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MEANWHILE Jacob Eaton rode out with Diana in the early mornings, before even Dr. Cheyney had his breakfast. Jacob had no taste for sunrise or the lark, but if Diana rode in the first freshness of morning, he rode stubbornly beside her, more stubbornly than she cared to admit.
After all, Jacob was her third cousin, and the propinquity, with the close family relations which Mrs. Eaton jealously maintained, made him seem even nearer. Without liking him very much, Diana had tolerated his constant presence for so many years that it had become a habit. No doubt we could grow happily accustomed to a hippopotamus as a pet, if we could keep it long enough in our individual bathtubs. Usage and propinquity! How many recalcitrants have been reconciled to an unwelcome fate by these two potent factors in life!
Diana, riding up the hill through clustered masses of rhododendrons, was happily indifferent to Jacob at her bridle rein. Jacob was useful, rather pleasant to talk to, and paid her the constant homage of undisguised admiration. After all, it was pleasant to be with one to whom she meant so much. She could hold him lightly at arm’s length, for Jacob was toowise to hazard all for nothing, yet she was aware that her lightest wish had its weight. It was only when he tried to assume the right of an elder brother to meddle with her affairs, as he had at Kitty Broughton’s ball, that she resented his interference.
Jacob had, indeed, slipped into her ways with a tame-cattiness which, no matter how it accorded with his sleek appearance, was in direct contradiction to the character behind the mask. Diana, flouting him in her girlish coquetry, was but sowing the wind; if she married him later, she would reap the whirlwind, yet half her relations desired it. Thus wisely does the outsider plan a life.
Diana stopped abruptly and, bending from the saddle, gathered a large cluster of pink rhododendrons; the dew was on them still and it sparkled in the sunshine.
“Why didn’t you let me break it for you?� Jacob asked mildly; “sometime when you bend that way from your saddle you’ll lose your balance and—�
“Take a cropper,� said Diana. “I hope I shan’t break my nose.�
“Or your head, which would mean my heart,� he retorted.
She laughed; she was very charming when she laughed and, perhaps, she knew it. Diana was very human. “Which is harder than my head,� she said; “in fact, I have heard something of the nether millstone.�
“You would find it very brittle if you turned thecold shoulder,� said Jacob calmly, flicking the young shrubs with his crop.
“A piece of broken crockery,� mocked Diana; “you will have it mended when I marry some one else.�
“On the contrary,� he retorted, unmoved, “to quote the romancer: ‘Je vais me fich’ à l’eau.’�
“What?� she questioned, with lifted brows.
“It’s French,� he explained.
“So I supposed,� replied Diana, “but not as I learned it.�
“Nevertheless it is forcible,� said Jacob; “it means, inelegantly, that I will pitch myself into the river.�
“Inelegant and untruthful then,� said she.
“I got it from a book,� he said, “a recent one, and famous. I am quoting the modern novelists.�
They had reached the crest of a low ridge, and through a growth of red cedars could see the flash and leap of the river. Diana drew rein and turned her face fully toward her companion.
“Jacob,� she said abruptly, “why did you give all that money to Juniper?�
Jacob smiled, his eyelids drooping; in the sunshine his clear smooth skin looked waxy, as though it would take the impression of a finger and keep it. “There’s an instance of my heart, Diana,� he said sententiously.
She studied him attentively. “Was it altogether that?� she demanded, the straight line of her brows slightly contracted.
“What else?� he asked lightly, leaning forward tobreak off a cedar berry and toss it away again. “Look here, Di, you’re down on me—what’s the matter?�
“I want to understand you,� she replied slowly; “fifty dollars is too large a sum to give all at once to a negro; you’ll corrupt a member of the church, a brand snatched from the burning. Juniper has experienced religion.�
Jacob laughed. “Been stealing chickens lately, I reckon.�
“No, it was Lysander,� corrected Diana demurely.
“The shopkeeper lawyer can defend him again,� said her cousin; “all the fools are not dead yet.�
“No, indeed,� she agreed, so heartily that he looked up quickly.
“I really meant to help the old nigger,� he said frankly; “he’s always begging, and he’s been sick and out of work. I’m sorry if you think fifty too much.�
Diana touched her horse lightly, and they moved on. “Too much at one time,� she said more gently. “He’ll spend it in an enormous supply of tobacco, watermelons and whiskey, and probably go to the workhouse. If he does, you’ll have to bail him out, Jacob.�
“Isn’t there a bare possibility that the watermelons might kill him?� he suggested meekly.
“A negro?� Diana laughed. “Jacob, why didn’t you give it to Aunt Charity?�
“She has, at present, purloined the silver teapot,� said Jacob; “my soul loves justice.�
She looked sharply at him, her young face severe. “I believe you had another motive. Are you sure that it was for his good, and only for his good?�
“Cross my heart,� said Jacob devoutly. “See here, Diana, why should I fritter away my substance? Of what use on earth could that old nigger be to me?�
She looked thoughtful. The horses moved on evenly abreast. “None that I can see,� she admitted honestly; “after all, it was good of you; forgive me.�
“After all, there is some good in me,� he replied, paraphrasing. “I’m worth noticing, my fair cousin!�
“When you come directly across the horizon!� laughed Diana.
Below them now was the highroad, and as they looked along the white bend of its elbow, below the ash and the young maples, they both saw the tall straight figure of Caleb Trench. He did not see them; he passed below them, and turned the shoulder of the hill. Diana said nothing; her eyes had reluctantly followed him.
“There goes a fool,� remarked her cousin, “or a knave.�
“Why is it,� asked Diana, “that a man, failing to agree with another, calls him names?�
He laughed, his cheek reddening. “Why should I agree with that shyster?�
“Why should that shyster agree with you?� she mocked, a light kindling in her clear eyes.
Jacob chuckled unpleasantly. “I hope you’venever claimed that six cents again,� he commented; “he’s got your receipt, you know.�
It was her turn to redden. “You are jealous of his growing reputation,� she flung at him.
He shrugged a shoulder. “Of that beautiful speech at Cresset’s, in which he painted me as the devil and all his works?�
“I admired the Cresset speech!� she exclaimed, a sentiment which would have amazed Mrs. Eaton.
Jacob laughed. “So do I,� he said, “it was first-class campaign matter, but—well, Di, personal abuse is a little vulgar, isn’t it, just now?�
“Not if you deserved it,� she said defiantly.
“I’d take any amount if you’d promise not to dance with him again.�
“I’m the best judge of my partners,� said Diana, with indignant dignity; “if any one speaks it should be my father.�
“Aptly said,� he admitted suavely, “and the colonel is one in a thousand, but you wind him around your little finger.�
“You do not know Colonel Royall,� said Colonel Royall’s daughter, with just pride.
Jacob lifted his hat. “Vive le Roi!� he said.
She gave him an indignant glance. “You are a mocker.�
“On my soul, no!�
“Jacob,� said Diana, “your soul, like the rich man’s, may scarcely pass through the eye of a needle.�
“My dear cousin, my soul has been passing through it under your rebukes. What shall I do to please you?�
Diana rode on, her chin up. The path was narrow, and Jacob, falling behind, had only the privilege of admiring the long slim lines of her athletic young back, and the way she sat her horse. Beyond the cedars the path forked on the road, and he came up again.
“I am chastened,� he said; “shall I be forgiven?�
She laughed softly, then her mood changed. “Jacob,� she said, quite seriously, “you are sure that you’ll renominate Governor Aylett?�
“My dear Di, I am sure of nothing in this world but death,� he retorted dryly, “but I’ll be—�
“Cut it out, Jacob,� she cautioned, her eyes twinkling.
“I won’t have Yarnall!� he finished lamely.
She nodded. “I understand, but what is this about the backwoodsmen being organized?�
“Your friend, the shyster,� he mocked, “he has that line of politics; he speaks well on top of a barrel. I suppose he can empty one, too.�
“Not as easily as you could, Jacob,� she retorted ruthlessly.
He raised his eyebrows. “I’ve been in love with you these many years, and thus do you trample on my feelings!�
“I wish you had feelings,� said Diana calmly; “you have mechanism.�
“Upon my word!� he cried; “this is the last straw.�
“You should be a successful politician,� she continued; “you are a successful business man. Success is your Moloch; beware, Jacob!�
“I am willing to sit at the feet of the prophetess,� he protested. “I’ve served seven years, I—�
“Jacob,� said Diana, “don’t be silly. There’s Kingdom-Come at the gate; they are waiting to turn the omelet. Come!� and she galloped down to the high gateway, the rhododendrons clustering at her saddle-bow and the sunshine in her face.
Kingdom-Come grinned. “Fo’ de Lawd, Miss Di, I reckon yo’ clean forgot dat folks eats in de mawnin’.�