It was late afternoon as Barbara and Frank drove to Sonia’s cottage. Frank seemed very intent on secret thoughts of his own, and Barbara was glad to sit quietly beside him and let the wind blow through her hair.
She felt strengthened and gladdened by the brief intimacy she and Frank had known together. It seemed to her that she marched toward an inevitable and rightful conclusion from out the chaos of Mardi Gras.
Her soul was at peace and her mind at rest. A complacent lassitude seemed to grip her body. Indecision and doubt had been swept away by understanding. From out of the mad turmoil her true self emerged, tranquil and triumphant.
She did not fear the outcome of her impending interview with Sonia. Nor did she shrink from it. In her secret heart she pitied Sonia. Exactly as she pitied Frank. It seemed to her that she was much wiser than they. To-night she would find that which they sought vainly. This was more than a hope; more than a belief; she made of it an actuality which she hugged to her bosom.
As she did not doubt Sonia’s willingness to help her, so she did not doubt her power to draw Bob to her by offering him herself and her new-found passion.
She must not falter nor question. To-night would bring a completion such as she had never dreamed of knowing. She felt strong and ruthless. The strength of aroused passion vied with the dream-love she had carried in her heart for many years, and was augmented by the sharp necessity to rescue Bob from the insidious allure of Sonia.
No. She could not fail. She would not think of failure. She would look forward eagerly to a triumphant fulfillment of the sweeping changes which Mardi Gras had wrought in the texture of her life.
“Here we are. And it looks as though Sonia had company.” Frank’s voice aroused her from her abstraction. She sat up tensely as the car slowed to a stop outside Sonia’s cottage. There were four other cars parked about in the driveway and street.
Frank whistled shrilly as he considered them. His eyes were bleak. “I’m afraid we’re interrupting something,” he said tonelessly. “I’d forgotten that Sonia invited me to attend one of her things this afternoon.”
“What do you mean? A party?”
“Hmmm.” Frank looked at her gravely. “Sort of,” he said slowly. “Use your imagination to its fullest extent... then multiply by infinity. That will give you a vague idea of one of Sonia’s things.”
“Well, I’m going to interrupt this one,” Barbara said decidedly. A flush arose in her cheeks as she opened the door.
“No!” Frank’s voice was hoarse. Barbara looked at him and surprised a peculiar expression of horror on his face. Yet, it wasn’t horror. Something more than that. Horrified gladness. A strangely terrorized joy.
“I will too,” Barbara said defiantly. “I’ll only keep her for a minute.”
“You’ll stay in this car,” Frank said heavily. “Those who enter are forever damned. An appropriate slogan over the door would be Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here. I’ll go in and send Sonia out. You wait in the car.”
Their glances interlocked. Frank was breathing stertorously. His face was haggard and strained. In his eyes was something which struck a queer chill to Barbara’s heart. It was impossible to doubt his sincerity.
“All right,” she said, relaxing. “If you really think I shouldn’t.”
“I know you shouldn’t,” he told her gravely. “You wait right here and put your proposition up to Sonia. I only hope she’s not too far gone.” The last words were muttered to himself as he slipped from behind the wheel and walked to the front door.
Barbara followed him with her eyes. Her imagination drove ahead furiously as the door opened and closed behind him silently. She shivered for no apparent reason. There was something dreadful about the silence which enwrapped the cottage.
Four automobiles parked outside hinted at a considerable gathering within the snug white walls. Yet there was no sound; no gayety; no mirth; no music, laughter, nor voices.
Barbara sank lower on the seat as her imagination seized upon that silence and gave it awful meaning. What mysterious rites were taking place? What orgies did those white walls hide? Hideous phantoms rushed upon her. She wondered if Bob were in there with Sonia.
Frank had said, “Those who enter are forever damned.” “Forever damned.” No! God wouldn’t let Bob be damned. Bob was hers! She could save him. She must save him!
She bit her lip savagely to stop a little cry which escaped her. If Bob was there she should go in to him. But she wouldn’t believe he was there. She would wait... wait for Sonia.
The door opened just as Barbara was on the point of throwing discretion to the winds and rushing after Frank.
A white-robed figure stood on the threshold. The gown was pure white and hung like a surplice from Sonia’s shoulders. A great crimson cross on the front of the robe was the only note of relieving color. The vertical stripe starting at her waistline ran halfway to her knees, crossed by a horizontal bar at her loins.
Sonia stood momently on the doorstep, seemingly blinded by the afternoon sun, then moved toward Barbara. Her face was white, and the black hair was combed out to frame her chalky features with startling contrast.
She moved slowly, mechanically, almost like an automaton. As she drew nearer Barbara saw that her dark features were hidden beneath a white mask, and her eyes seemed to blaze in vivid contrast to her unnatural pallor.
Barbara shrank back from her as she approached the car. She gripped her hands into fists, and forced the fingernails into her flesh to control the shiver of aversion which passed over hey.
“Frank said you wanted to talk to me about Robert.” Sonia’s voice was flat and unaccented. Her lips and her eyes were the only clew to life beneath the mask.
“I... I... yes.”
“What is he to you?”
“He’s... he’s everything in the world to me,” Barbara cried passionately, overcoming her fear in the necessity for convincing Sonia.
“What are you to him?” Sonia’s voice was measured and expressionless. As though she repeated a lesson by rote.
“I... I’m going to marry him. That is, if you’ll help me. You must help me,” she cried tragically. “You don’t want him and... and I do. And I need him. I love him!”
“Love?”
“Yes, love!” Barbara said desperately. “Something you know nothing about. Something finer and better than anything you know.”
“Love?” She thought a flicker passed over Sonia’s face as she repeated the word. A flicker of pain... or of amusement.
“Is he in there now?” Barbara asked accusingly. She held her breath as she awaited Sonia’s answer. It seemed to her that everything in life depended upon a negative reply. After viewing Sonia she could not doubt the fearsome things which were being done in the cottage.
Spnia hesitated a long time before replying. She seemed to be considering the question. Perhaps she understood the look upon Barbara’s face. Perhaps she glimpsed how much depended upon her answer. Perhaps her scarred and mutilated soul was touched by the distress upon the fresh young face which awaited her answer, yet feared to hear it.
No matter the reason... Sonia lied magnificently.
“No. He is not here.”
“But you’re going to see him to-night,” Barbara persisted. “You’re going to the Brierly Ball with him?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there, masked,” Barbara said tensely. “He won’t know I’m there. He’s forgotten me since you’ve... since you’ve cast your spell over him. Give me a chance to win him back to-night. Let me try. That’s all I ask. It means so much to me, and to him... so little to you.”
“Perhaps it means more to me than you think.” Sonia’s voice was still expressionless.
“Oh, but it can’t,” Barbara cried wildly. “He means nothing to you. Another toy to break. Another man to add to your collection. It means our life... our happiness... if you knew what love means you’d understand.”
“Perhaps... he can teach me love.” Sonia’s voice was not so toneless. There was a suggestion of gentle musing in her tone.
Barbara started violently.
“Please!” she cried tragically. “You mustn’t do that. You mustn’t do that to him.”
“What... do you propose?”
“I just ask you for a chance. He’s bewitched by you. Lured by your body... by the charm of forbidden things. I... I want the same chance. Send him away from you to-night. I’ll be there... watching. I’ll be a stranger to him. I can give him more than you... so much more. I can win him back to me if you’ll let him go.”
“You think you can give him more... than I?” Sonia’s voice was wearied.
“I know I can. Please, please.”
“Very well.” Sonia turned away abruptly. “To-night... you can match your charms against mine. I will give him to you... to-night.”
Barbara-sank back on the seat and sobbed helplessly. She was exhausted. A terrible reaction set in and she shivered in the grip of fear.
The white-robed figure seemed to flow across the lawn to the front door of the cottage. The door opened silently... and closed silently. Frank did not return. It was as though he had been swallowed up by the inscrutable silence of the house.