Chapter III
In Peoria they stopped at the Hotel Niagara. At last Louella Leota was far enough away so that she could breathe easily. She had no regrets over her attack on John Rott. He had made his living by exploiting women. If he were really dead some undertaker could make his living exploiting him, but she doubted that he would not recover. A rat, like a cat, has nine lives. They take an awful lot of killing.
Now she was free of John Rott. Ruthlessly in the future she decided she would cast men aside as soon as they had served their purpose. When she had no longer any use for them, they must be shunted away.
She was heartily sick of Ed Trine already. He talked incessantly about himself. She appreciated what he had done for her but she considered she owed him nothing. She had done much for him in return.
That night he suggested they have supper in their room. She acquiesced at once. It worked in well with her plans. As they sat sipping their coffee, he said abruptly: "Louella, I adore you!"
"The words are lovely," she drawled; "do you know the music?"
"I love you!"
"It sounds very much like a comic opera."
"I am serious."
"So that's what makes you look that way."
"You mean more to me than any woman I have ever known."
"Is that a proposal of marriage?" she asked archly.
"I don't believe in marriage."
"Don't let that worry you. Few husbands do."
"I wouldn't marry any woman. I think marriage spells the end of romance."
"Perhaps you are right," she mused, "but I can't speak from personal experience because I've never been married. Nevertheless I have had a good many blasted romances without benefit of clergy."
"But our romance is one that isn't going to be wrecked," he said emphatically, "because we won't get married and that will insure its permanence. I hate marriage, but I love honeymoons and this is one of the most agreeable I've ever been on."
She studied her coffee cup thoughtfully for several moments. If Ed Trine persisted in this devotion he would assuredly develop into a nuisance. She wished to get rid of him. A way suggested itself which she believed would have the desired result.
"It's good," she said slowly, "to know that you love me. I guess every woman likes to be adored. Of course I've been joking with you quite a little, but right now I feel far from facetious. When I needed a friend most I found you. I know that you will be good to me."
"You can depend upon that," he said airily. "From now on I'm going to protect you."
"It is nice to hear you say so," she said softly. "You are different from other men I've met. It is easy to make a confidant of you. That's why I wish you to know everything. I don't want to have any secrets. When I met you in the night on the road I did not tell you my complete story. It is true that I was running away from a man who had been holding me in slavery. What I neglected to tell you was that I was able to escape only because I killed him."
With a cry of horror Ed Trine sprang to his feet. His coffee cup fell to the floor and smashed.
"What!" he cried hysterically. "You mean you murdered a man?"
Cold perspiration stood out upon his forehead. His fingers shook as though he were a hundred years old. In a single moment his face had changed. All animation died from it. Only stark fear remained. He was yellow clear through.
"I didn't murder a man," she said vehemently. "I murdered a rat! Besides, he needed killing."
"Christ!" he cried, mopping his cold forehead with his handkerchief. "Don't you realize what you've done?"
"Absolutely. I've rid the world of a rodent."
"I mean to me!" he gasped. "You've made me an accomplice.
I helped you to escape!"
"Don't forget," she said curtly, "you promised a moment ago to protect me always."
"But I didn't know then you were a murderess."
"In other words, you were desirous of protecting me when you thought I wasn't in danger. Better take a drink. You look as though you were practicing to have a stroke."
He started walking up and down the room. He must think over this terrible thing that had happened to him. It was typical of Ed Trine that he never once thought of the awkward position in which Louella, the girl he professed to love, was placed. He wished only to save himself. To get away from this cursed woman as quickly as possible. It was his own damn fault for meddling in the affairs of a mystery woman.
Meanwhile Louella Leota sat at the table and languidly sipped her coffee. She was enormously amused by the antics of her Don Juan.
At heart she was a rogue. All that she had been through had not succeeded in breaking her spirit. She still was able to smile. She had decided that she would continue her mode of existence until she had amassed a considerable fortune. Then she would climb out of the slime and become straight again. She had not entered into the profession of her own free will, but as long as she was in it there was no use in retiring until she had accumulated ample funds. Men were usually mad about her. She loathed them even though she liked them to love her. Actually she thought no more of any particular man than she did of an old coat which she cast aside after she had finished with it.
"I wonder," she meditated in a voice which she endeavored to make tremble, "if the police will search for me even here."
"My God!" he burst out. "If they do, they'll find me!"
"You mean you'll take the blame for my sake?" she whispered softly.
That was the last straw. Ed Trine seized his hat.
"I've got to think this over," he told her. "I'm going out for a walk."
So anxious he was to get away, he fairly ran to the door. When he was gone, Louella laughed softly.
"Good riddance," she said. Now at last she was free.
Incidentally, Ed Trine must have walked to Egypt for he never came back. Louella knew that he wouldn't.
On the way to Peoria on the train, Ed had told her a little about the town. He had made her laugh with his droll account of Nina Diamond, the octoroon who owned "The Blue Owl" establishment. Nina was quite a character in Peoria and was famous because she had seven of her teeth set with diamonds. Each diamond flashed as she talked and therefore Nina never minded getting a new cavity.
That very afternoon Louella Leota went out looking for rooms. She did not wish to remain at the Niagra because it was a first class hotel and rather strict. Far better to rent a couple of rooms in a house that saw no evil and heard no evil. She found such a place in a two-story cottage on Washington Street. The moment she encountered the landlady, Hattie Holt, with her flashy jewels and bleached hair, she knew that she need search no further.
The rate was exorbitant, which did not surprise her. She did not mind so much since she would be her own mistress. She had two rooms, a sitting-room and a bedroom. The rooms were well-furnished and airy. They were cheerful. The windows were large. There was nothing sinister about this house. It was a house of laughter. There were no whispers in the halls; there were no ghosts; and while it is true there were many footsteps they were friendly. Therefore they were always welcome.
There was no one else living at the cottage except a colored cook and maid of all work.
"For a few dollars extra," Hattie told her, "Mandy will prepare your meals. She is Southern and without a doubt the best cook in Peoria. I could die eating her corn-pone and I probably will some day."
"That'll be fine," declared Louella. "I mean about Mandy cooking for me, because I hate restaurants."
That afternoon she paid their bill at the Niagra. As she had no suitcase to move, she decided she'd better buy one so that there would be no occasion for gossip.
She spent the rest of the day purchasing a few necessary dresses, underwear, handkerchiefs, stockings and toilet articles.
"I'm almost as short of possessions," she said, "as I was on the day I was born. But I have more money."
That night for the first time in weeks she slept alone. And her rest was not disturbed by dreams. She was entering on a new life. The contemplation of it fascinated her.