Will You Love Me in September

Lance was appalled. Sabrina was horrified. She said she would confess at once. Lance stopped that.

It was a tricky situation. Suppose someone discovered that Sir Ralph had not died by accident! We must keep very quiet. In the meantime Lance endeavored to find another stole like the one he had bought before. There was not another like it to be found.

He would have to have one made-speedily, he said-and he wanted me to appear in it.

There was another factor. One of the coachmen whom Lance had bribed to keep quiet decided to talk when Sir Basil Blaydon promised a larger sum than Lance had given him. He told Sir Basil that he had come to our house in Albemarle Street and had picked up the lady in the seed-pearl stole. She had gone willingly to Sir Ralph's residence, where he had been waiting for her.

The whispers grew to a rumble. Everywhere they were talking. The mystery was solved, and the general opinion was that the woman in the case was Lance Clavering's wife.

Sabrina was beside herself with grief. "People must be told," she said. "I went because he was to be my father-in-law. Surely that will be easily understood.”

"No one would believe it," I told her. "No, it is better for them to suspect me than you. You have your life before you. You are young. We do not want scandal clinging to you. However false it is proved to be, there will always be some who insist that it is true. Lance knows the truth. That is all that matters.”

Lance came in with a new stole. "Now," he said, "it only remains for you to appear wearing it.”

"What if the stole-maker talks ... as the coachman has?" I asked.

"We must risk that," said Lance.

"Oh, Lance, you take too many risks!”

The news was soon being circulated. The stole-maker had lost no time in spreading the news that she had made another stole for Lance which was an exact replica of the one found in Sir Ralph's bedroom.

Lance came in looking pale and very serious. I had never seen him look like that before. His eyes were glittering, his lips tightly set together.

He said, "I've called Blaydon out.”

"What do you mean?" I cried.

"He insulted you. He insulted me. He said you were Lowell's mistress. There were several people there and ... I challenged him. We are meeting in Hyde Park tomorrow morning.”

"No, no, Lance!”

"It has to be. I couldn't stand by and let him insult you.”

How like him that was. He would always obey the rules of society. To him it was the only gracious way of living. He would risk his life because he considered it was the only honorable thing to do.

"What does it matter what they say of me?" I cried. "You and I know it is untrue.”

Lance's reply was, "I shall be meeting him tomorrow morning at dawn." "And if he kills you... .”

"Luck is always on my side.”

"And if you kill him?”

"I shall aim for his legs. It'll teach him a lesson if I put a bullet through one of them. He'd recover, and perhaps regret he said what he did.”

"Lance ... stop this. It's not worth it.”

"It is worth it to me," he said, and there was that about the set of his lips which told me he would not diverge from his purpose.

I whispered, "What is it to be?”

"Pistols," he said.

"Please don't do it, Lance," I pleaded. "Let's leave London. Let them say what they will. What does it matter to us? We know the truth. It's agreed that Sir Ralph was responsible for his own death. No one is accused of foul play. It is so easy. Let us slip away. Scandals die down.”

"No," he said firmly. "I shall defend your honor. It is the only thing I can do in the circumstances.”

"It is not. There are other things. It is a silly code that doesn't fit in with reality.”

"It means something to me, Clarissa. Leave this in my hands. I will make him repent.

He shall eat his words. I will not have your name sullied.”

There was no persuading him.

I did not tell Sabrina. She would have been frantic with remorse. I kept from her the fact that both the stole-maker and the coachman had talked. She did not go out, for which I was thankful. She had not seen Reggie either. I was sure she could not bear to think of him now, for he would surely remind her of that terrible scene with his father.

I did not sleep all night. I wanted to go with Lance to the park, but he would not allow that.

"You must not be there," he said. "I'll be back with you soon. Then, I promise you, we'll leave London. We'll go to the country and take Sabrina with us. We'll take Zipporah and Jean-Louis and forget this nightmare.”

It was dawn when he left the house in the company of Jack Etherington, a friend of long standing, who was to act as his second.

I sat at the window, waiting ... waiting ...

I was there when they carried him in. He was bleeding profusely from a wound in his side. I scarcely recognized him. He looked so unlike the jaunty man I had known, with the insouciant smile, who had never really taken life seriously.

He had to take it seriously now for I feared he was about to leave it.

"I've sent someone for a doctor," said Jack Etherington. "We'd better get him to bed.”