CHAPTER XVI DOUBT

“I NEVER heard a more unlikely story in my life, Tory darling; it certainly can have nothing to do with me! I don’t see how you and Dorothy can possibly regard it seriously. Oh, well, perhaps I can see that you would seize upon any straw and let your imagination do the rest! You always have been so determined to find me a thrilling background. But, Dorothy, you are a much more matter-of-fact person and don’t really believe this Mr. Moore has any connection with me.”

The three girls were driving along Riverside, not in a car, but actually in an old-fashioned carriage, which Mr. Fenton had obtained with great difficulty.

Kara was well enough to be in need of fresh air and a change of environment. Her two friends thought she appeared frailer than when they had last seen her during the Christmas holidays, but in a happier state of mind. So they had chosen to confide their piece of news182 not inside her small hospital room, but during a quiet drive along the river.

At first it appeared a problem to divert Kara’s attention from the beauty of the Palisades, smoke-gray and violet in the afternoon light, from her interest in the cars passing and repassing, from the boats moving slowly or swiftly up and down the broad expanse of water.

A faint color came into her cheeks, her eyes were growing more humorous and less wistful. Neither of her companions wished to intrude a serious subject of conversation upon her mood.

“Surely, you have been out driving before, haven’t you, Kara? You have been well enough to be out of doors for several weeks. Can’t you pay more attention to us and less to the scenery?” Tory demanded finally, fearing the drive might be at an end and they forced to separate before their story could be told.

Kara smiled with the wide gray eyes that were her chief beauty.

“Of course I have been driving before! Mr. and Mrs. Hammond and Lucy have taken me several times in their car. Once, not long ago, Lance actually appeared in a taxicab183 which he said he had the privilege of using for two hours. He told me the friend who had been so kind to him wished him to invite me for a ride through Central Park. Lance wanted to talk of the wonderful chance he thought might be coming to him.”

The opening had seemed propitious. Tory nodded at Dorothy to ask her advice.

Then observing that Kara was laughing at them both, she hesitated.

Dorothy made no pretence of introducing the subject. She and Tory had agreed that it was wiser for Tory to give an outline of the situation, with Dorothy to corroborate and add convincing details that otherwise might be forgotten.

Between her two friends upon the low, broad seat of an old-fashioned vehicle which resembled a victoria, a favorite equipage of bygone days, Kara now slipped her hand inside theirs.

“Do you suppose I have had a drive I have enjoyed like this with both of you beside me? But, Tory dear, please tell me what it is you wish to say. I hope you may never have any very important secret to conceal, you are so transparent! This afternoon I don’t mind hearing, as from your expression I am sure it184 is something exciting. So I can listen and look at our surroundings at the same time, can’t I?”

“No, Kara, you must give me your undivided attention,” Tory replied, so solemnly that the other girl was silenced. A slight wave of what might have suggested regret passed over her face.

Life had been so full of serious things these past six months, she had wanted one happy afternoon, when she might forget.

During the long recital she had asked a few questions and at this instant had uttered her innermost conviction.

“I believe you are mistaken, Kara. When you see Mr. Moore you will feel differently. He is very quiet and seems to dislike meeting strangers and having to discuss his private affairs. He declares that the thought of having failed to keep his promise, and knowing nothing of the little girl he was to care for all these years, has made him more of a recluse than he might otherwise have been. As a matter of fact, father says he is convinced at last that Mr. Moore is telling the truth. He has seen his lawyer and learned that he is a member of a distinguished family and has the reputation for being extremely cultured and generous. Certainly his kindness to Lance185 might have convinced father without further investigation! I really believe that father, without realizing the fact, is a little jealous because Mr. Moore has been able to do for Lance what he could not afford, and Lance adores him!” Dorothy McClain interposed, observing that Tory appeared crestfallen at the fashion in which Kara had received the amazing story.

“Yes, I understand, Dorothy. I am not in the least venturing to dispute Mr. Moore’s account of what he thinks occurred so many years ago. I only very seriously doubt that I have any part in it. I presume there are hundreds of other children who are as likely to be the girl he is seeking.” Kara’s tone lacked entire conviction.

“Please don’t say what you really know isn’t true, Kara!” Tory protested, with more irritability than she realized. She had been tremendously keyed up over the problem of imparting the extraordinary situation to the other girl. She could not help being annoyed by Kara’s calm dismissal of its importance.

“It is absurd to pretend that the fact the name ‘Katherine Moore’ was pinned to your dress, when you were discovered, does not help in identifying you. Mr. Moore says186 that your mother asked that you be called by his name. He spoke of you as Katherine before any one thought of mentioning the one thing that is known concerning you. Is it that you do not want what we have told you to be true, Kara? To deny that you are the girl Mr. Moore is searching for is ridiculous. He has undeniable proof that Westhaven is between twenty and thirty miles from the farm where he found you and your mother. The evergreen cabin is along the route to the station where he took the train for Boston. Mr. Moore believes that he realized he was ill and started out to find some one to look after you. He must have grown worse, because he knew nothing for several weeks. Then he found himself in a hospital in Boston. Dr. McClain says this often occurs in illness. Mr. Moore had intended going to Boston and must have gotten on board the train. Afterwards people on the train took charge of him; they found his name and address from letters in his pocket. He was an old bachelor with no close relatives and had confided to no one where he had gone, but his friends were looking after him when he recovered consciousness.”

“Yes, Tory, you seem to have arranged187 everything satisfactorily, as if you had been writing a mystery story and had carefully gathered up all the clews! May I be allowed to say that I would like to have it explained to me why a package of letters were given to me at the end of last summer found in the old fireplace at the evergreen cottage? Did the eccentric old bachelor dispose of the letters in the same fashion he got rid of me?”

“Then you confess you were the child, Kara?” Tory interrupted. “Don’t attempt to pretend you do not think so after what you have said.”

“But I am not convinced. I think it is all very tiresome and absurd and I wish you had never told me. After all, suppose it is true and I am the girl, he is no relative of mine! I prefer the Gray House and my friends in Westhaven. I don’t wish to have anything to do with this Mr. Moore. Dr. McClain says I may be well in a year or so and then I shall be able to take care of myself.”

A second time Tory was beginning to protest and reproach Kara for her unreasonable attitude, but a warning glance from Dorothy McClain restrained her.

Kara’s color, her cheerful expression had vanished. She was white and exhausted.

188 “If you don’t mind, I think I would like to go back to the hospital; I am tired all of a sudden,” she remarked.

Tory was frightened.

She had insisted that Kara be told the peculiar circumstances she had just related, arguing that she would receive the information in her usual sensible and matter-of-fact fashion.

Kara had been through too much suffering and anxiety since her accident the summer before to have any new problem presented to her. Should they have waited until she was stronger? Tory was not sure.

She put her arm about the slender figure.

“Do try not to think any more of what we have been talking about for the present, Kara. It is my fault, I wanted you to hear. If you don’t like Mr. Moore you need not have anything to do with him. You have friends enough if he never had been heard of! I shall hate it if he does more for you than we can. Just the same I think you had best know that Mr. Moore has seen the letters. Mr. Hammond showed them to him. They were ordinary friendly letters he had written your mother from time to time, not important, and thinks he must have thrown them into the fire with the idea of burning them. There189 is no question that the letters were written by him, as his handwriting is exactly the same.”

“Do you think it my duty to see this Mr. Moore, Dorothy? I know what Tory will say,” Kara inquired when they were within a block of their destination. “Can you imagine anything more disappointing than for a man of the kind Lance describes, cultured, musical, of a distinguished family, to have to devote any time or thought to so insignificant a person as I am? There is one consolation, he is sure to like me even less than I shall like him.”

“I would not trouble. I would not see Mr. Moore for the present, Kara dear,” Dorothy answered in a calm and reassuring tone. “In any case you must talk the matter over with father before you decide. He is coming to see you after dinner to-night, as he must return to Westhaven in the morning. If you do conclude to see Mr. Moore, why, I would not for days and days until I was in exactly the right mood.”