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Options-Part10_O.Henry(1862-1910)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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with a dazzling smile.

"You are on the stage, Miss De Ormond," went on Black-Tie. "You have



had, doubtless, many admirers, and perhaps other proposals. You must

remember, too, that we were a party of merrymakers on that occasion.



There were a good many corks pulled. That the proposal of marriage

was made to you by my cousin we cannot deny. But hasn't it been your



experience that, by common consent, such things lose their seriousness

when viewed in the next day's sunlight? Isn't there something of a



'code' among good 'sports'--I use the word in its best sense--that

wipes out each day the follies of the evening previous?"



"Oh yes," said Miss De Ormond. "I know that very well. And I've

always played up to it. But as you seem to be conducting the case--



with the silent consent of the defendant--I'll tell you something

more. I've got letters from him repeating the proposal. And they're



signed, too."

"I understand," said Black-Tie gravely. "What's your price for the



letters?"

"I'm not a cheap one," said Miss De Ormond. "But I had decided to



make you a rate. You both belong to a swell family. Well, if I am on

the stage nobody can say a word against me truthfully. And the money



is only a secondaryconsideration. It isn't the money I was after.

I--I believed him--and--and I liked him."



She cast a soft, entrancing glance at Blue-Tie from under her long

eyelashes.



"And the price?" went on Black-Tie, inexorably.

"Ten thousand dollars," said the lady, sweetly.



"Or--"

"Or the fulfillment of the engagement to marry."



"I think it is time," interrupted Blue-Tie, "for me to be allowed to

say a word or two. You and I, cousin, belong to a family that has



held its head pretty high. You have been brought up in a section of

the country very different from the one where our branch of the family



lived. Yet both of us are Carterets, even if some of our ways and

theories differ. You remember, it is a tradition of the family, that



no Carteret ever failed in chivalry to a lady or failed to keep his

word when it was given."



Then Blue-Tie, with frank decision showing on his countenance, turned

to Miss De Ormond.



"Olivia," said he, "on what date will you marry me?"

Before she could answer, Black-Tie again interposed.



"It is a long journey," said he, "from Plymouth rock to Norfolk Bay.

Between the two points we find the changes that nearly three centuries



have brought. In that time the old order has changed. We no longer

burn witches or torture slaves. And to-day we neither spread our



cloaks on the mud for ladies to walk over nor treat them to the

ducking-stool. It is the age of common sense, adjustment, and



proportion. All of us--ladies, gentlemen, women, men, Northerners,

Southerners, lords, caitiffs, actors, hardware-drummers, senators,



hodcarriers, and politicians--are coming to a better understanding.

Chivalry is one of our words that changes its meaning every day.



Family pride is a thing of many constructions--it may show itself by

maintaining a moth-eaten arrogance in cobwebbed Colonial mansion or by



the prompt paying of one's debts.

"Now, I suppose you've had enough of my monologue. I've learned



something of business and a little of life; and I somehow believe,

cousin, that our great-great-grandfathers, the original Carterets,



would indorse my view of this matter."

Black-Tie wheeled around to his desk, wrote in a check-book and tore



out the check, the sharp rasp of the perforated leaf making the only

sound in the room. He laid the check within easy reach of Miss De



Ormond's hand.

"Business is business," said he. "We live in a business age. There



is my personal check for $10,000. What do you say, Miss De Ormond--

will it he orange blossoms or cash ?"



Miss De Ormond picked up the cheek carelessly, folded it

indifferently, and stuffed it into her glove.



"Oh, this '11 do," she said, calmly. "I just thought I'd call and put

it up to you. I guess you people are all right. But a girl has



feelings, you know. I've heard one of you was a Southerner--I wonder

which one of you it is?"



She arose, smiled sweetly, and walked to the door. There, with a

flash of white teeth and a dip of the heavy plume, she disappeared.



Both of the cousins had forgotten Uncle Jake for the time. But now

they heard the shuffling of his shoes as he came across the rug toward



them from his seat in the corner.




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