c^d A bend in the path showed Desiree in the moonlight waiting. THE WOMAN HE DESIRED BY LOUISE GERARD AUTHOR OF "A SON OF THE SAHARA* NEW YORK THE MACAULAY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY LOUISE GERARD Printed in the U. S. A. To MY FRIEND DOROTHEA THORNTON CLARKE WITHOUT WHOSE HELP AND CONSTANT ENCOURAGEMENT NEITHER THIS NOR ANY OF MY BOOKS WOULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN 213SS21 I CONTENTS PART ONE CHAFTBK I MOTHER AND SON ........ II THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE ....... III DESIREE DE MAILLY IV MANUEL BASSINO V UNWELCOME GIFTS 16 VI UNCLE AND NIECE ......... 20 PART TWO I JOHN WILSON 22 II THE ENCOUNTER 26 III BASSINO KEEPS His PROMISE ..... 29 IV CHATEAU DE MAILLY 33 V A CHANCE MEETING 38 VI JULIETTE 53 VII DINNER 55 VIII THE NECKLACE OF TEARS 65 IX AN EXPLANATION 74 X SECLUSION . , ; 77 XI THE GILBERTS 85 XII A MOTOR TRIP 88 XIII THE GILBERTS VISIT DESIREE ...... 93 XIV WILSON MEETS THE GILBERTS ...... 99 XV A PAIR OF KNAVES 107 XVI THE BRACELET . no XVII THE DANCE 113 XVIII DISILLUSION ,, 123 vii Vlll CONTENTS CHAPTER FACE XIX THE QUARREL 126 XX MISUNDERSTOOD 133 XXI THE INTERVIEW 138 XXII SCHEMES 143 XXIII WILSON'S REMORSE 148 XXIV MANUEL BASSINO AERTVES 152 XXV DESIREE'S NEW HOME . , : 157 XXVI A GOOD SAMARITAN 167 XXVII THE GILBERTS MEET WITH AN OBSTACLE . . 171 XXVIII DESIRES FINDS A TRUE FRIEND 175 XXIX DESIREE'S BLINDNESS 179 XXX THE PRINCESS OF THE FAIRY TALE .... 184 XXXI A CONSULTATION .189 XXXII WILSON MEETS BASSINO 194 XXXIII THE OPERATION 207 XXXIV MACHINATIONS 211 XXXV THE THEFT 214 XXXVI THE ESCAPE 218 XXXVII REALIZATION 224 XXXVIII DESPAIR 227 XXXIX THE SACRIFICE 230 PART THREE I THE ICE MAIDEN 235 II MRS. GREEN RECEIVES A LETTER ..... 247 III THE DECEPTION .251 IV EDWARD WILSON 256 V THE SECRET . 266 VI THE NEW STEWARD 270 VII THE RENOVATED CHATEAU 280 VIII MR. GREEN PREDICTS 293 IX A FLY IN THE OINTMENT ....... 296 X A DREAM THAT CAME TRUE 305 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED THE WOMAN HE DESIRED PART ONE CHAPTER I MOTHER AND SON When John Wilson was a little boy his mother used to tell him fairy tales. She was a young widow who had to work hard for a living and she had not much time for entertaining her small son. The story John loved best was about a princess. Being a fairy princess, of course she had golden hair, blue eyes, skin like alabaster, and hands no bigger than rose-leaves. She lived all alone in a ruined castle beset with dragons, and of course an ogre wanted to marry her a dreadful creature like a toad, with a black face and long yellow teeth. The poor little princess spent most of her days in weeping because of the dragons and the ogre. Then he, John Wilson, aged five, came along, and in some mar- velous manner rescued her. And they married and lived happily ever after. But they did not live in the mean little house in a back street where John and his mother lived, with a lodger occupy- ing the front sitting-room and bedroom. Their home was the ruined castle in the mountains, miles away from any city. They had a beautiful garden where lovely trees 2 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED and flowers grew, and they kept fowls and ducks and cows, all things that John loved, and that oame into his life very seldom. "When I'm a man I shall really marry a princess," he said one day at the conclusion of this favorite story. His mother laughed sadly, for princesses and her boy were far asunder. The little boy carried the princess about in his heart. She went to school with him the board school and even there there were boys who twitted him because of his poverty, and the two neat, round patches that were almost invariably in the seat of his trousers ; "the sun and moon" they called them. For John was a sturdy youngster, who wore out his clothes quickly so quickly that his mother sat up dressmaking until after midnight to buy more trousers. Yet she was glad her boy was strong, even if it meant extra hard work for her. Health was all she could give him for a start in life, and so that he should have it, she half starved herself to feed her cub. When the boys twitted John about the "sun and moon," and because he had no pennies with which to buy sweets and marbles, he refused to cry. Instead, he retired to some quiet corner and told the princess. And she would come out of his heart and sit beside him a tiny, fragile, gentle thing, quite different from any of the little girls who came into John's life and touch him with rose-leaf hands. "Never mind, John, if you are poor, I love you," she would whisper. And the little boy was quite happy again. When John was five the princess was four, and when he was eight she was seven. By that time, when his confreres bullied him, it was not necessary to trouble the MOTHER AND SON 3 princess about the matter. He had learnt to retaliate with his fists. Nevertheless he still talked to her, and she talked to him, but on other matters. One winter's afternoon, as he was coming home from school in the dusk, scuffling his feet in the gutter, picking up an odd stone here and there as he went along, she said : "What are you picking up all those dirty stones for, John?" "They're to keep the wolf from the door, Princess," he answered promptly. Then he had a long talk with her about the wolf. He had just heard that the lodger was kept for that purpose. The lodger was a thin, little, old woman, in John's esti- mation not able to cope with the task assigned to her ; so he was going back with his pocket filled with stones to drive the ravening beast away. Hand in hand, in the twilight, John and the princess, their hearts in their mouths, crept down the long dark entry that led to the back door, the little boy ready to push his companion behind him should the wolf appear. But the back door was reached in safety. Then John quickly put the princess back into his heart ; she was never allowed out nowadays when people were about, because once or twice the mere world had laughed at her. When John was twelve the princess was eleven. Then he left school and went into an iron foundry. The image of the princess grew fainter. -But sometimes when he was indulging in strong language she would come and look at him with soft, reproachful eyes, and put her tiny hands to her ears, and the rough youth would stop, and try to mold himself on lines his ideal would approve. 4 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED When John was twenty-two the princess was eighteen, and the faint shadow of her came between him and the temptations that beset a healthy young man who has just started to make money. Then, although Wilson's years increased, the age of the princess remained stationary. But she was a dream maiden now, a high-born, honorable, dainty little thing, possessed of every womanly charm and virtue an ideal and in a hot, hard hunt for wealth the man almost forgot about her. Yet sometimes, when he rested for a moment from the heated scramble, she would come and sit beside him. And he would smile at her sadly. For John Wilson knew now that if he married at all it would not be a princess. Nevertheless, the lovely fairy companion of his boyhood successfully came between him and all other women. CHAPTER II THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE A lamp was burning on a table in a third-rate New York boarding-house. It showed a tawdry room, smelling of cigarette smoke and patchouli. There was a dirty cretonne curtain stretched across one corner. The iron rod on which it hung had slipped out of position, expos- ing several showy evening dresses. On a dishevelled bed a woman lay a common-looking creature. Once her hair had been bleached a bright metallic yellow; now, from the scalp upwards, for a couple of inches, it was a dull brown. Her mouth was open, displaying an array of gold-mounted teeth. Her bold eyes were glazed. In her day she had been hand- some in a large, coarse way ; but now her day was done. By the bed two men stood. They were both tall, slim, handsome, and elegant, unmistakably well bred. The younger was dark, the elder gray-haired. "Well, mon pere, so that's the end of Cissy/' the former said presently. "And a damned long time she was dying." "And the end of The Triple Alliance' too," his father remarked. Turning from the bed, with a casual air Eugene de Gilbert lighted a cigarette. "I'm not so sure of that," he said in response to his father's remark. "Not so sure?" the Count de Gilbert repeated. "What 5 6 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED do you mean? What have you got in your head now, Eugene ?" he questioned in a tone of feverish anxiety. "Several schemes to come between me and my pet aversion work, mon cher" "Come to the point, can't you ?" his father said irritably. "Well, then, what's to prevent us from using Desiree ? Let her keep us afloat until such time as we can put our hands on 'The Necklace of Tears,' or as long as we need her, should the necklace prove a fraud." "Using Desiree!" the Count echoed. "Yes, Desiree, my cousin, your niece and ward. Desiree, Countess de Mailly," Eugene said, emphasizing each word, as if pleased at the sensation his suggestion had caused, and anxious to be still more impressive. His father stared at him with awe and admiration. "The very thing, Eugene!" he cried, excitedly. "The very thing! You must go and fetch her at once." Eugene flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Not me," he replied. "If I set a foot in France I shall have to fight for my country a damned uncomfort- able job. You, mon pere, you must fetch her." He paused and smiled wickedly. " The Triple Alliance' is dead. Long live The Triple Alliance' !" he finished, his voice raised to a shout. "Be quiet, you fool," his father said hastily, giving a nervous glance round. "Every police bureau in the States knows that name. And don't you mention it to Desiree unless you want to get us both imprisoned 7 for the rest of our lives." "Mon cher, your business in life is not to lecture me, your dutiful son, whose one aim and object is to rectify the lack of cash brought about by his father's wild and extravagant youth. Your business is to go to France THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 7 and fetch Desiree. There's no time to waste. The funds are low. Now I'm off to the shipping office to book your passage, and then to see about getting Cissy under the daisies as cheaply as possible." Whistling gayly, Eugene de Gilbert went from the room, leaving his father staring at the woman who had been dead barely half an hour. CHAPTER III DESIREE DE MAILLY Over New York the clocks were striking two two in the morning, when the sky-scrapers stood black against a star-strewn sky, and revelers were returning from festivities. A little party of three had just come back from a ball at a fashionable hotel to the second-rate lodg- ing-house where they were staying. One of the three went straight up to the shabby back sitting-room, and sat there awaiting the arrival of the other two. There was no light in the room, but a ray of the moon fell into it, showing a girl in a cheap white silk evening frock, who was sitting with her hands clasped listlessly on her knee, her eyes downcast. The door opening made her turn her head in that direc- tion. Two men entered. "Hello, here's Desiree all alone in the dark," the younger remarked. The older man switched on the light. "Don't start teasing your cousin," he said with a touch of impatience. The flare showed a young girl, slender and fragile, with a thin, transparent face, misty blue eyes, and a wealth of golden hair coiled like a crown on the top of her small head; a nervous, high-strung child; as if transfixed, she turned her eyes towards the two men, a frightened ex- 8 DESIREE DE MAILLY 9 pression in them, as if dreading what they might do next. Judging only by her face she looked about fifteen, but the curves of her drooping figure and the fact that her hair was up indicated that she must be older than that. In spite of her thinness and the air of tragedy that lurked about her she was exceedingly pretty, and with happiness, care, and good feeding she would have been a remarkably beautiful girl. Crossing to her side, Eugene drew out a bracelet, a handsome piece of jewelry a band of rubies and diamonds, worth at least ^500. "Ma cherie, would you like to try on this pretty bracelet ?" he asked. "Put it away, Eugene, at once," the old Count said, a tremor in his voice. "Oh, Desired doesn't understand," Eugene said, laugh- ing. Nevertheless he put the bracelet into his pocket. Then he turned towards a table where whisky and soda and sandwiches stood. "It's a damned good thing that Cissy is dead," he went on as he helped himself to a drink, "for now it's a case of a half, not a third, and I don't have to be forever pro- pitiating her. Good luck to you, Desiree," he finished, holding the glass towards the girl. "And may your heritage prove all your uncle thinks it." "Do be quiet," the Count said. "A curse on you and your ill-timed jokes." "A curse on me, eh, as well as on 'The Necklace of Tears/ " Eugene commented, by no means perturbed. "Beware, mon pdre, curses come home to roost." With a snarl at his son the Count de Gilbert turned io THE WOMAN HE DESIRED towards the table, with trembling hands pouring out a glass of whisky and soda. "Won't you have a sandwich, Desiree?" he asked. "No, thank you, uncle." "Desiree is never hungry," Eugene put in. "De- siree never wants anything nowadays except to get back to France and away from us. We'll take you back, little cousin, when you're twenty-one, never fear. We're going to be present at your birthday festivities. We wouldn't miss them for worlds, would we, men peref" The old Count scowled and fidgeted, and Eugene's wicked smile deepened. Then he crossed to the girl's side and leaned over her, his handsome face expressing cruelty. "Give me a kiss, Desiree." She moved her head away quickly. "I don't like being kissed," she said. "But I like kissing you," he replied. "And I know another who would like to Manuel Bassino, our new millionaire friend from Brazil. Why did you run away from him just now? Why didn't you wait and say good- by when he had so kindly given us a lift in his motor? Millionaires don't grow on every tree. You should en- courage him, not treat him in that offhand manner. Think how nice it would be for you and us if you were the wife of a millionaire." There was no reply from Desiree, but the expression on her face indicated helpless terror the look of one caught in a trap with no means at hand for escape. CHAPTER IV MANUEL BASSINO A few days later the Count de Gilbert brought a friend back to dinner. The visitor, who was a man of about forty, was far from prepossessing, and to add to the dis- advantages nature had bestowed on him, years of dissipa- tion had left their mark. His hair was black, his com- plexion swarthy, and undoubtedly there was a goodly modicum of negro blood in him. His clothes were flashy, and diamonds glittered in his shirt front and on his short, fat fingers. Between the courses he picked his teeth the while fast- ening his vulgar and covetous gaze on the young girl seated next to him. But Desiree ignored him entirely, except when he leaned so close to her that his hot, rank breath fanned her cheek; then she shivered and drew away. Once the meal was over she got up and seated herself as far away from him as possible. But she did not escape for long. Within a few minutes he was at her side again, breathing heavily, talking in a thick, guttural voice with a rasping American accent. "In Rio I've got a palace, Countess," he said boast- fully, as he puffed cigar smoke into her face, "half a dozen automobiles, and more servants than I can reckon up just now. My wife could be a queen out there, blazing with diamonds. She could have any darned thing she ii 12 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED liked to ask for. I've got six hundred thousand dollars a year. And I guess that's not a bad income as incomes go." He paused and laid a hot hand on the girl's thin one. "You could be that queen if you liked to be a bit pleas- ant to me," he finished with heavy emphasis. His touch sent a shudder through her. Quickly she drew her hand away. Without a word she rose and made towards the door, almost falling over a chair in her haste to escape. Manuel Bassino watched her go, chagrin and desire on his coarse face. "Your niece don't encourage me nearly so much as you do, Count," he remarked the moment the door closed behind her. "Desiree is not used to the world and its ways," was the even response. "She had never been a day away from her home until I brought her to America. And she is not accustomed to men either." "That innocent baby face of hers has set me on fire," Bassino answered thickly. "I'm fed up on actresses and the like. And I've got the pick of all that come to Rio. I'm just crazy for that girl. So crazy that I'd marry her in spite of everything. Though I know you'd let me have her without that, if the check was big enough." Eugene laughed, but his father bristled fiercely. "My niece is not for sale," he said haughtily. "Don't put on any airs for my benefit," Bassino answered coolly. "Her family is one of the oldest in France," the Count began. "I know all about the family," Bassino interrupted. "She's a thoroughbred all right. A bit of good old blue MANUEL BASSINO 13 blood won't do my family any harm. That's why I mean to marry her. But she don't seem to have the fancy for me that I've got for her," he finished, a trifle despond- ently. "A French girl of the Countess de Mailly's position has to marry the man her guardian chooses, not according to her own fancy," the Count commented. Bassino's eyes rested for a moment on Desiree's uncle. "Would twenty-five thousand dollars square the deal ?" "I shall not allow my niece to marry before she's twenty-cne." Here Eugene put in a word or two in French, a lan- guage the Brazilian did not understand. "Let him have her," he said quickly. "With her mar- ried to him we have a regular source of income, and we can still use her judiciously, if necessary." A stubborn look appeared on his father's face. "I've waited nearly twenty years for 'The Necklace of Tears,' " he answered in the same language. "It comes to Desiree when she's twenty-one. There's no mistake about that. I've seen the terms of her grand- father's will. In fifteen months, Eugene, the necklace will be ours. And it's worth at least five million francs." The younger man shrugged his shoulders. "Well," he said, "you know my opinion of the old Count de Mailly and the necklace." The Count de Gilbert's verdict about waiting until Desiree was twenty-one made Bassino sit up suddenly. "Twenty-one!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to say I've got to wait a whole year and more?" When the Count had finished talking to his son, he turned his attention very deliberately once more to Desiree's suitor. 14 THE WOMAN HE DESIRED "I refuse to allow her to be married until she is of age." "Look here," Bassino said in an anxious manner, "I'll give you a check for fifty thousand dollars if I can marry her at once." "You've heard my terms, Mr. Bassino. If you don't like them " The Count shrugged his shoulders. "The cash in hand,