"We should have stayed in Paris." "That's where we belong." "I was born here." "I have every right to come here." "They'll make you trouble like they did for your mama." "I'll make them trouble." "Crazy talk." "Change your mind, miss Clio." "We'll go directly to mama's house on rampart street- my house now." "Charcoal, charcoal my mule is white my charcoal is black i'll sell my charcoal two bits a sack charcoal, charcoal charcoal" "let's go... and come back some other time." "Ghosts in there." "If there is, it's my father's, and i'd like to see him." "Poor mama." "Her beautiful garden- mimosa, camellias, and crape myrtle." "That's the kitchen and upstairs where Cupidon and i lived." "Often your papa and mama had dinner in the garden." "He loved his fine food." "It was so beautiful in the moonlight." "And the little house?" "The garconniere." "Remember, i told you your papa was sure, sure you were gonna be a boy, so he built it for you to live in with your nurse, like all the other fine families in New Orleans." "He must have been disappointed with me." "He just turned it into a stable, but he loved you, baby." "He'd toss you in the air and call you his little, small angel." "Honey, baby, don't go in." "Hysterical." "Slap her-hard." "Don't, cherie." "Ah!" "Thank you, Angelique." "I'm all right now." "It was that sofa with one leg off." "It looks so crazy and frowzy and dirty, just like that old woman who used to limp along the quay in Paris selling fish." "My poor, dead, darling baby." "You should have seen her as she sat on it in her silks and jewels." "It was right there that lawyer, Mr. Osie, told her your papa had been forced to marry with one of those high-up aristocrat like himself." "My little Rita, she don't believe." "She hope he marry with her." "They always hope- ladies like her." "But it never happens, oh, no." "Didn't my father tell her?" "Did he leave it to his lawyer?" "He come as soon as he could, but that was a very bad thing that he come." "Very, very bad." "Light up there!" "Don't go up there." "Do you hear me?" "My father's blood." "I saw it spurting like the fountains of the seine." "And your mama kneeling there screaming." "Shh!" "Let him be." "I want to hear it." "She was trying to kill herself, your mama." "He grabbed the gun, that poor boy." "They said she murdered him." "They sent her away." "She meant that to be her blood." "Don't touch it." "My father's blood, my blood." "They are the same." "I love it- this spot." "I'll sleep here tonight- in this room." "No." "Tonight and every night." "I'm going to fix this house and live in it." "I'll show them, these pasty-faced aristocrats." "I am not my mother, to be sent away and turned into an ugly, broken-hearted woman and made an exile even after she was dead." "Let them find out there's someone in rampart street now who's not afraid of them." "Clio Dulaine, that's me." "I'm as good as they are." "I'm better than they are." "I'll be richer than they." "I'll be grander than they." "I shall marry and be very rich and respectable, not like mama." "Oh, nonsense." "You'll be a fool about men just like your poor mama and your grandma vaudray and your great-grandma bonavie." "I won't, i tell you." "Men will be fools about me." "Your mama was a plaise." "All she knew was to please a man." "Your grandma was a- i'm a Dulaine." "My father was nicholas Dulaine." "My life will be different." "I will have fun and i will have money." "Horses and a carriage!" "And jewels by the quarts and fine clothes and anything i want!" "How are you gonna get those?" "With the money of my very rich husband." "And where's he?" "I'll meet him." "And everything they did to my mama i'll do back to them- every little thing." "I'll do it twice." "Do all that for your mama?" "That's good." "Well, partly i'll do it for mama." "Partly i'll do it for me." "Chimney sweep ladies, i know why the old chimney won't draw." "Don't want to bake and you can't make no cake and i know why your chimney won't draw chimney sweep" "Chimney sweep chimney sweep" "Hey, shorty, do you come from France, like they say?" "I come from New Orleans." "Not like you, congo." "Is you going to stay here?" "What you think, we're carpetbaggers like you?" "Now i know what mama meant." "You remember, she used to say there was an old louisiana proverb" ""give a creole a crystal chandelier" ""and two mirrors to reflect it, and he is satisfied."" "I got the chandelier, and i've got two mirrors, but i'm not satisfied." "Who's creole here?" "I am." "I am creole." "Take shame on yourself, denying your own mama." "Don't you dare." "That's a lie." "Angelique buiton, you listen to me, and you, too, Cupidon." "Do you want to stay with me?" "Where else?" "Well, then remember, no matter what i say i am, that i am." "I don't want to hear any more of this telling me who i am and what i am to do." "Do as i say, and we'll be rich." "Which do you choose?" "Stay or go?" "Stay." "Playacting, just like her great-grandma." "Where are we going all dressed up?" "First we'll go to the french market." "We'll buy everything, everything delicious." "Shrimps?" "And soft-shell crab?" "Then the saint louis cathedral, then madame begue's for breakfast." "Those Dulaines eat there." "I know." "Mama said they sometimes did on sunday mornings." "Always." "I found out." "They go to church, too." "I found out everything." "Good, cupid." "Now we fix those Dulaines." "You wouldn't do that?" "Oh, wouldn't i?" "Angelique, do you think they'll recognize me?" "Do i look enough like mama?" "Not half so beautiful." "Young scrawny like you." "Hah, an old crow like you." "Perhaps it will be just as well if at first they're not sure." "Perhaps i'll not even use my name of Dulaine at first." "You sure those police ain't after you?" "I'll be a..." "who shall i be?" "You're acting just like your grandma." "I'll be a comtesse." "I am la comtesse de Trignonai du Chenfrais." "And i'm the Queen of Spain." "And i'm the Emperor Napoleon." "Boo!" "Blackberries fresh and fine i got blackberries, ladies." "Fresh from the vine." "I got blackberries" "America is lovely." "It's swell and lovely." "Mmm." "Ah." "Boo!" "Are they here?" "Do you see them?" "No." "Not yet." "Are you sure?" "No, i could not forget them." "Merci." "Lady, can i dance for you?" "Thank you, ma'am." "Oh, what a heavenly smell." "Jambalaya." "Jambalaya- that mama wished for in Paris and couldn't get?" "Oh, i want some." "Oh, heavy stuff, you'll ruin your breakfast at begue's." "You know i have the appetite of a dock worker." "Quick cupid, tell the man a heaping plate for madame la comtesse." "For who?" "You heard!" "For madame la comtesse." "Who else, stupid?" "Hey, you." "A dish of this stuff for madame la comtesse." "For whom?" "For madame la comtesse." "Who else?" "But certainly." "Certainement." "Is it as good as they've told me in France?" "I await your judgment." "Mmm." "Delicieux." "Delicious." "Mmm." "Excellent." "Wonderful." "Madame la comtesse says the dish is delicious." "It is more delicious than anything she has eaten in Paris." "Hash." "Phooey." "Ah, tres bien." "Bravo, madame la comtesse." "Bravo." "You're so quiet all at once, eh?" "Now what's happened?" "Hmm?" "Don't pretend innocent with me." "I see the look in your eye." "Don't you try fooling with- stop nudging me, you wicked old woman." "I'm not a child." "I'll go when i please." "I see him, that big lug leaning there, that Texas." "You going to the cathedral, and it should be for confession." "Of course, Angelique." "Cupidon, take the marketing home." "Stay with us until we're safe." "Do whatever will please the old crow." "Oh, what a lovely chou- fleur." "Still there." "Who, Angelique?" "Who?" ""Who, Angelique?" "Who, Angelique!"" "You and your cauliflower head - you're two of a kind." "We'll now go to the cathedral." "Cupidon, go home with your basket and meet us later at begue's." "We'll ride." "I'm tired." "It's hot." "I'm hungry." "Yes, ma'am." "Nice time for a ride out to the lake." "Ma'am." "I hate to see anybody as plum beautiful as you riding in a moth-eaten old basket like this, let alone those two nags a- pulling' it." "If you'll do me the honor of riding in my carriage... i'm driving a pair of long-tailed bays to the runabout." "Brought them all the way from Texas, and they're beauties, and they're thoroughbreds, just like- well, that sounds terrible, but i don't mean to compare you, ma'am, to a" "but if you'll allow me, ma'am, I" "i'll, uh, i'll set down this cup of coffee." "I ain't gonna let you do it." "Do you hear me?" "I ain't gonna let you do it." "Beautiful." "I think he's beautiful." "Ah!" "I'll punish him." "Allez." "Vite, vite." "I'll take him and lock him up with the savages." "I'll lock him up on bread and water." "So madame la comtesse enjoys talking to loutish cowboys?" "I didn't talk to him." "He talked to me." "Even your aunt bess- shut up!" "Do you want me to slap you right here on the street?" "I wish i could die now." "Your mama made me promise to take care of you, but it's no use." "Common, common dirt!" "Ah, shh." "If you please, pay attention to your prayers, not to someone who ain't there." "I'm only looking for those Dulaines." "The Dulaines don't wear 90-gallon hats." "Here we is, ladies- the famous begue's." "All the quality eats here." "Whoa." "What are you dressed up coachman for?" "You look like a monkey on a string." "We got horses, haven't we?" "Packed some of my Paris stuff from home." "I'll fix up these nags yet." "Splendid, Cupidon." "I'll tell you what, it's too late for begue's- oh, no." "We ain't gonna drive around to be seen and followed by that Texas." "Wait here." "Pay the man and come on, cupid." "And if a cowboy in a white hat comes along, we ain't here." "It would serve you right if he had Cupidon brought into court as a billy goat." "Not for him-courtrooms." "I know the looks." "Probably wanted in Texas himself and skipped out with somebody's carriage and horses." "Oh, Angelique, don't let's quarrel anymore." "I meant it to be such a happy day." "All right, baby, we don't quarrel, but just you keep your mind on what you came out for." "And remember, 20 years ago, your mama walked in here like a queen." "Bonjour, madame- but... no." "For a moment i thought you were- but, of course, it isn't possible." "I've heard my mother speak of you often, monsieur begue." "They say i resemble her." "I'm la comtesse de Trignonai du Chenfrais." "Of course." "Of course." "This way, if you please." "Oh, i am so sorry, madame." "This table is reserved every sunday morning for the family of Dulaine." "Splendid." "They'd be delighted." "A relative, you know." "I want everything that you're famous for- you and madame begue." "All the delicious things mama used to describe to me in Paris." "She spoke of my food in Paris?" "Ah." "Leon." "May i suggest, perhaps, madame begue's renowned crawfish bisque?" "Oh, mais non." "Enchante." "C'est magnifique." "C'est delicieux." "Je prepare everything with my own hands pour vous, madame la comtesse." "Is it?" "Cupidon, my fan." "Bonjour, madame begue." "We are late." "I trust everything isn't gone." "Don't stare, ninnies." "Will they recognize me, do you think?" "Shall i speak to them?" "Shall i say to that girl," ""hello, sister"?" "She's my half sister." "Ah, madame Dulaine." "Bonjour." "Bonjour, madame." "But she said, ah, she's a relative." "But she said that- who's that at our table, mama?" "What are they doing?" "Leaving." "Keep quiet." "Come." "We will go." "Stay where you are." "I'm not leaving." "First folks in a hurry i've seen in New Orleans." "Is this begue's?" "It was begue's." "Is he coming?" "Going right by." "Not looking, either." "Hey, cookie." "Now, while he ain't looking, come, baby." "I'm not nearly finished." "I'm going to have an omelet souffle, and after that some strawberries with thick cream." "Yeah, burst your corset." "Stuff yourself." "With a figure like a cow, you'll get yourself a fine husband." "Oh, yes." "Or maybe you've already picked that Texas vache." "He's used to bulging sides." "Texas, Texas." "What do i care where he's from?" "I'm not even looking at him." "Well, do look, then." "Can't read the menu even." "What's all this stuff?" "Where i come from, we write our menus in american." "Beef and beans- that's what he's used to." "Even leon is amused." "Kind of steamy here in New Orleans." "Oui, monsieur." "If he were mine, i would have for him four-dozen white handkerchiefs of the finest linen, and you would embroider his initials in the most delicate scrolls." "Me?" "Embroider for that cowboy?" "He's never even seen a white linen handkerchief." "And linen, too, for his shirts, i think." "Fine pleated linen." "And his initials on them, too." "Initials." "Initials." "What initials?" "His initials, whatever they are." "I don't know what the devil those rognons are, but i'll take a chance." "Oui, monsieur." "They say everything here is licking' good." "Psst." "Now what are you gonna you do?" "Leon, tell monsieur seated over there- the gentleman with the big hat and boots- if he's having difficulty in choosing his breakfast, i'll be happy to assist him." "Ask him if he wouldn't perhaps prefer to be served at my table." "We're old friends." "Quickly." "Common." "Common as dirt." "Keep quiet, Angelique, or i'll send you away somewhere to starve." "Fellow over there told me that you said- won't you sit down?" "Angelique, wait in the hall." "Cupidon, bring the gentleman's hat from the other table." "Then you wait in the hall, too." "Say, thanks." "Back where i come from, we kind of like to stay close to our hats on account of not knowing when we might have to pull out of a place right quick." "Forgive me, but you look so big sitting there." "As far as that goes, you look kind of funny yourself, ma'am, with that white stuff on your face." "Voila, madame." "Oh, wonderful." "Please serve monsieur, too." "Oh, i see." "I don't know what we're laughing at, but i haven't had as much fun in a coon's age." "Down in Texas, they told me people were standoffish in New Orleens." "New Orleans." "Fixing to learn me the english language?" "Teach." "There." "This is the famous ragout du rognons, especially prepared by monsieur begue's own hands." "Have you got any ketchup?" "Ketchup." "In Paris now, everything is eaten with ketchup." "It's the chic thing for dinner in Paris." "Ketchup for monsieur." "Ha ha ha!" "And when they brought you monsieur begue's ragout de rognons with a sauce prepared for days and days by monsieur begue's own magical hands, you ask for ketchup!" "Ha ha ha!" "Frenchy, i can't figure you out." "Is that why you whip your horses?" "Besides, i'm not french." "I'm american." "I was brought up in France." "I'm la comtesse de Trignonai du Chenfrais." "Oh, you don't say?" "Well, honey, just to prove i'm playing square with you, i'll tell you my real name." "Clint Maroon." "Now tell me yours." "Clint Maroon." "Do you hear that, Angelique?" "The initials are c.m." "Whoa." "Won't you come in?" "Hey, what kind of a game is this, anyway?" "Look, honey, i was born in Texas, but it wasn't yesterday." "I told you." "Hey, hold on." "There's no cause of getting riled." "He ain't there." "Who isn't?" "You know who." "He's been there every day for a week pawing the ground worse than his horses, but he ain't there today." "Go away someplace." "I will." "Go, then!" "I'm going." "I'd like to go to Paris, France." "You have my permission." "I'd like to see voodoo woman." "I'd spell that cowboy into more trouble than he ever dreamed of!" "Shame!" "Cupidon?" "Huh?" "What you want?" "Like some cake?" "Baba au rum, make it fresh today." "Like another piece?" "You want something." "Tomorrow i fix you creme brulee or le ta de mer a la creme." "You do want something." "I find letter today in the hall." "I guess must be there many years hiding itself." "What's it say?" "Read it." "Heh heh heh!" "Why you tear that?" "What does it say?" "I like that big cowboy from Texas." "He is a beautiful- to know about horses- yesterday i heard he won $1,000 at the racetrack." "At night, he gambles on royal street." "At number 18, they say never loses." "Have you been talking?" "No, but i just might." "Ha ha ha!" "What does it say, you macaque, you?" "Crazy about her." "Going to bust the house down." "I knew it." "Only bad happens to us in New Orleans." "What do you know?" "This is fine here in America." "Don't you bother your head about little Clio." "She knows her way about." "Anyway, i'm sick of only women in the house." "Man around, suit me fine." "Oh, you little... you going out?" "I didn't come to New Orleans to sit in dignified seclusion in my house." "I'm going... i'm going to church." "Why?" "Because it's sunday." "What are you grinning at?" "La la la la la" "what kind of language is that?" "Gumbo, cheri" "New Orleans french flavored with african." "What does that say in american?" "If you was a bird, suzette and i was a gun martinet i will shoot you down, sure i will shoot you dead oh, my dear mahogany jewel." "I love you." "I love you like a pig love the mud." "And i will shoot you dead da dee da la da da da da da da la la la la la mm mm mm da da" "a house isn't a house unless it has about it the scent of a good cigar." "Where'd you hear that?" "Where?" "Mama used to say that, poor darling." "Oh, she did, huh?" "Look, this stuff you've been telling me- is it true?" "I don't mean that stuff about being a countess." "I mean... well, sometimes you talk like a schoolgirl- ask Angelique." "Ask Cupidon." "Those two?" "They'd lie for you no matter what." "Well, if you think i'm lying," "Angelique is lying, Cupidon is lying, why don't you go back to that little lady in Texas you always been talking about?" "The one who made you that white satin tie embroidered with blue forget-me-nots." "What's the matter with that tie?" "You're not jealous, are you?" "It's terrible." "Tell me about her- the finest little lady in the world." "Blue eyes, you said, and golden hair, and so little, she only comes up to there." "How nice." "When are you going to marry, you two?" "I don't aim to marry anybody." "I go it alone, and i'm out for big game." "I'll marry." "I'll marry a husband very, very rich and very respectable." "I'll be the best man at your wedding." "Why not?" "No, you'll be far too handsome." "All the guests would wonder why i hadn't married you." "Very, very rich and respectable men are so rarely handsome." "Then, one can't have everything." "Where i come from, women are two kinds." "They're good or they're bad." "What kind of a woman are you?" "Well... on my father's side, i'm very, very good- prim, you might say, and very respectable." "On my mother's side, i'm... how shall i say that for your tender ears?" "Sometimes i'm mama, who gave everything for love... sometimes i'm my grandmama vaudray, who gave everything, too, but not for love." "And sometimes i'm my great-grandmama bonavie, who was an actress." "Shucks, that's it." "I keep forgetting you're just a little girl dressed up in your ma's long skirts." "No." "No, i'm not." "I'm very grown-up, and i'm going to fool the world." "Oh, you don't say?" "What am i doing getting hooked up with you?" "That's what i can't figure out." "What am i doing in a house like this, la-de-daing around?" "Funny, the trouble you can get into just by talking to somebody on the street, not meaning anything serious." "High time i cleared out of here." "Leave New Orleans?" "Where would you go?" "Up north." "Hadn't been for you, i'd be out of here before now." "Too soft and pretty around here for me." "Two or three weeks here, and i was headed for kansas city and chicago." "Oh, why, Clint?" "Gambling." "I told you that's how i picked up a little." "Then further north to saratoga for the races." "Saratoga?" "Is that a nice place?" "July and august, no place like it in the whole world, they tell me- racing every day and gambling." "Millionaires, pickpockets, sporting people, politicians, respectable family folks, famous theater actors and actresses- you'll find them all in saratoga." "Say, why don't you come along?" "Later, maybe." "Why not now?" "What's to keep you?" "Mama." "Hey, you look downright wicked." "Not wicked, Clint." "Practical." "What are you setting in that steel-trap mind of yours?" "What?" "I've sent Cupidon all through town." "He's listened and learned." "He can find out anything, that one- all the gossip, all the scandal." "There is this daughter." "Daughter?" "What daughter?" "Charlotte Thérèse, she is called- the daughter of my father, nicholas Dulaine, and his wife." "She's 17 and creole." "Creole?" "New Orleans aristocracy- french and spanish blood." "She's going to be introduced into society next winter." "All very formal and proper, you see." "It's not so proper if there pops up more scandal in the family." "Hold on." "You're not fixing to try blackmail, are you?" "Oh, Clint, how can you say such a thing?" "If you are, i'll chuck you and those two freaks so fast- oh, no, no, no, Clint." "You wouldn't do that." "Why wouldn't i?" "You wouldn't like people to say," ""what has happened to the handsome texan that went everywhere with that beautiful creature?"" "Oh, Clint, i'm so happy, Clint." "Say that again." "I'm so happy, Clint." ""Cleent." why don't you talk american?" "I'm so happy, Clint." "I love to hear your voice." "It goes over me like oil over a blister." "Womenfolks back home are mighty fine- they don't come any finer- but they kind of got screechy voices." "Your voice kind of puts me in mind of a Texas sky at night... soft and perfect." "What am i mixed up with you for?" "Look, what do you want out of me?" "You got me roped, tied, and branded." "Me, Clint Maroon." "The folks back home would die laughing." "I'll be wearing ruffles on my pants next." "I adore you when you're angry." "I've seen lots of women, but i've never seen a woman like you before." "There isn't anyone like me, Clint." "Go get your duds on." "We're going for a drive." "I ought to drag it out of you." "Bonjour, monsieur!" "Hook up the team, Cupidon." "We're going for a drive." "Oui, oui, boss." "Pronto!" "Son of a gun!" "I learned to talk like a true cowboy." "You talk like nothing i ever heard." "You ain't got one kind thought for me, have you, now, mammy?" "You know, it's funny, whenever i meet up with somebody i don't like or don't like me, either i get out or they do... and i'm staying." "I don't parlez-vous that stuff, but i kind of catch on you're not paying me any compliments." "Holding you the way i am, mammy, i could crack your backbone just like you'd split a fish." "You'd never be able to walk or talk again, and nobody'd know i done it." "Shucks." "I don't want to hurt you, but we're going to be friends, you and me." "Oh, yes, we are." "Now, listen." "Miss Clio - she's never had any fun." "Maybe you and me and Cupidon all together, we could fix it up so she'd be happy." "I don't aim to hurt her." "I want to help her." "If it means she'll have that rich husband all comme il faut, respectable?" "Yeah." "I guess that's what i mean." "You sure?" "Anything that she wants." "How'd you like me to make you one big pie for dinner tonight?" "That's great, mammy." "One thing i ask- you do not call me that." "What?" "That-mammy." "It's one thing i hate out of the slave days." "Me, i'm Angelique buiton." "Maybe it is vain of me, darling, but i like to show you off." "Come away from that window." "Mother, she just drove by again." "Never mind, cherie." "Come practice your piano." "Yes, mama." "Every day... and if her carriage passing by on the street were all." "The other night in a gambling house on royal street." "Can you imagine a woman in a gambling house?" "Cheap, like her mother before her." "What is she after, mama?" "We can't step foot out of our house for fear of meeting her face-to-face." "At the market, at begue's, even at the cathedral." "People staring, talking." "I will not have you go on your knees to her." "Tonight i hesitate to occupy our box at the french opera." "Our own box!" "That looks to me like real bad manners." "It's the continental custom, cheri." "There is Charlotte." "Very plain." "Very dowdy." "That woman down on rampart street." "Remember?" "Must be 15 years ago." "She shot him." "Hushed up." "This is the daughter." "Paris." "You look very happy this evening." "I am." "Honey, you're wearing out the carpet." "Why don't you gentle down- quit snorting and raring around?" "Expecting somebody?" "I always calm down." "Too much i've been handling this Charlotte, these Dulaines, with kid gloves." "How's that?" "Now i'll go after them with bare hands." "Cupidon?" "Cupidon?" "Coming!" "I want you to spread the word all around town that i'm turning this place into a gambling house." "Let go of me!" "You're hurting me!" "Look, i've lived a rough life." "I've come a far piece, and i aim to go farther, but you can't use me just to muck up an old scandal." "Oh, Clint!" "I ought to break every bone in your body." "It was just an idea of mine." "You're right." "The idea is yours." "The whole rotten outfit's yours." "You're using me." "Hitch up my team." "No-account french rat!" "You can't talk to me like that!" "Who are you - a big cowboy from Texas, and probably run out as Angelique said!" "Maybe i was, but it wasn't for blackmail." "For something worse, then?" "Maybe you killed somebody with those big guns you carry around." "Oh!" "Did you?" "Maybe i did- two or three, but it was decent, honest killing." "It wasn't this dirty, behind-the-back stuff." "It was me or them." "They!" "Aim to make a gentleman out of me, hmm?" "No, no, no, you're perfect." "Sure you do." "All women want to make their man over." "You are not my man." "You belong to that little woman in Texas." "Don't be poking fun at Texas women." "They could teach you a thing or two." "Who could?" "Any of them could." "Take my ma, for instance- came all the way from virginia with pa in a wagon." "Oh, how very uncomfortable." "Shut up!" "Helped him pioneer the land they lived on, built it up with their own bare hands, and made things grow until... till they lost it." "Lost it?" "How, Clint?" "Railroad men, they call themselves." "Highbindin' crooks." "They stole pa's land from him like he was a hick at a country circus." "Almost broke his heart." "Said it wasn't like America." "We got ideas about America down there." "Did they harm your mama, too?" "Poor Clint, you must make them pay." "What in sam hill do you think i'm after doing?" "I promised myself when i grew up, if i ever met up with them- then you should." "And i will." "I'd as soon shoot them down as i would a cottonmouth." "You see, cheri, we are two of a kind." "Us?" "Yes." "You heard your mother and father talking of the wrong that was done them." "I heard my mother talking the same way." "Your mother?" "Yes." "She never hurt a fly, Clint." "Excuse me, honey, but if shooting a man and killing him ain't hurtin' him none... no, she didn't kill him." "I know, i know." "She happened to have the gun, and it was pointing at him, the bullet went in him, and he died." "I tell you, no." "If they thought she was killing him, why did they keep sending her money all those years in France?" "That's called hush money where i come from." "I don't care what it's called where you come from!" "I'm going to get back at them for what they did to her." "They can't stop me!" "You can't stop me!" "Nobody can stop me!" "Look, Clio." "Let's quit this horsing around." "I'm heading north." "Go, then." "Like i said before, you're welcome to come along." "No." "First i must finish here." "I must have money." "I haven't any money, either... i mean, money." "But i know how to turn a trick... most of the times honest." "Honey, i can make out for both of us." "I've been doing all right over at the racetrack, the clubhouse." "Faro, roulette, sitting in on poker games." "Look here- poker games!" "Poker games when there are fools with millions!" "Do you think i came here to pick up dollar bits like those girls in your cheap dance halls in the west, do you?" "Right careless way to handle money." "Of course, for somebody that's going to have it to burn- yes, and when i have, it's going to be my own." "Mine-Clio Dulaine's." "Well, good luck." "When you think about us- Texas, Paris- it's downright comical." "Trying to sneak away with me, huh?" "We leave these women, yeah?" "I heard her tell you what to do, now you go and do it." "You go back there and take good care of her, or i'll skin you alive." "Come in, monsieur." "Monsieur." "Mademoiselle." "From your letter asking me to call at your office- which you chose to ignore, mademoiselle." "Madame, or comtesse, if you prefer." "I'd hoped we were going to be honest and straightforward." "Oh, but of course." "Good." "I think i should tell you, i do not belong to the old-school New Orleans tradition." "I belong to the post-war period." "The New Orleans of the river steamboat has ended." "You didn't come here to discuss steamboats, monsieur." "I believe we understand each other." "Now, i have here some- no, no, no." "Please, no papers." "When my mother died, there were so many." "You remember my mother, monsieur?" "Madame, uh... you are causing a great deal of pain to my client, madame nicholas Dulaine, and her daughter Charlotte Thérèse." "Your client for many years caused my mother much greater pain." "This is blackmail." "You're right to say that you're not of old New Orleans." "I'm sure your manners are of a more recent and unfortunate day." "After all, i didn't ask to see you." "I was living here quietly in my mother's house... quietly?" "...disturbing no one." "I'm young." "I like to go by the shops and theaters." "Still, if as you suggest, your actions can be construed as blackmail- my actions?" "You can't frighten me as you did my mother." "Good day, monsieur." "No, please." "Ahem." "No, thank you." "Um... may we get to the point?" "I have here $5,000." "It is that or nothing." "$5,000 for what?" ""I, who call myself Clio Dulaine," ""sometimes known as the comtesse de Trignonai du Chenfrais," ""daughter of the woman Rita who called herself Dulaine," ""hereby agree and promise" ""i shall leave New Orleans within the next 30 days" ""and never to return." "I shall cease to call myself Dulaine."" ""After leaving, never to return," ""i shall do and say nothing" ""that will associate me with the family of Dulaine." "I hereby promise-"" "and if i do not sign this very inhospitable paper?" "I have political influence." "I can make it very uncomfortable for you." "Not as uncomfortable as i can make it for your client." "Shall we say 10,000?" "Impossible." "Madame Dulaine is very far from wealthy." "I might possibly stretch her to- shall we save each other some breath and say... seven?" "10,000." "Now, then, i, too, have certain demands." "You have demands?" "Don't be alarmed." "They're mostly sentimental." "The money is to be paid as if for the sale of this house." "Agreed." "In fact, very clever." "Then it's to be torn down and all its furnishings destroyed." "Destroy this house, all this magnificent furniture?" "I won't have dirty eyes gloating over the belongings of my mother." "Agreed." "Then my mother is to be returned to New Orleans." "It was her dearest wish." "New Orleans was her home." "She's to be buried in the cemetery of saint louis." "There is a plot of unconsecrated ground there." "It'll have to do." "On her tomb is to be placed her name" " Rita Dulaine, beloved wife." "But, my dear child" "Rita Dulaine." "And flowers are to be placed there once a year on all saints' day, and her tomb is to be kept whitewashed." "When you have rewritten your paper, will you come back this afternoon?" "Do you think you can bring Charlotte Thérèse to see me?" "Impossible." "This is indecent." "I suppose, but i think my father would have liked it." "Au revoir, monsieur." "Madame, i am interested to know what you are going to do- as a man, an acquaintance, not a lawyer, i mean." "$10,000- that can't last long." "I meant no offense." "I'm amused." "I don't mind telling you i'm going to marry a very rich and powerful man." "You don't mean this fellow from - this Texas?" "Oh, no, no, no- not a penny, except what he wins gambling." "I shall go to greener fields." "I hope the money will be of some help." "Madame?" "Yes?" "You are very beautiful." "I mean..." "Beautiful." "Yes." "Isn't it lucky?" "Letterman!" "Put those with things we're gonna take with us, not the things we're selling." "Big show you made to that lawyer was going to destroy everything." "Sentimentality is for the public." "Practicality begins at home." "If that isn't a proverb, it ought to be." "Letter!" "Ahh!" "Who from?" "What does he say?" ""Dear countess," it begins." "He means that to cut me to the quick." ""Every time i think about the..."" "go about your work." "Take that chair outside and burn it." "See to the packing, Angelique." "What did he say?" "I haven't finished it yet." "Smash those glasses." "Bartholomew Van Steed." "What you say?" "Nothing." "What's he say?" "He says he's missing us very much." "Me, too?" "All of us!" "It's what she always wanted." "She all fixed up respectable now?" "I hope so, Angelique." "Well, that was a good deed what you've done for your mama." "Yes." "That does for mama." "Now we'll see what we can do for little Clio." "Gangway!" "All aboard!" "He must be the one, running up and down like a chick without its hen mother." "Come." "Now the bus is gone." "Angelique, hold the jewel box well forward." "Look, Angelique, almost everyone is gone." "Really, i don't know what we're to do." "I was to look for a bus marked Saratoga Springs Hotel, but as you can see, it isn't here." "Why, i beg your pardon." "I couldn't help overhearing." "I'm driving to the Saratoga Springs Hotel myself." "I couldn't trouble you." "It's no trouble at all, i assure you, madame... or is it miss?" "I'm la comtesse- i am Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "I'm Bart Van Steed." "It's no trouble at all." "Bartholomew Van Steed." "How enchanting!" "It's like being met unexpectedly by a friend in a strange land." "It is a strange land to me, but perhaps you're meeting someone else." "I was expecting my mother." "She telegraphed that she was arriving on this train." "And she didn't come?" "Perhaps she missed the train or changed her mind." "My mother never misses a train." "And she never changes her mind." "Perhaps someone was playing a joke." "People do not play jokes on me." "It was lucky that i brought the phaeton." "Mother won't ride in the dogcart." "But i'm afraid there isn't room for all of you." "Mais certainement, it will do beautifully." "My woman can sit back there with your groom- she's very thin- and Cupidon can stand here on the step." "Now, my bag right there at my feet." "Oh, but i assure you- oh, i don't mind." "The hotel porter will see to my trunks." "Angelique, you have my jewel case?" "Good." "Cupidon, right here on the step." "Oh, this is wonderful." "So very kind." "I don't know what i should have done if you hadn't appeared like a shining knight." "Do people always stare like this in America?" "Well, when they have someone like you to stare at." "I gather this is your first visit to Saratoga," "Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "C'est vrai?" "I speak some french." "Oh, no, no!" "That is, i read french much better than i speak it." "Hey, you!" "Your best suite of rooms for madame la comtesse!" "Did you say..." "Mr. Roscoe bean- our head usher." "Your ladyship." "If you please, i wish to live in America quietly and democratically simply as Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Your magnificent hotel is exactly as i knew it would be." "But your ladyship - madame has been here before?" "No." "But my husband le comte-the late comte." "Comte du Chenfrais." "I don't seem to recall." "Was it recently?" "Please, i rather we didn't speak of him anymore." "I'm not yet fully recovered from my bereavement." "If i may be allowed to live here quietly." "Of course, of course." "Incognito." "How well i remember when his excellency, the marquis de- i assure you Mrs. Du Chenfrais is not interested in his excellency, but in her accommodations." "Of course, of course, accommodations." "Accommodations- dear me." "But we have no accommodations." "If madame had only let us know in advance." "Perhaps one of the other hotels?" "Mrs. Du Chenfrais, no!" "Tomorrow i can let you have a suite in one of the cottages in the rear." "I?" "At the rear?" "That's preposterous!" "You must accommodate Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Why, i, myself, will give up my- excuse me, ma'am... but i couldn't help overhearing what you were saying." "My name's Maroon." "Clint Maroon." "Really, gentlemen, i... no offense, ma'am." "Look here, you can't address a lady you've never met." "Introduce us, then, and make it legal." "I'm aiming to help the little lady." "Mrs. Du Chenfrais, may i present colonel Maroon?" "Right glad to meet you, ma'am." "I'm occupying three rooms just to stretch my legs, and you might as well have a couple of them." "No, i wouldn't think of turning you out of your rooms." "There's no sense of me using all that space." "I'll go and get my things out, and you can move in right now." "How good of you, colonel, uh..." "Maroon." "Clint Maroon." "What a delightful name!" "So american." "Texas, ma'am." "Texas?" "I should love to see Texas." "Play your cards right, ma'am, and maybe you can." "Well, i'll mosey along and be out in two shakes." "Oh, how can i thank you?" "I feel that we are actually friends." "I'm happy to have been of service." "I hope that your dear mother's telegram will soon be followed by her company." "Good-bye, Mr. Van Steed." "Oh, i'll see you again soon, since we're living under the same roof." "Who is this gentleman, your friend in the white hat?" "He's the real figure of an american." "Who is he?" "Maroon?" "Texas cattleman, i'm told." "Some such thing." "But he's no friend of mine." "Oh, a pity." "In Paris, he would have been the rage." "Your mother didn't come, Bartholomew." "What a disappointment." "Mrs. Bellop." "You're not playing a little joke on us, are you, Bart?" "You didn't drive down to the depot just to meet a certain somebody else?" "I'm not obliged to explain my behavior to a lot of harpies on a hotel piazza." "She's really lovely." "I tell you, i don't even know the lady." "You must introduce me sometime." "I should love to meet her." "Raise those shades." "Mind that luggage." "I'll have a housekeeper and chamber maids up here immediately." "Nothing now, thank you." "No maids." "I must rest." "Cupid, run down to see if the trunks have come." "Well, it looks like this is about all of my stuff, ma'am." "It's so kind of you, Mr." " Colonel Maroon." "I feel quite guilty." "No call to at all." "Good day, ma'am." "Well, it looks like we're going to be neighbors." "I'll lock the door on your side, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Now, if you'll kindly lock it on your side, colonel Maroon." "It's a double lock, you see." "Both sides." "If there's anything i can do for you- if there's anything at all, Mr. Bean, i'll send for you at once." "Thank you so much." "Now, you will let me know if" "how are you, ma'am?" "If you'd called me "ma'am" down there once more, i'd have screamed." "I sure would have admired to hear you, ma'am, only i'd have hated to have you scare Bart away." "How in sam hill you get him eating out of your hand?" "I'd discovered that Mrs. Van Steed was safely in bar harbor having a grandchild, so i sent him a telegram to meet me at the station." "And he came?" "I signed it "mama."" "Huh." "When i saw him sashaying in acting like he owned you- are you jealous- you're durn tooting, i'm jealous." "Just have to get used to it, my darling." "We mustn't forget why i'm here." "Send her away." "It was a long train trip." "My poor child." "I didn't sleep not one hour on that dreadful train." "Thinking up that flashy entrance?" "Ha ha!" "Clever, wasn't it?" "What did you come here for, anyway?" "I was getting along fine." "Did they get wise to you and kick you out of New Orleans?" "You know very well why i came here." "Have i ever pretended?" "No, but ain't you ever gonna be satisfied?" "Satisfied with what?" "Some good jewelry?" "Mama's made-over clothes?" "Money enough to last me over the summer if i'm careful?" "I want respectability and comfort and security!" "We cannot get used to each other, cheri." "Not too much." "That would be bad, n'est-ce pas?" "Oh, very bad." "Ness pop." "It's no use arguing with her, Mr. Clint." "She's very tired." "She ought to go to sleep." "Oh, there are hundreds of things i must know before i sleep." "Stop scowling like a cross little boy and talk to me!" "Peaches!" "Peaches!" "Hey, you!" "Peaches!" "Hey, Clio!" "Hold it!" "You can't do that!" "You can't do that!" "Come here!" "I want a peach!" "I'm hungry!" "Stop screaming into the streets!" "Here's Cupidon!" "He can go!" "Quick, Cupidon, before the man is gone!" "Hey, you little soldier!" "Bring me some champagne." "Fresh peaches bobbing in a glass of champagne!" "That's the way mama used to drink it in Paris!" "Peaches!" "Peaches!" "Mrs. Bellop, i looked it up in burke's peerage." "There's no Du Chenfrais." "Of course there isn't." "Burke's peerage is english, and she's french." "Oh, good morning, little man." "How long have you been with the countess, and where did you come from?" "Oh, so i'm a fat old sow, am i?" "Merci bien!" "That's the way i love it." "Mmm." "Cozy and everyone near me... and things stirring." "Take a little sip, cheri." "Just a little sip." "It's heavenly." "Peaches in champagne?" "That's no drink for a man." "Don't be like that." "Tell me everything." "Tell me about these men... these rich, respectable old men who sit and rock on that huge piazza." "If it's Bart Van Steed you have on your mind, he's gonna be too busy to bother about you, honey." "I heard yesterday they're out to get him." "Why?" "How?" "When?" "Van Steed owns a railroad between Albany and Binghamton, right up here near Saratoga." "It's what they call a trunk line, only about 100 miles long." "Years ago, his mama gave it to him to play with- his first little railroad." "Now it's turned up worth millions." "Why millions?" "Angelique, stop rattling that paper!" "Why is this Saratoga trunk worth millions?" "How can i sleep when there are things like this i must know?" "Tell me-why millions?" "Well, it seems it's the link between the new pennsylvania hard coal lands and new england." "Sure thing, it's worth millions." "Does he know this?" "Van Steed?" "Listen, he ain't as loco as he looks." "Don't raise your eyebrows when i say "ain't."" "Raymond Soule's crowd have been going at it with every dirty trick there is in the book." "Graft." "Politics." "Force." "For what they're doing, they'd be strung up for outlaws out west." "You wouldn't believe it." "They hire gangs to go out and tear up tracks and chop down trestles." "Folks won't ride the railroad anymore." "It ain't safe." "That's just what this Soule's figuring on- running it right down to nothing." "Buy it up cheap - hair, hide, horns, and tallow." "Who is he?" "He's boss of the upstate railroad crowd." "Likely, you were too busy making goo-goo eyes when you come in to notice him." "Always sitting there on the piazza hiding behind a couple of bodyguards." "Don't let his size fool you." "He's big poison." "Is he rich?" "Rub my foot, cheri." "Huh." "Couple of hundred million." "Maybe more." "Is he married?" "No, honey." "No." "I mean, no for you." "Well, one never knows." "Now, go on, cheri." "I'm fascinated." "Mmm, that feels good." "There's more to this Soule bunch." "They're hooked up with those skunks that came through Texas." "Oww!" "You're hurting me!" "Sorry, honey." "I was thinking." "My fingers just itch to get ahold of a gun when i think of that pack of varmints out there rocking." "I bet i could pick one or two of them off from your window." "Poor little Bartholomew Van Steed." "Poor little mama's boy." "No one to help him." "Don't worry about little Bartholomew." "He's got a good team, too- for one, the richest banker in new york, the fellow that's got that place down on wall street- the house of something or other- and that scotchman who owns all those steel mills and coal mines," "and plenty of others." "Railroads!" "Railroads!" "Railroads!" "What do i care about railroads?" "What am i doing here?" "Who are you?" "How do i know who you are?" "Holy cats!" "Now what's eating the countess?" "There, baby, Angelique is here!" "Mr. Clint, that champagne make her sad." "Why don't you gentle down, honey, and quit snorting' around?" "Go away!" "Go away!" "Everybody, go away!" "Stop screeching around here like a crazy mare." "First thing you're happy, then you're tired." "Now you're sad or something." "Try that again, and you'll be here all alone." "Ooh, what's that?" "From the man who brought us from the station." "Clint... is he the one i shall marry?" "I don't give a hoot who you marry, but you're not gonna get me to act as your- you'll act towards me with the dignity and respect of someone who's met Mrs. Du Chenfrais for the first time." "A widow so recently bereft- of her senses." "But not her dramatic sense." "They'll be expecting me." "They'll be waiting for me." "So for days and days, i'll stay up here, and i'll let them wait and wonder." "I'll stay here and watch the show." "Why, these people will make cold hash out of you in a week." "They'll tear you to pieces, and i'll stand by and laugh." "Hey, look, she's clean beat out." "And no wonder drinking champagne in the middle of the day." "What are we gonna do with her, Angelique?" "When she's like this, ain't anybody can do anything." "She like this in Paris before she come." "She like this in New Orleans before she met you." "She sleep perhaps one day, perhaps two or three." "But when she wake up, zumba!" "Look out!" "Look out?" "What can she do she hasn't done already?" "Crazy stuff!" "Where boss man go now?" "To the horses?" "All right, we'll go to the track if you want." "Anyplace we can smell some fresh air." "Sure!" "Sure, boss." "We go to the horses." "Women is crazy!" "N'est-ce pas?" "You betcha." "Son of a gun!" "Maybe they dead." "Mama..." "Clint... oh, cheri." "What time is it?" "7:00. what day is it?" "Oh... why, baby, you slept two days, last i know." "Oh, i feel wonderful!" "Quick, Angelique, my gabrielle!" "Look out, that's what i told him." "My mind is clear and bright, just as i knew it would be." "And i have a plan, as i knew i would have." "What now?" "More mess?" "You'll see." "Roll up the shades!" "Tell me, where is Mr. Maroon?" "Ain't seen nor heard of him." "Good." "Where's Cupidon?" "In here?" "Poor little man." "Howdy, ma'am." "Good morning, Cupidon." "Why didn't you sleep downstairs in the room provided for you?" "He said stay near you and the old crow." "Ah, to watch me, no doubt." "Tell me, what have you found out?" "Who are the important people?" "Well, there's that fat woman." "Ha ha ha!" "Who is the fat woman?" "Bellop." "Don't make ugly noises." "That's her name- bellop." "They say everybody in Saratoga's afraid of her." "Yes?" "She tried to question me about you." "I pretended to speak only french." "And what do you think?" "She speaks french like anything!" "So... well, out of here, both of you." "Make yourself neat and smart." "You, Cupidon, look to your shoes and buttons." "Be polite to the hotel servants." "No tricks!" "And you, Angelique, no voodoo, no witchwork." "Your best black silk!" "We're going to the springs." "About time." "Two days lost." "Red heels ain't for widows." "It's the way i feel today." "My husband has been dead as a herring for at least two years." "You full of the devil." "Your ladyship, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "How have you been, Mr. Bean?" "Frantic." "Simply frantic." "Two days!" "There have been dozens of inquiries." "How kind of people to take such interest." "We pictured you desolated with your grief." "I think i'll take the waters this morning." "I hear your famous springs are most healthful." "Perhaps you could recommend one." "Of course." "We have a specially prepared booklet." "I told you these two days haven't been wasted." "Regardez." "By the front door." "That's the one been asking questions about you." "For example, there's the triton water- gout, irritated stomachs, pimples blotches, ulcers." "Please, Mr. Bean!" "The empire spring is very gay." "The band plays- good morning." "Mrs. Du Chenfrais, i'm Mrs. Coventry bellop." "I want to welcome you to Saratoga... and to tell you that i had the great pleasure of knowing your late lamented husband- dear, dear bimby." "Is it possible?" "Well, isn't it?" "Hardly." "He was almost a recluse." "Perhaps you're thinking of his younger brother- the black sheep, i'm afraid." "He was known as bimby among his friends." "I shouldn't wonder, if you say so." "I told you you were wrong to be suspicious of this lady." "Me?" "My dear Mrs. Bellop!" "Oh, isn't that- but of course it must be" "Mr. Raymond Soule, the railroad man." "Yes, indeed." "I'll speak to him." "Nobody ever speaks to Mr. Soule unless Mr. Soule speaks to them first." "Good morning, Mr. Soule, so pleasant to see you!" "My husband spoke of you." "I am Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "I do not know the name." "You'll recall him as le comte Du Chenfrais." "Please don't stand up." "Perhaps it was this colonel... white hat Maroon i heard speak of you." "I don't know him, either." "The texan-the one who's says he's going to ruin you?" "Good day, Mr. Soule." "Such a lovely chat." "Now i'm walking to this delightful empire spring." "Walking!" "But everybody rides to take the waters." "But i am here for my health." "What a woman!" "She makes her entrance here on the arm of our most eligible bachelor." "She disappears for two days while we wonder." "When she reappears, her first act is to be seen talking to the almighty Mr. Soule." "But she walks to the springs." "What will people say?" "It's heresy." "Don't be any sillier than you are, dear beanie." "It's sheer genius... if she can get away with it." "Another cup, Angelique." "I can feel it doing me good." "Good morning, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Good morning." "Good morning." "You've been ill?" "You didn't come down... not ill." "Weary." "I can understand that." "But you look- you seem to be fully recovered, that is, if appearances are anything." "Thank you." "You must have driven down very early." "I didn't drive." "I walked." "Walked?" "Then you must allow me to drive you back." "No, no." "I'm walking back." "I intend to walk down and back every morning early- that's one of the european cures." "Splendid idea." "You must allow me to walk with you." "If you care to." "Good day." "May i stroll with you?" "Of course." "There's that fascinating Mr. Maroon." "You presented him, remember?" "And he will ask to drive me back, too." "You're all so kind." "He's the reason i've been so weary until now." "All that first night, he kept me awake." "If he's been annoying you- no, not him, exactly." "It was talk, talk, talk in the next room." "Railroads, railroads- i thought i should go mad." "I'm thinking of moving to a cottage apartment this morning, for quiet." "They weren't talking railroads, were they?" "What could they say about railroads that would keep a charming woman awake?" "I don't know." "Such things are too much for me." "Oh, Albany and trunk lines." "Tell me, what is the Saratoga trunk?" "I thought it was something for clothes." "Trunks and railroads kept whirling around in my head." "Maddening, it was." "Have i said something?" "You look troubled." "Good morning, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Colonel Maroon." "If you're going back to the hotel- what is this i hear about you talking railroads so loud that this lady has to move out of her rooms?" "You've been circulating this morning." "On my way out of the hotel just now, i met Mr. Soule." "He wanted to know what this was about my threatening to" "Soule?" "Are you hooked up with him?" "I hope i haven't said anything i shouldn't." "Just to know you've had my name on your lips gives me pleasure." "You shouldn't be angry with colonel Maroon." "He's on your side." "I distinctly heard his voice say that he thought you were more clever than any of them." "By that time, they were shouting." "When i was talking to Mr. Soule this morning on the piazza, i thought his voice sounded like the one who was disputing Mr. Maroon." "Mr. Maroon was telling him he had some kind of a plan that was going to win this railroad war." "He was going to offer it to you and ruin Mr. Soule... or was it the other way around?" "Oh, oh, dear me... i hope you aren't angry with me." "Oh, dear Mr. Van Steed, oh, dear colonel Maroon, i detest strong-minded women who interfere in men's affairs." "I understand, ma'am." "Colonel, possibly you could run my railroad better than I- now, gentlemen, this is no place to discuss business." "Have you forgotten you've asked me to have breakfast with you?" "Well, that's hardly possible." "I'm having breakfast over at the track with the grooms and the jockeys." "Oh, what a delightful surprise!" "Ladies can't eat in stables." "Well, this one can." "Miss Clio!" "You're not going without me, miss Clio!" "Let him come." "I do want to thank you for the lovely pink roses you sent." "I am glad you liked them... and don't forget, Mrs. Du Chenfrais- you're dining with me tonight." "Delighted." "Cheri, you're not angry." "Take your hand off my arm!" "What do you think i'm driving?" "Cattle?" "How can you talk to me like that?" "No one has ever talked to me- it's time they did, then." "Clint, i have such a clever idea." "I'm only trying to help you." "I'll try to explain this slow and easy without losing my temper." "Really, you should be proud of me." "I'm only thinking of your future." "Interrupt again, and i'll smash in your pretty nose." "I've got some plans of my own." "Oh, Clint, have you?" "What are they?" "And i don't need you to come busting in." "Let's see... i'm only a woman." "I don't have a right to think." "I've got every respect for womankind, but in Texas, it's the men who wear the pants." "I was up here wearing mine." "Now you come along, starting trouble, acting downright loco." "What have i done?" "I only just arrived." "And then what?" "Screeching out of hotel windows, peaches and champagne in the middle of the day, pulling the sleeping beauty act, sashaying out telling the doggonedest mess of lies." "You planning to keep this up?" "Yes." "I've thought of the most wonderful things." "It's going to be better and better all the time." "I don't give a hang what you do as long as you keep your nose out of my affairs." "I can be nagged by women, i can be fooled by women, i can be coaxed by women, but no woman's going to run me." "You just pin back those pretty ears of yours and take heed of what i'm saying." "Cheri, i think that even when i marry someone else, i'll always love you best." "Heaven help the man that takes up with you for life." "I wouldn't be in his shoes, not for a million." "I'm hoping he'll have much more than a million." "If you mean little Bartholomew, his mama brushes girls like you aside like flies." "His mama isn't here, cheri." "When she hears what you're doing to her baby boy, she will be, soon enough." "And he'll pay heed to her, too." "He was brought up prim and proper." "He was brought up by a woman who was stronger and more possessive than he-his mother." "I'll be stronger and more possessive than she." "And cleverer." "You'll see, cheri." "Women are the most unmoral people there are." "Cheri, darling, darling." "Attention!" "Aah!" "Jumping catfish!" "You see what you do to me?" "I don't know whether i'm going or coming." "You intend to stay over in this country long, Mrs. Du Chenfrais?" "That depends, Mr. Van Steed, upon so many, many things." "On what, for instance?" "Things you'd consider quite sordid, i'm afraid." "Sordid?" "Everything is so expensive over here." "It takes so many francs to make one american dollar." "You should never have to worry about such things." "You're so- you should have everything that's beauti- well, beautiful." "You're so kind." "You smoke cigarettes, Mrs. Du Chenfrais?" "Well, i've never seen a lady smoke a cigarette before." "It's a continental custom, i suppose." "I've smoked since i was a baby." "Yes, but..." "people will... well, in a hotel, people talk." "How kind of you to protect me like that." "I'm not used to american ways, but a cigarette... a cigarette is sometimes cozy when one is lonely." "Don't you find it so, Mr. Van Steed?" "I'm a cigar smoker myself." "Oh, but of course." "So masculine." "I shouldn't think you'd be lonely, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "You're so popular and... well, a woman of the world." "Oh, Mrs. Du Chenfrais!" "Have i said something?" "A woman of the world." "Imagine for yourself if your dear sister, for example, would suddenly find herself a widow and alone in Paris, alone with only a servant or two and knowing no one." "She follows the way to which she is accustomed in her old loved America." "Is that a woman of the world?" "Oh, Mrs. Du Chenfrais- Clio, i... you called me Clio." "How dear, how good... how friendly." "What?" "You're such a help to me." "Help?" "I?" "You can't guess how much i would like to do for you." "All i can say is that your friendship is the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me." "Shall we go in?" "The music's started." "Colonel Maroon." "Countess." "We might as well get rid of this." "Van Steed won't be here now." "I saw him on the arm of the countess." "You could have your poker game if i could have the other arm." "Van seems to be going all the way for this french girl." "Or is the french girl going for him?" "Before he's through, he might find that more expensive than poker." "500." "I'll tilt you 1,000." "Are they that good, colonel?" "You can throw in a handful of stock in that Saratoga trunk line of yours if you're short of chips." "Looks like it won't be worth much nohow when Soule and his crowd gets through with it." "Why do you want it?" "Why are you interested?" "If i had it, i wouldn't let anybody take it away from me." "Leastways, not without a scrap." "And how do you propose to do that?" "You don't understand all this fight involves." "It's tied up in politics." "Soule's crowd has sewed up the law courts." "Law?" "Where i come from, possession is nine points of that." "They've got the legislature, and they've manipulated the stock." "Even down in Texas, we know that watering stock don't only mean just giving the cows a drink." "But you're right." "All that stuff- dirty politics- that ain't up my alley... but fighting is." "I've never seen one yet that wasn't won by being quicker on the draw." "I'd fight them barehanded- same old plan we used out west when the sheepmen tried to run the cattlemen off the range." "Soule's crowd is wrecking your railroad." "You've got to keep it running or lose your franchise." "I'd battle them bloody." "I'd run them off the range." "Lordy, lordy, i think maybe you would." "Where have you been hiding this man?" "I'd get me a bunch of boys together, the real hard-muscled kind." "There's a lot of them down where i come from that don't like railroads any more than they do rattlers." "Worse." "It's the wild east." "We hang men down there for less crimes than you boys do to each other just in fun." "What can we lose that we aren't losing now?" "Maybe we'd better let this minority stockholder in just to take care of us." "All right, it will cost you all a fistful of stock." "A big fistful." "It's worth it, colonel, if you can do this." "I'll do it." "I'll go the whole hog to put my brand on that crowd that came through Texas." "I've got a little score of my own to settle." "Win this, and you won't have to stop with any fistful of stock." "I'll take you along with me, right up the line." "I ought to warn you..." "likely, i'll have the whole railroad before i'm through." "Colonel, i think you're my boy." "Just hang a welcome sign on the front door of that house of yours on wall street." "You've just acquired yourself a partner." "Morning, colonel." "Hey, what's up?" "The cats seem to be meowing louder than ordinary this morning." "Colonel Maroon, you kill me the way you put things." "It's madame Van Steed." "Madame Van Steed has arrived." "You don't say." "Battle 'em bloody!" "Run them up the range!" "Son of a gun!" "Ha ha ha!" "I listen to all the poker games." "I'm just keyhole-sized." "Quit talking!" "Wranglers and poker games-who cares about all that?" "Where's Mr. Clint all the time?" "Where have you been?" "You ain't touched your lunch, honey." "Mr. Clint." "Saw the bellboy stagger and thought i'd help him with his load." "Bartholomew's splurging." "Flowers." "That's a northerner for you." "Why ain't he sent you jewelry?" "To take jewelry from a man that's not your husband, that isn't nice." "My ma never had any husband any more than you, but she got jewelry- diamonds and ruby rings and large stone necklaces." "I'll give you my diamond stickpin if you want it, honey." "How are you making out with little Bart?" "Wonderfully." "That's fine, countess." "I reckon i just wasn't worth fretting' about that day at the french market." "Where have you been, Clint?" "Why don't i see you?" "Business- playing railroad, gettinne, too." "You know, i'd like to take you around, honey, but i had a little matter to attend to." "Now, Bart, he'd come a - running if he knew you wanted to go out." "Why don't you send Cupidon over with a note?" "How dare you!" "What's up?" "Have i said something- how dare you say to me that you're busy and suggest that i go around asking other men to take me here and there?" "Hold on." "I didn't say anything about other men." "I said Bart. He's the man you're fixing to marry." "Oh." "So that's it." "You're jealous." "Yeah." "Leastways, i would be if i had time, but i'm busy as a sheepdog." "It's too bad your plan isn't working out so well." "Whose plan isn't?" "In a game like yours, you got to work quick and get out before they find the pea under the walnut shell." "Yeah." "It's too bad you're too late." "Too late?" "I sure hate to tell you." "It seems downright cruel." "Bart's mama's come." "Mama Van Steed." "Yes, ma'am, countess." "The queen of Saratoga, the head cat." "The lioness has come to defend her cub." "When?" "She descended this morning, they tell me, with her claws showing and her fangs bared." "The other tabbies are paying court to her on the piazza right now." "I wonder how your pretty skin's gonna look in ribbons?" "Angelique, get my things." "Cupidon, get the carriage and take miss Clio for a drive." "I think she'll need some fresh air." "You betcha." "Mrs. Du Chenfrais is coming now, mother." "De Trignonai du Chenfrais de fiddlesticks." "She's an adventuress." "It's written all over her." "Good morning, countess." "Colonel Maroon." "Fetch her." "Oh, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "My mother says she would very much like to meet you." "She has heard so much about you." "I would be enchanted to meet your dear mother." "Good morning, countess." "Comment ca va?" "Bon jour, madame." "Good morning, Clarissa." "Good morning." "May i present Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "How do you do?" "I hear you call yourself a countess." "No." "I call myself Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Very clever." "Won't you sit down?" "You say you've been here before, they tell me." "No." "My dear husband was here once." "Dear edouard- the late comte." "That ninny roscoe bean couldn't find your husband's signature in the hotel register." "Isn't that odd?" "His signature?" "I've been coming to the Saratoga hotel for years." "I've met every well-known person that ever stopped here- in my day, that is." "And i've searched the registers, old and new... but no comte du Chenfrais." "Are you sure he stayed here?" "Eh?" "Incognito." "When a french diplomat is in America on affairs of state, it's sometimes wise to discard titles." "Well, i'm quite sure mother doesn't mean- i'm quite sure that mother does mean." "She doesn't mean a thing, do you, Clarissa?" "I always did tell dear etienne that his passion for shunning the limelight was silly." "Etienne?" "And who is etienne?" "Her husband." "I knew him well." "Didn't you say edouard?" "His intimates called him etienne." "A pet name." "Clarissa, i always say it doesn't pay to inquire too closely into the background of us summer Saratoga folk." "Take you, Clarissa." "You call yourself a lady, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are one, does it?" "I advise you to stay out of this, sophie." "I was merely going to remark in all innocence that my family can remember when your family climbed out of the gutter." "Come, Mrs. Du Chenfrais." "Shall we have a bit of a chat?" "That would be charming." "Enchanted to have met you, madame Van Steed." "You're all that your dear son has led me to expect." "I hope you weren't too sharp with that very provincial old lady." "Provincial old lady?" "She's an old hellcat." "Thank you very much for being helpful." "Good-bye." "Nonsense, my girl." "I want to talk to you." "It's important." "In the garden?" "No." "In your room." "We can talk better there." "If you'd asked me who i'd rather be than anyone else in the world at this minute, i'd say you." "Me?" "But why?" "No reason." "No reason, my girl." "Except that you're young and beautiful and smart, and you've got two dashing young men in love with you." "At least, poor Bart would dash if that old harridan would let go of his coattails long enough to let him dash." "And you'd be very rich if you use some sense." "Angelique, bring the coffee in here." "Yes, ma'am." "Just what is it you want of me?" "Money." "I have no money." "But you will have." "How?" "Listening to me." "You have no money." "Why haven't you listened to yourself?" "Because i'm not you." "I explained that to you a minute ago." "Tell your woman to shut the door." "Doesn't matter." "She knows everything." "She never talks." "No, thank you." "If you mean to harm me, she'd be likely to kill you." "She'd make a little figure like you out of soap, and she'd stick pins into it, and you'd sicken and die." "Not i." "I've had pins stuck in me all my life- knives and everything up to pickaxes." "All my life, Mrs. Bellop, i've been very direct." "If i wanted to do a thing and it was possible, i did it." "I say what i want to say." "That old lady on the piazza dislikes me." "She makes no pretense." "I admire her for it." "I shall be grateful if you'll be as honest." "You're right." "She hates you." "She wants to run you out of Saratoga, and she'll do it unless... unless?" "Look, my girl, i know that you're no more the countess de trumprechoochoo than i'm queen victoria." "But if i say you are, if i stand up for you against that old buzzard and her crew, the world will believe you are." "I've watched you, and i'll say this, you've been wonderful- bold and dramatic and believable." "But from now on, you're gonna need a strong arm behind you, and that handsome texan's arm isn't gonna be enough." "It's got to be a woman that's smarter than old lady Van Steed and somebody that she's scared of." "That's me." "You saw it." "I look like a wash woman, but i've got family and influence, and all she's got are two generations of money." "What do you want?" "I know my way around this world." "I know what it is to be very rich, and i know what it is to be very poor." "I've lived on nothing for years... in luxury." "Blackmail?" "Oh, give me credit for being smarter than that." "I make certain hotels fashionable by touting for them." "I put Saratoga on the map." "I made newport, though i must say i can't bear the place." "I've been everywhere." "I know europe, and i know America." "And if i give a party that somebody else pays for, everybody comes because i'm giving it." "Don't ask me why." "I don't know." "I've got nothing to lose because i live by my wits." "They can't take those away from me." "And i say and i do as i please because i'm not afraid of anybody." "It's a grand feeling." "In a way, you're just like i am." "I've always- i know all about you." "I have connections in New Orleans." "How much do you want?" "Your name was Clio Dulaine, and now you want it to be Mrs. Bartholomew Van Steed." "I think you can get him with my help, though why you want him with that texan around- me, i'd marry him though he hadn't a penny." "Those shoulders and small through the hips, and the way he looks at you- oh, me!" "Always was a fool." "I'll take 25,000 down on the day of the wedding and 10,000 a year for life." "I don't want to be grasping." "How do you know that i can't do this alone?" "Try it." "Come in." "Edouard." "Etienne." "Are you two plotting something?" "You look guilty as all get out." "If i were only 25 years younger, my boy" "Mrs. Bellop has offered to be my chaperone." "A little late, i'd say." "Not too late, we hope." "Not too late for what?" "For social success and marriage to someone who's really mad about her, with your blessing." "She's got that now." "I'll see you later." "I got to pack my bag." "Pardon me." "Clint!" "I almost forgot to tell you, honey." "I'm taking a little trip." "Where?" "Where are you going?" "Albany." "What for?" "You used to tell me everything." "What are you keeping from me?" "On business." "A couple of days." "Business?" "Now, what business?" "Cupidon will take care of you." "And Bart." "Want me to go with you?" "Now, look here, honey, you can't go traveling around with colonel Maroon, a respectable widow like you." "You set out to catch yourself a millionaire." "You got him roped and tied." "Now all you got to do is cinch the saddle down on him." "Poor little Bart." "In his place, i sure would feel cheap to think i was being married just for my money." "You never need to fear." "If you win $500 at cards, you feel yourself rich." "That sweet little woman in Texas has just such ambitions, i'm sure- the one who makes those ravishing white ties, those blue forget-me-nots." "Sure is comical how a woman likes to put her mark on a man with a needle." "You couldn't rest nor wait till you had me crawling with all those fancy initials on my shirts and handkerchiefs." "I look to wake up some day and find a big "c" branded on my rump." "Bart hasn't asked me to marry him." "He isn't the asking kind." "You got to tell him." "Sure was different in New Orleans." "Why can't it be like that here?" "You were mighty sweet those days." "Ornery, but mighty sweet." "Clint, cheri." "You're not leaving me." "Take me with you." "All the way?" "Me the boss?" "When will you be back?" "Why?" "I want you to take me to the ball saturday." "I thought you were fixing to go with Bart." "I was, but... better go with him." "Adios, honey." "And good luck." "I know." "I heard, and i won't pretend that it was accidental." "Why doesn't he understand?" "What man ever did?" "It isn't the money!" "I want security, protection, respectability- things that have been very scarce on my side of the family, even my own mama." "I know about your mother and her mother and all the other generations of getting the dirty end of the bargain." "Mama and all she stood in New Orleans and all that i saw in Paris, that was something to make one really sick!" "I won't be treated like her!" "I won't!" "I won't!" "No need to, if you follow my advice." "No, Mrs. Bellop." "I think i'll just go on alone." "I don't want you to think i'm ungrateful." "You've been honest, and you've been good." "Here." "Please take this." "You're the only woman who's shown me kindness." "See here, Clio." "I'm going to stand behind you anyway- just in case- because i like you, and i don't like Clarissa Van Steed." "And just to prove what a sentimental fool i can be, here's your ring." "Hang onto your jewelry, i always say." "It's a woman's best friend." "Hi, Clint." "Hi, al." "You boys ready?" "Yep." "Get them aboard, Al." "All right, men." "Climb on." "Now what are you doing here?" "I came to fight." "You gonna fight, i gonna fight, too." "Did she send you?" "Nah." "I run away." "Doggone if i haven't got a mind to tan you good." "How did you know where i was going?" "I listened at the keyhole." "I heard everything." "This is gonna be a fine fight." "I'm gonna punch 'em in the stomach." "I'll learn you to flap those big ears of yours at keyholes." "Get on away from here." "Go home!" "Please, Mr. Clint, let me stay." "I can fight." "I'm strong." "Get going, you little half-pint." "I'm a man, Mr. Clint." "Now go home and take care of the womenfolk the way i told you." "Get her rolling, Al!" "'Board!" "Pull your shades down, men!" "Like i said, no guns- only the butts in a pinch, and maybe the other end if they start shooting first." "Every station between here and Binghamton, we're in and out before they can telegraph word ahead." "We throw them out and leave a bunch off behind to hold the fort." "When you hear one whistle from the engine ahead, that means ready." "When you hear three, pile out." "Three more, pile on in and on your way." "Understand?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "First stop, boys." "Hold onto your hats." "Get rolling, al!" "You men, stay here and hold the fort." "Bainbridge." "Only 30 miles to Binghamton, the end of the line." "Lordy, lordy, lordy." "Bad?" "What is it?" "Soule's got wind of it." "He's starting a train from the other end." "Better get word to the colonel if we can." "Lordy, lordy, when those two trains meet... we've got to get him in this tunnel." "Now get going!" "'Board!" "Come on, get on." "Don't worry, chief." "We'll pile 'em up, and they'll never get to Binghamton." "These texans are pretty tough, but if we can wreck them, there won't be any fight." "But get ready to jump when you get the signal, and if any of those cowhands get out of the wreck, boff 'em up." "Any sign of them yet?" "Nope." "Next stop, Binghamton, boys." "Mighty pretty country." "Hey, wait a minute." "Wonder what's up." "Did you whistle for me?" "There's a train coming." "No train due along here now, is there?" "No, but there sure is one coming." "I can feel it on the rails." "Better let them know we're in the tunnel." "They must have heard us." "They're trying to whistle us down." "Keep that throttle open!" "We can only nail them in that tunnel." "They're still coming." "Maybe Soule's gotten wise and is trying to head us off." "They wouldn't try and ram us in here, would they?" "They might." "Give her all you got and let's get out of this tunnel." "The boys can't jump." "I won't signal them till we get out of here." "We made it!" "Yeah, and there they are, coming like a" "come on!" "What are you waiting for?" "Aah!" "Cupidon, you little son of a gun, get out of here!" "Ooh!" "Hey, hey, hey, boss!" "Hey, it's Clint!" "There's one." "Get him." "Where is everybody?" "Angelique!" "Now, where have you been?" "Upstairs, looking for- fasten my dress." "Why aren't you here when i need you?" "Something frets me." "I wish we'd never come to this place." "I hate it." "I wish we'd stayed in Paris." "I wish we'd stayed in New Orleans." "Not even he cares anymore." "He leaves me alone." "Oh, baby..." "like my beautiful Rita." "I'm not Rita, i'm Clio." "I shall make my life the way i said." "No weeping, no whimpering." "I'm strong again." "I'll let him go." "Vache!" "That gascon with his swagger." "Oh, he's not a gascon." "He doesn't swagger." "You know what i think?" "I think we seen the last of him-that one." "How dare you say that he won't be back?" "He'll be here tonight for the ball." "He'll go as a real cowboy with chaps and spurs and everything." "And Cupidon is going as" "Cupidon is..." "where at?" "He's probably hanging around those stables somewhere." "Cupidon is with him." "Ah, he can't be." "How do you know?" "Everybody in the hotel is talking." "They have some big, dangerous plan." "Cupidon must have hid himself away somewhere when Mr. Clint went out, and now he's with him." "Well, i'll whip him!" "I'll take my riding crop, and i'll whip him!" "What plan?" "What dangerous plan?" "It started at this Albany or someplace." "Mr. Clint and a whole crowd of men, taking each station along the way as if they was fighting a war." "If anything happens to Cupidon because of him, i'll kill him!" "No!" "Angelique, what stupid talk!" "Nothing will happen to them." "Something frights me." "I got a feeling deep down- no, Angelique!" "Don't say such things!" "I knew this Texas bring us bad luck." "I knew you'd turn out like your mama- no luck with menfolks." "You fixing to marry a millionaire, and all the time you crazy in your head for that vache, and he leave you, just like Mr. Nicholas" "now... let me fix you." "What's going on in here?" "That great cow." "What a to-do." "I could hear you way down the hall, screeching like a of couple fishwives." "Listen, my child, old lady van Steed knows who you are." "She's going to expose you at the ball tonight." "She'll say nothing till she gets you in front of an audience, and then, squash- no more countess." "I shall not be at the ball." "You've got to go." "I got it up for you." "If Clint comes back, i'll go." "If Clint and Cupidon- you're an ungrateful brat- right when you're on the threshold of success if you don't weaken." "I know a man who's head over heels in love when i see one." "Who?" "Great heavens, she says "who?"" "Why, Van Steed, of course." "He's what you want, isn't he?" "Yes, he's what i want." "Good girl." "He's on his way here now." "Of course he's what i want." "I've got to run- got a million things to do, running this ruckus." "I must keep remembering that." "I must be sane." "But you got to stand up to his ma." "I'll stand behind you." "Just deny everything." "That's a trick i learned from my husband." "Caught him cold once with a chorus girl." "He kept on denying it, looking me right in the eye until in the end, darned if i didn't believe the little liar." "You see?" "I'm not going to be like mama." "I shall marry and be respectable and rich." "I shall have my life the way i said i should have it." "I really do look beautiful, don't i?" "Am i as beautiful as my mother was?" "Yes, i am." "I am." "Oh, there he is." "One moment!" "Finish, Angelique." "Vite." "You're shaking all over." "I'm not." "I'm Clio Dulaine... and i'm very calm." "Is Mrs. Du Chenfrais in?" "Dear Bart, good evening." "Will you have a cocktail?" "Angelique, bring a cocktail for monsieur Van Steed." "No, thank you." "I never drink." "My digestion." "Of course." "I've noticed that strong men so often have weak digestions." "I came to fetch you for the ball." "Oh, how sweet of you... and brave." "You mean my mother." "How is your dear mother?" "I haven't felt her claws since the first delightful meeting on the piazza." "Suppose we go down, and you can inquire of her health yourself?" "Oh, i should have loved it, but i'm waiting for colonel Maroon." "Maroon's away." "Yes, i know- Albany." "Tell me, isn't this Albany very near Saratoga?" "Yes, that's right." "But Mr. Van Steed, what manner of country is this?" "I hear there are hordes of roughs." "They fight-fight like savages for a railroad." "Where are the laws?" "Where are the police?" "That's nothing for you to worry your pretty head about." "That's a man's business." "Really?" "And what are you doing about it- you, yourself, i mean?" "I'm paying for it." "Oh, you coward." "You're afraid to fight for your own railroad." "You're afraid of your mother." "You're afraid of everything." "Go away!" "Get out of my sight!" "Well, why don't you go?" "You know, you're delightful when you're angry." "I like a woman with spirit." "Clio, will you marry me?" "I'm asking you to be my wife." "Surprised, aren't you." "Yes, i am." "I'll surprise you a lot before i'm through." "You say that i'm afraid of my mother." "It's time that you understood about me and mother." "People think that i'm tied to her apron strings." "Mother's useful." "She shoos the women away, and i let her." "But when there's something or someone that i want, i get it." "You do the same thing, don't you?" "Yes, i do." "I schemed and tricked to get you." "Oh, i know that." "When a man has millions- i lied to you." "I'm not a countess." "I'm Clio Dulaine, and my mother was- i know exactly who you and your mother were." "My own mother told me, and i told her to mind her own business." "You're what i want, and i've got what you want." "So what are we waiting for?" "Mother's down in the ballroom now." "Suppose we go down and see which one of us will back out- you or me?" "Suppose we do." "Congratulations, Bart." "Yes, yes." "Splendid." "How do they know?" "Good news travels fast, doesn't it?" "Must have been some scrap, eh, Bart?" "What has happened?" "By gosh, he did it, didn't he?" "Who did what?" "Knocked him sprawling." "Some man, that texan." "Clint!" "Too bad about colonel Maroon." "Hear anything more definite?" "Clint!" "What has happened to Clint?" "Nothing." "We have to pay a price for everything." "Tell me what you know." "People are looking." "I'll tell you later." "No!" "Now!" "We understand that the little dwarf was hurt." "Do you want me to strike you in front of all these people?" "Tell me what has happened to Clint?" "We heard he was hurt a little, but you know how he is- you're lying." "You're lying." "He's dead." "I can see it in your face." "He fought for you in a miserable raid" "Clint!" "My, my, Mrs. Du Chenfrais, ma'am, you look right pretty." "I reckon i'm a sight." "Oh, Clint, cheri!" "Clint!" "Clint!" "Clint!" "I want to see the boss." "Doctor say you stay in bed." "You stay." "Has he come to yet?" "I don't find out for one hour." "Still fainted?" "Womanish, huh?" "Plum disgraceful to us Maroons." "The last thing i heard him say," ""here goes a Maroon, killed by a shovel."" "I know." "I know." "I find out." "Has he come to?" "Honey... yes, Clint?" "Missed you." "Missed you a lot." "Oh, have you, my cheri?" "Been away so long." "No, no." "Doesn't matter." "We're together now." "Ain't ever going to be separated again?" "No, my darling." "Never, never, never." "I was a fool... ought never have left Texas." "What?" "Leaving you that way." "Sweetest little woman in Texas." "What?" "Disposition like an angel." "But, cheri, i've changed." "Never hollering at a fella, never hightailing, letting me wear the pants." "But i'm just like mama now, truly i am." "Anyhow, i kept your tie." "Don't know what i'd done without it." "Look." "I'm making one, too." "Blue forget-me-nots." "Yes." "Look, cheri, look." "Kept it around my neck always." "Should have been a rope for some of the things i've done." "Some of the flowers are crooked, but i tried." "Got myself mixed up with a foreign lady." "I'm ashamed." "Please don't say that." "I know you don't know what you're saying." "Funny what kind of trouble you can get into just by talking to somebody on the street." "But i told Bart. I said i hated him." "Got myself rich, too." "But i said i didn't want to marry him, even with so much money." "I'm rich up to my neck." "Be richer, too, before i'm through." "I said i wanted to marry only you." "Rich and respectable, that's me." "Oh, don't punish me anymore." "I'll cook for you." "I'll scrub for you." "If you leave me, wherever you go, i'll follow, and i'll find you." "I'll let you wear the pants." "Honey, that's all i wanted to know." "Clint!" "Ha ha ha!" "Son of a gun!"