Page:The Collector by May Sinclair.djvu/8

326 iniquity. Ho had the look of a man who has completely vindicated himself. lie spoke of it in the smoke-room, — we were dining with him, — and he said it had been an awful bore, but he did n't grudge the time and trouble. He had been a benefactor to two miserable people who wanted to get rid of each other, he had saved three happy homes from a de- vastating scandal, the three other co-re- spondents were married men, — and inci- dentally he had saved himself. He had, but not for long. His next book had a furious success on the strength of the divorce suit. He was ten times more celebrated and ten times more valu- able. Somebody told Mrs. Folyat-Raikes that it had been a put-up job, and that Watt Gunn had been made use of. She found extenuating: circumstances. She said to Furnival and me, "We must save him from those dreadful people/' She meant that she must* And then Watt Gunn turned nasty. He refused every invitation, not taxing his invention in the least, and sometimes em- ploying a secretary. Mrs. Folyat-Raikes was reduced to bunting him in other peo- ple's houses and at public dinners. She was to be seen rushing through vast re- ception-rooms when they were emptying, haggard in her excitement, trailing her Victorian skirts and shawls and laces. Or you found her wedged in the packing crowd, lifting her eternal lorgnorc. And she would seize, you as you passed and cry: "They tell me Mr. Watt Gunn is here. I 'm looking for Mr. Watt Gunn." He. had become dangerous to hunt. He stuck at nothing. Poor hunted thing, he showed his origin by brutal "noes/' irri- table snarlirigs, and turnings of his little round back. But he had managed to write and publish "Revolution." • He had escaped her clutches for a whole year. At last she tracked him down at the Aba dam's. He was there because I 'd brought him. I 1 d found old Abadam worth cultivating. I had a one-man show on that week, and he 'd bought three of my ^things the year before. Besides, they 'd engaged some Russian dancers, and we could n't resist that. Furnival and Grevill Burton came with us, and when we caught sight of Mrs. Folyat-Raikes, we closed round Watt Gunn. He is n*t tall, but she was bound to spot him in the crowd, his hair was so funny. I don't think he saw her all at once* It was in the big reception-room up-stairs, after the dancers had gone, when people were trickling down to supper. There was a long, clear space between her and Watt Gunn, and she was bearing down on us* Fumy got hold of his left arm, and by exerting a gentle pressure we hoped to get him decorously away. But that: startled him,— he was fearfully jumpy,— and he. looked round. Slie was then within five yards of him. You never saw more frantic terror on any human face. I don't know exactly what he did ; but he broke loose from Fur- nival somehow, — 1 think he ducked,— and then he bolted. We saw him going clean through people, and making for a door there was on his right, Furnival and. I took Mrs, Folyat-Raikes down to supper by way of covering his retreat. There was only one other thing to do, and that was to sacrifice Grevill Burton — to throw him to her. This, 1 can see now, was what we ought to have done, — it was the only thing that would have taken her mind oft Watt Gunn,— but at the time it seemed too hard on Burton. So Fumy and I took her down to sup- per. We 'd got the same plan in our heads, quite a good one. We were to land her well inside the dining-room. Furny was to hold her in play while: I foraged for iced coffee and fruit salad and pate de foie gras. The idea was to keep her feed- ing long enough to give Watt Gunn a chance. Well, it did n't come off. In the first place, the room was crammed, and we could n't get her far enough in. Then, after she 'd sent: me for iced coffee, she changed her mind and wanted champagne cup, and told Furny to go and get it. Like a fool, he went ; and before we could get back to her, if you '11 believe me, she d slipped out. What must have happened next we heard afterward from Watt Gunn. I ought to tell you that she hud this advantage over him, that she knew the house, and he did n J t. It '« in Great Cum- berland Place, and Abadam had pulled half of it down, and built it up again over