"No! No! This is impossible--it will not do at all, Mr. Armitage. It is not kind of you to come here in this strange fashion."
"In this way forsooth! How could I send in my card when I was being chased all over the estate! I didn't mean to apologize for coming"--and he laughed again, with a sincere mirth that shook her resolution to deal harshly with him. "But," he went on, "it was the flowerpot! He was mad because I beat him in the foot-race and wanted to shoot me from the wall, and I tossed him a potted geranium--geraniums are splendid for the purpose--and it caught him square in the head. I have the knack of it! Once before I handed him a boiling-pot!"
"It must have hurt him," said Shirley; and he laughed at her tone that was meant to be severe.
"I certainly hope so; I most devoutly hope he felt it! He was most tenderly solicitous for my health; and if he had really shot me there in the garden it would have had an ugly look. Armitage, the false baron, would have been identified as a daring burglar, shot while trying to burglarize the Claiborne mansion! But I wouldn't take the Claiborne plate for anything, I assure you!"
"I suppose you didn't think of us--all of us, and the unpleasant consequences to my father and brother if something disagreeable happened here!"
There was real anxiety in her tone, and he saw that he was going too far with his light treatment of the affair. His tone changed instantly.
"Please forgive me! I would not cause embarrassment or annoyance to any member of your family for kingdoms. I didn't know I was being followed--I had come here to see you. That is the truth of it."
"You mustn't try to see me! You mustn't come here at all unless you come with the knowledge of my father. And the very fact that your life is sought so persistently--at most unusual times and in impossible places, leaves very much to explain."
"Then you must not come! You must leave instantly."
She walked away toward the front door; but he followed, and at the door she turned to him again. They were in the full glare of the door lamps, and she saw that his face was very earnest, and as he began to speak he flinched and shifted the cloak awkwardly.
"You have been hurt--why did you not tell me that?"