable dying man. Well, poor soul, she’s in a trying situation, and she is taking it out on whoever comes along. But I had the satisfaction of telling her plainly that she was very much mistaken about you. That I knew of your family, at least your father, and that she must positively stop talking about you, that you had been most kind. Then I began to ask her questions about whether her husband had been well during the past weeks and whether he had ever had symptoms of heart trouble before. That took her mind off other things while she tried to convince me that he had never been sick but had just worked himself up over everything and got to thinking he was an invalid. She raked up a few tears to convince me, and by that time we had reached the palatial mansion of which she is now mistress. But I certainly pity the servants over whom she reigns.

“I may misjudge her, but it doesn’t seem to me that she is greatly grief stricken over the death of her husband. Hers is more the attitude that it is his own fault he died. She declares that if he hadn’t insisted on coming home from California this week instead of next, just because he got word that that good-for-nothing son of his by his first wife was going to stop in Chicago overnight, and he wanted to see him, he would have been alive today! So that’s the story. She evidently hates that stepson, and that’s why he was so anxious to get this transfer of that property he had bought arranged before there was danger of her hearing of it. Well, I guess that poor man is glad he’s in heaven today instead of still living to be nagged by her. For I do think he’s in heaven after that prayer of yours, and his heartfelt amen! I think it meant a lot to him, and I believe you’ll get your reward hereafter for coming to help the poor soul at the end. I’m sure neither the doctor nor I would have been able to make it all as plain as you did.”

“Oh, I’m glad if you think I was any help to him,” said Astra quietly, with her eyes downcast.

Cameron, too, was speaking embarrassedly, but with great earnestness. He was looking down at his gloved hands, as if he were not accustomed to speak of sacred things so intimately. And then they were both silent for a moment.

“Well,” said Cameron, “I suppose we had better get on with our job, that is, if you feel all right. For the old man seemed to want this part of the business settled at the first possible moment, and I think myself it had better get finished before the old lady has time to do any more inquiring. By the way, did you have a good breakfast? We may be detained at lunchtime, you know. Wouldn’t you like to go and get a little more to eat before we go into action?”

“Oh, no thank you,” laughed Astra, touched again at the thought of this stranger’s care for her comfort. How foolish she was getting, a strangulation in her throat from a mere passing kindness. “I had a fine breakfast, and I can last till a very late dinner, if necessary.”

Cameron smiled.

“Well, you won’t have to do that, I’m sure. Just wait here a moment please, while I find out if the lawyer is in his office yet.”

Astra watched the young man as he went over to the telephone booths. He was good-looking, yes. She hadn’t much time before to take notice of the little things that make up appearance. He was
very
good-looking, yet in a quiet, unobtrusive way. He didn’t seem to have spent a great deal of thought on his appearance, and yet he was perfectly groomed. There was nothing ostentatious about him. He was just a gentleman, the pleasant kind that one would like for a friend.

And while he was telephoning, she made up her mind. She would go over to that Christian Association and see if she could get a room there, and make that her headquarters for a few days till she could look over the ground and see what she ought to do. As for Christmas, she wouldn’t try to arrange anything. Just get some good reading, go out perhaps to an oratorio or some good music somewhere, maybe to a church service, and wait until Christmas was over before she got in touch with her friends. They needn’t even know she was in town. They would all be busy in their own homes. It would be easy enough.

Then Cameron returned.

“Well, the lawyer will be in his office in three quarters of an hour. We won’t have much time to spare. What if we get you settled somewhere first. Had you decided where you want to go? Were you going to friends or a hotel?”

“No,” said Astra quickly, “I’m not going to friends till after Christmas. I thought I would see if I could get in over at the Christian Association. I used to hear that it was a nice place, and it would be convenient for the present, I should think.”

“Yes, it’s a very nice place, I understand,” said Cameron. “Suppose I telephone to see if they have any rooms, and then we can take a taxi over. I think you’ll be more comfortable during the morning to know that you have an abiding place, even if you decide not to stay there but a few hours.”

They found a pleasant room looking out on a little park, and Astra was quite pleased at getting the matter arranged so easily. Then they took a taxi and started out to get the business over with.

The lawyer was late, and they had to wait, and while they waited they talked. Cameron called her attention to a magazine article concerning some of the devastation that had been wrought in Europe, and Astra said she had been in that very region with her father three years before. She described the loveliness of the scenery around an old cathedral and how much she had enjoyed the view of it she could see from her window in the old hotel where they had rooms. She quoted one or two things her father had said about the mighty structure and said she felt as if an old friend had died when she read that the building had been bombed.

More and more as she talked freely, forgetting herself and losing her shyness, Cameron saw what a fine mind she had and how well she talked. But most of all he noticed the sparkle of her face in conversation, the deep intelligence seen in her choice of language, and the fine judgment and thoughtful opinions she had formed, not only concerning things political in Europe, but toward all general questions of the day. She was well-informed and ready with an answer that was not merely a childish conclusion of a youthful mind, but showed thought and a consideration of past history.

“You and your father talked things over together, didn’t you?” he asked as he watched her with interest.

Her vivid face had a flash of radiance.

“Oh yes,” she said with a wistfulness in her voice. “We had wonderful talks together, even when I was quite a little girl. But we didn’t always agree.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. We often had long arguments about things, continuing over several days. Dad was teaching me to think things out, I guess. He said he wanted me to be able to think things through and form wise judgments. I miss those talks we used to have. They seemed a part of me, and they had grown into a habit. For often now, when I have a decision to make, I just try to imagine I’m talking it out with Dad. And I can almost always see what he would be likely to say. It is like getting advice from him. At least it makes me see all sides of a question.”

Cameron was astonished to find a girl like this. Most of the girls he knew were taken up with wanting their own way; they formed their own opinions and thought it was smart. This girl seemed to have grown up so sensibly and sweetly with a wise father that she had come to recognize that experience counted for at least half in making wise judgments, while other girls dismissed their parents with a shrug as being behind the times and let it go at that. Cameron found himself admiring this quiet girl with the strong, lovely face and the manner of a young princess.

Then suddenly the lawyer arrived and they were plunged at once into business.

The lawyer was keen, with sharp eyes that read character, and he studied the two who waited upon him with interest. He asked a leading question now and then, looking from one to the other, and soon had the whole story before him, as if it had been a moving picture at which he was looking, registering every little detail.

It developed that the lawyer knew all about the property that had been purchased and had had instructions from Mr. Faber what to do in case he was able to get it. It appeared that Mr. Faber must have had some idea that his death might occur at any time, must have known he was in a critical condition when he started on his journey. The lawyer also knew the son, had arranged several business matters on his behalf before, and understood the situation thoroughly. There would be no difficulty in making him believe all that had happened, and the two soon discovered that their job was not to be half so difficult as they had feared.

“Now,” said the lawyer, gathering up the papers they had given him and arranging them in two piles, “can you two hold yourselves in readiness to appear in court anytime in the next two days? Perhaps three? I’ll do my best to arrange it sooner, if possible, and let you know by phone. And that doctor, and the nurse. Are they available? It will be necessary to have testimony from the doctor and the nurse as to the man’s condition.”

“I have a signed written statement from both of them,” said Cameron, handing him an envelope.

“That’s good,” said the lawyer, opening the envelope and glancing over the papers. “I see you have a legal mind.”

Cameron smiled.

“The doctor suggested it,” he said, “when I asked him if he would be available for testimony. He was on his way to New York for an operation and wasn’t sure he could get back tomorrow, though he’s going to try. He will let me know and be here as soon as possible. The nurse goes with him, and they will stop over to make an affidavit, if you can arrange for that.”

“You have his New York address?”

“Yes, it’s on the envelope.”

“Oh yes, I see. Well, I’ll see what I can do. I may want to talk to this doctor by telephone, in case I find it difficult to arrange. All right. Now can you give me two more copies of these papers, and one more copy of these?” He handed the two piles of papers over, and they rose. “You know it is best to keep this thing between ourselves.”

“Of course,” said Cameron. “Miss Everson says she is willing to do any typing connected with the matter.”