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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Hildreth, Volume 1 of 3, by 
-Augusta de Grasse Stevens
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Miss Hildreth, Volume 1 of 3
-       A Novel
-
-Author: Augusta de Grasse Stevens
-
-Release Date: August 7, 2012 [EBook #40431]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS HILDRETH, VOLUME 1 OF 3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
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-
-
-
-                            MISS HILDRETH.
-
-                               A Novel.
-
-                       BY A. DE GRASSE STEVENS,
-
-              AUTHOR OF "OLD BOSTON," "THE LOST DAUPHIN,"
-                    "WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE," ETC.
-
-
-    In Three Volumes.
-    VOL. I.
-
-    LONDON:
-    WARD AND DOWNEY,
-    12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
-    1888.
-
-    [_All rights reserved._]
-
-    _Copyright by_ A. de GRASSE STEVENS, 1888.
-
-
-                    TO MY ONLY SISTER,
-                   MRS. FRANK H. EVANS,
-                   I Dedicate this Book.
-
-    Dreams, books are each a world; and books we know
-    Are a substantial world, both pure and good;
-    Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
-    Our pastime and our happiness will grow.
-
-                                           WORDSWORTH.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-        CHAPTER I. A LETTER                                1
-
-       CHAPTER II. THE FOLLY                              22
-
-      CHAPTER III. "THE SINS OF THE FATHERS"              41
-
-       CHAPTER IV. A FAIR PARLIAMENT                      51
-
-        CHAPTER V. SENTIMENT AND "BACCY"                  66
-
-       CHAPTER VI. STAGE-STRUCK                           82
-
-      CHAPTER VII. DANGER AHEAD                          101
-
-     CHAPTER VIII. AN ARRIVAL AND A MEETING              123
-
-       CHAPTER IX. THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLERIE             152
-
-        CHAPTER X. A COURT FAVOURITE                     176
-
-       CHAPTER XI. A WOMAN SCORNED                       204
-
-      CHAPTER XII. A PINK BILLET-DOUX                    227
-
-     CHAPTER XIII. IN THE HAZEL COPSE                    253
-
-
-
-
-MISS HILDRETH.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-A LETTER.
-
-
-     "THE RED HOUSE,
-     "Benton's Station, New Hampshire,
-     "_April, 188--_.
-
-     "MY FRIEND,
-
-     "A clever Frenchman once said, 'On revient toujours à ses premiers
-     amours.' Let us suppose this to have been said of a woman who, in
-     her first youth, had loved a man and jilted him, and then, after
-     many years and much sorrow, her heart returned again to him with a
-     love and constancy unknown before. Cannot the past teach you to
-     read between the lines? I did not write to you of my engagement;
-     but now that it is over, and I am free, I find myself
-     instinctively seeking the old shelter of your friendship, which at
-     one time was never denied me; appealing to the old sympathy to
-     which I then never appealed in vain. Are you astonished--surprised?
-     I am not. In those old days--whose glory is not yet faded, over
-     whose memory 'Requiescant in pace' has not yet been written--I came
-     to you at all times, and you refused me nothing save one
-     thing--once. So now I creep back to the old refuge, and bid you
-     fold down the cere-cloth from our dead past, and see if still,
-     after all these years, it does not look somewhat fair; if still
-     there does not cling to it the memory of those old days; of blue
-     skies, bluer waters, sweet roses, sweeter vows, bright sunshine,
-     brighter promises! My marriage engagement is broken, Philip. Why? I
-     can give no reason. He was all that the world calls worthy, and I
-     believe he loved me; yet I found him wanting. Memory is a rare and
-     delusive beautifier, and my memory is sadly tenacious of the past;
-     therefore I am free. I could not be dishonest to him, even though
-     I would. Yes, I am free, and I am writing you after years of
-     silence. I wonder will you smile over this half-confession, and
-     say, 'Impetuous as ever!' or will you understand, and, so
-     understanding, send me the answer I desire? But should you choose
-     to misconstrue my words, I can but say that I have wished to be
-     honest, however late in the day. Write to me, Philip, or better,
-     come to me. After all, I am but a woman, and a very weak one.
-
-     "PATRICIA."
-
-This was the letter that awaited Philip Tremain on his breakfast-table,
-one bright spring morning of that most fickle, yet most beautiful month,
-April. Even as he entered the room he became aware of its subtle
-presence made known to him by its faint, dead odour of violets;
-consequently it caused him no great shock of surprise to find the large,
-square envelope, sealed with the device of a lighted candle and a silly
-moth, and the motto "Delusion" below a monogram; with the firm
-handwriting forming his name and address looking up at him from its
-dainty surroundings of silver and damask. As the face of a once dearly
-loved friend, neglected yet not forgotten, comes back to one from out
-the mists of memory, recalled unexpectedly by some trivial
-circumstance--a strain of music, a line of poetry, a faded flower.
-
-Time was when each succeeding morning of Mr. Tremain's life, the early
-post brought a similar letter, but in those days his manner of receiving
-it differed exceedingly from this greeting. Then, he would take it up
-tenderly, holding it for a few moments before his longing eyes, and
-perhaps--for he was young and very adoring--raise it to his lips before
-he broke the seal--which in those days was not a cynical candle and
-blind moth, but a true lover's knot, with a French sentiment
-intertwined.
-
-Now he eyed it askance for a second or more before he lifted it, and
-then after balancing it lightly on his open palm, put it down unopened,
-made his tea, buttered his toast, and opened his newspaper; nor did he
-glance towards it again until, his breakfast finished, his cigar alight,
-sitting in the sunshine that flooded his apartment, he took it up and
-broke the seal.
-
-Various emotions passed over his face as he read. Surprise, half anger,
-half scorn, and lastly, as he came to the final lines, a quiver of pity
-or tenderness softened the stern outlines of forehead and lips. He laid
-the open letter on his knee, and as he sat motionless, the increasing
-noise of the shrill street cries, and the echo of commencing traffic
-bespoke the reawakening of the great city to one more day of toil and
-strife and unrest, passed by him unheeded.
-
-A breath of the past was mingled with the present, and bore along with
-it the scent of fresh grass, a mingled perfume of fruit and flowers, a
-vision of flowing muslin draperies, a lithe, graceful figure, dark,
-lustreless hair crowning a proud little head, eyes of deepest violet
-shaded by black, pencilled brows and lashes, a face whose almost dusky
-colouring flushed in an instant into richest carmine when deeply moved.
-
-Ten years had gone by since Philip Tremain, a young barrister struggling
-for briefs, idle, clever, lazy, and cursed with expectations of money,
-first met Patricia Hildreth. He was living then in a small city, in the
-interior of New York State, situated near one of those great lakes so
-renowned for their beauty and their treachery. On account of his talents
-and position he was rather the _enfant gâté_ of society in that
-aristocratic little town; which, by the way, held itself very exclusive,
-and counted among its residents many blue-blooded descendants of old
-colonial families; its customs were colonial as well as its traditions,
-and it looked down with contempt upon its sister city, on the borders
-of a sister lake, because it had admitted within the doors of
-hospitality scions of fathers who were known to have made their money in
-trade.
-
-To this hot-bed of traditional conservatism came Patricia as a
-guest--handsome, disdainful, capricious, city-bred Patricia--armed with
-all her little wiles and graces, a creature of wonderful resource, to be
-looked upon from afar, and to be judged and condemned by the narrow code
-and petty by-laws of the unwritten Blackstone of Hurontown. To the
-married women she was a dangerous siren; to the girls a triumphant,
-unapproachable Thetis; to the men a delusion and a snare, so soon as
-ever she burned them with the blue fire of her eyes, or flashed her
-smile upon them from the freshest of red lips, revealing the whitest of
-pearly teeth.
-
-In virtue of Philip Tremain's long acknowledged precedence where
-anything feminine was concerned, all the other young eligibles of
-Hurontown stood aloof and watched the coming flirtation, half in envy,
-half in pride; for was not the conquering hero one of their own
-belongings, and one also who had never known the arts and cajoleries of
-women, save as portrayed by the demure maidens of their own little town;
-whose manners and conversation betook largely of the Puritan training
-bestowed upon them by their mothers? And was not this mocking, fearless
-young amazon a maiden fresh from that modern Babylon, New York, where,
-if all the girls were fair, all, too, were more or less false, and like
-the Lorelei, only ensnared to destroy? Would it not be a proud boast for
-all future Huronites if this beautiful young witch should be captured by
-their village Perseus, and so changing the classic rôle be made
-subservient to his will and pleasure all the days of her life?
-
-But Patricia was petulant and capricious, and Patricia was not to be
-easily won; both of which reasons made Philip pursue her the more
-eagerly; to him, as to all men, that which is easy of attainment is not
-to be desired. Whether he was successful or not remained for a long time
-unknown to the outside world, but before many weeks had gone by Patricia
-had given over her superior little airs, ceased pursing up her pretty
-mouth, and become indeed wondrously meek and gentle, as she cast down
-her proud eyes and hung out the red flag of danger, followed by the
-white flag of truce; all of which signals signified a total surrender to
-the enemy.
-
-Thus one evening as they drifted idly about in a cockle-shell of a boat
-on the blue waters of the great lake, she holding the oars, he sitting
-at her feet, the softly fading pink and amber light in the west casting
-a rosy hue over her sweet face and fleecy white draperies, he put his
-hand on hers, and drawing down her not unwilling head, told his
-love--the old, old story--and gained the assurance of hers.
-
-Then followed days of beatific bliss and rapture, though both were poor,
-and a more undesirable and foolish marriage for either in the world's
-eyes--even the little world of Hurontown, which aped the morals and
-cynicism of modern Babylon--could not be imagined. As a punishment for
-their precipitate happiness came an indignant letter from Patricia's
-mamma summoning her home, and peremptorily bidding her give up such
-foolish playing at love. What did she think would be her chances for the
-future if she marred all possibilities by such reckless flirtations? Was
-she really devoid of all sense and judgment?
-
-The lovers parted with vows of undying constancy, and the flame of their
-love was kept alight by the interchange of daily letters, which, on
-Patricia's part at least, were the cause of considerable deception and
-hood-winking. Thus the months wore on; winter came, and with it a kind
-friend, lately visiting in modern Babylon, brought news of Patricia's
-gay life in that city, and rumours of her not too innocent flirtations,
-of her daring public opinion by various foolhardy escapades; of her
-beauty, her wit, her heedlessness of public censure; to all of which
-Philip listened, smiling, believing in her fully, trusting that his love
-for her, and hers for him, was sufficient safeguard against all attacks
-made upon her loyalty by those in her own home.
-
-But when there came a letter from Patricia, short, and not very
-gracious, flippant and worldly in tone, announcing her approaching visit
-to Europe under the chaperonage of a lady rather too well known for her
-leaning towards a brilliant life, and altogether unfitted to be the
-guide, philosopher, and friend of so impetuous a nature as his lady
-love's, Philip aroused himself from his indolence, and awakened to
-dangers ahead for him and her, betook himself to modern Babylon, and
-presented himself before her without word of warning. Came, indeed, most
-unexpectedly upon her, as she was holding her little court, composed of
-one or two clever men, several handsome ones, a sprinkling of fair girls
-and equally fair matrons; in the midst of whom Patricia shone forth
-resplendent, as the planet Venus among her satellites.
-
-Upon this fashionable throng burst poor Philip, disturbed,
-travel-stained, and weary. From the fulness of a young, loving, jealous
-heart, overcharged and ready to explode at the first touch of powder, he
-demanded, not too courteously perhaps, that she should instantly then
-and there, explain the presence of those obnoxious men, renounce her
-contemplated journey, throw aside the useless, frivolous life she was
-leading; marry him at once, and come to him in his poverty and toil with
-him; he did not add _for him_, or she might have yielded. He was not
-even gracious in his manner of asking, and his hand clasped hers
-roughly, sending the brilliant rings into the soft fingers mercilessly.
-
-Patricia drew back her injured hand, noting with self pity the red marks
-his violence had left upon it, glanced down at her dainty costume of
-delicate laces and softest silk, looked at the evidence of wealth in
-her soft surroundings, turned a little towards the inner room,
-brilliantly lighted, where she had left her subtle flatterers and
-adorers, their words still echoing in her ears, then brought her
-unwilling eyes back to Philip's tired, angry, harassed face, noted,
-although half ashamed, his rumpled hair and ill-fitting coat, his
-general lack of finish and repose, and drawing one hand slowly over the
-other, slightly shook her head.
-
-"You will not?" he cried out hoarsely. Then without waiting for her
-reply, he burst into a torrent of disappointment and recrimination,
-urged thereto by his hurt self-love; as he, quick as Patricia to make
-comparisons, noted in proud disdain his provincial appearance beside the
-perfectly-mannered, faultlessly-dressed, languidly-interested young
-moths, who fluttered about the flame of Patricia's beauty, stupidly
-singing their sensibilities in the fire of her brilliancy. Yet none the
-less, though he knew and felt his own worth and truth to be boundless,
-compared to theirs, he also felt that in the eyes of the woman he loved,
-he looked--oh, unpardonable sin--honest, jealous, and countrified.
-
-"You are not worthy of my love, or of me," he cried. "Go your own way,
-Patricia, lead your own life; I release you, but don't for one moment
-think you have injured or blighted mine. If all these luxurious
-dainties, and all those brainless fools," with a contemptuous wave of
-his hand towards the innocent revellers and their surroundings, "are
-more to you than my love, then is your love too dainty a luxury for me.
-I loved you, Patty, God knows how I loved you; but that goes for nothing
-in your eyes. Good-bye, Patricia, good-bye."
-
-She stood very still and silent while he spoke, the colour burned red in
-her cheeks, the fire gleamed in her eyes, her bosom rose and fell
-rapidly with the quick beating of her heart. She had not intended that
-half unwilling shake of her head to be taken so literally, and used
-against her. Was he not over anxious to grasp at this chance of freedom?
-Were there not others, only waiting for her to declare herself
-unfettered, to offer her so much more than this one poor man could give?
-Above all, did he not snatch at this suddenly-made breach between them
-with almost indecent haste? Her head rose proudly. She met his look
-gallantly.
-
-"As you say; no, I cannot live without what to me makes up the sum of
-life; luxuries, dainties, call them what you will; they have not entered
-over much into your life, I know; but they have become a part of mine,
-and of me. I should be miserable without them."
-
-"Even as my wife?" he asked royally.
-
-"Even as your wife," she answered proudly.
-
-He said no more, but as he turned to go from her, she came close up to
-him, touching him lightly on his arm. His love had been very dear to
-her; might she not keep a slight chain upon him still, so that in the
-future she might have some little hold upon him; and, indeed, did she
-not love him all the more because of his hot anger, and bitter truth,
-and loyal love?
-
-She put out both her hands to him--her voice was very gentle and
-pleading:
-
-"Since we are to part, Philip, and you will have it so, will you not
-kiss me once, only once more, for good-bye?"
-
-He turned from her, unheeding her pleading voice or hands.
-
-"Do not say it is _my_ will that we part, Patricia; be just at least, if
-you cannot be generous. No, I will not kiss you now, I am not quite a
-hypocrite; perhaps one day, when I can believe and trust in you again,
-Patty, or when all my love for you is dead, or when I can think of you,
-look at you, judge you, as other men do, then I will kiss you, but not
-until then. Ask me then, Patricia."
-
-"I will never ask you again," she answered passionately; "but you,
-Philip, shall be the first to beg a kiss from me, and I shall be the
-one to make your pride suffer, as you now make mine."
-
-Then she left him, sweeping by him, proud, tremulous, excited, stung to
-the heart, but making no sign. He heard her laugh ring out joyously, a
-moment later, as she applauded some witticism of one of her admirers,
-and with a muttered exclamation he made his way out into the night.
-
-So they had parted, and never since that unhappy evening had they met.
-
-Time went on; there came trouble to Patricia in the death of her mother;
-he wrote her a cold note of condolence, to which he received no reply;
-then rumour brought him the knowledge of her inherited wealth, and,
-shortly after, of her engagement to a man many years her senior. Of her
-wealth he thought little, of her engagement he spoke calmly, and with
-the air of a cynic, who beholds all things pass by, good and bad, and
-says, in the bitterness of his soul, _cui bono_? But, inwardly his love
-and pride were roused from their sleep of years, and he owned to
-himself, with a hard honesty, that to think of her as belonging to
-another man than he was intolerable. He had not been able to keep her
-love when he won it, but it was none the less a pain to find that
-another had succeeded where he had failed. Time, however, that wonderful
-physician, in a measure numbed his distress, and to his world he posed
-as a charming man, though cold and heartless; not one to be sentimental
-over a dead past, but rather one to make his power felt, and to lead and
-bend other wills by the stern inflexibility of his own.
-
-And then had come Patricia's letter, telling of her broken toys; asking
-to be taken back into his affections; seeking to creep back into the old
-shelter of his heart, where once she had ruled so proudly.
-
-Ten years had passed since he, in that sweet month of roses, had first
-met and loved her. Ten years; and in the mean time Philip Tremain had
-risen high in the world, and in men's opinions; his money had come to
-him, partly by inheritance, partly through his own hard work; he had
-made his name well known, his fame was still a rising one. No need to
-feel ashamed for him now; indeed, no greater sybarite lived than he, no
-truer _dilettante_, and no one whose surroundings were more daintily
-luxurious.
-
-But notwithstanding the changes that had developed this, to her, unknown
-side of his nature, as he sat in the sunshine this fair spring morning,
-holding Patricia's letter in his hand, he judged her no less harshly,
-blamed her no whit the less, than he had when last he saw her, and
-refused to kiss her for good-bye. With her own hands she had torn the
-veil from his idol ten years ago, and he would not now voluntarily raise
-a finger to restore its shattered beauty.
-
-An hour glided by, his cigar was finished, the freshness of the morning
-had departed, before he aroused himself from his retrospect; he turned
-to his writing-table with a smile, and a half-uttered: "No, not even for
-you, my once beloved Patty; you have made your own life, and you must
-live it out to the bitter end--alone."
-
-His answer therefore to Patricia was a polite stiff note of condolence
-or congratulation, which she chose, on the failure of her matrimonial
-plans. A regret he was unable to accept her invitation, a hope for her
-happiness, an assurance that she might always consider him her friend,
-but nothing more; not one word in answer to the love she proffered, not
-one of remembrance of, or regret for the past.
-
-Patricia Hildreth's face was not good to look upon, as she read his
-response; if ever mortified vanity and determined revenge was readable
-on a woman's countenance, it was to be seen on hers then.
-
-"So I have humbled myself in vain," she said. "Well, it shall be your
-turn next, my Philip, or my woman's wit is of no account; you shall
-feel the same sting as you have given me, incased in your armour of
-pride and well-being though you may be. Take care, Philip, my hand is
-small but it is firm to strike, and he is most lost who thinks himself
-invulnerable to a woman's charms."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-THE FOLLY.
-
-
-About a week later Mr. Tremain found at his breakfast plate another
-letter, and though bearing no crest or motto, and not suggestive of
-violets, was nevertheless a dainty enough feminine epistle.
-
-     "THE FOLLY,
-     "Staten Island,
-     "_April_, 188--.
-
-     "DEAR MR. TREMAIN,
-
-     "Will you come down to us for as long as you can stay without
-     becoming bored to extinction! Your favourite rooms are waiting you,
-     your favourite horse stands idle in his stall, the yacht is in
-     perfect condition, and this delicious foretaste of summer makes
-     sailing in her delightful. We are bored to death, however, for want
-     of some one out of the common. Come and be that some one. I can
-     offer you a pretty girl, a clever girl, and a girl of the period to
-     flirt with successively; then there is myself, and your little
-     god-daughter, Marianne, for common sense and dulness; while George,
-     poor fellow, is pining for another battle at tennis and billiards
-     with you. The ponies, my new ones, and their mistress, will be at
-     the five-thirty boat to-morrow afternoon, to meet you, so pray
-     don't disappoint,
-
-     "Yours most cordially,
-     "ESTHER NEWBOLD."
-
-Nothing loth, Mr. Tremain put himself on board the _Castleton_ the next
-day, and enjoyed the half-hour's crossing to the island, whose wooded,
-picturesque shores, clad in fairest green, were a refreshment to his
-senses, accustomed for so many months to the hard lines and sharp
-angles of New York. As he stepped off the boat at New Brighton, he was
-at once attracted by a very small boy, in a very tall hat, top-boots,
-and silver buttons; then the most perfect of pony-carriages and ponies
-met his view; and last, but not least, a pretty little woman in a
-Gainsborough hat, and a light ulster, who put out a welcoming hand, in a
-heavy driving-glove, as he appeared, and said gaily:
-
-"Oh, Mr. Tremain, this is very good of you. You know I said I should
-come for you myself. Now, then, are you quite settled to your liking?
-Let go their heads, Tony; go on, my beauties."
-
-The ponies answered spiritedly to the flick of her whip; and, indeed,
-pranced off so suddenly that the small atom of humanity, perched up
-behind, quite lost his dignity, and only retained his equilibrium by
-super-human efforts.
-
-Once on the Terrace they bowled along at a good pace, and after the
-usual questions had been asked and answered, Mr. Tremain inquired whom
-he was to meet at the Folly.
-
-Mrs. Newbold answered with a little laugh: "I think I told you in my
-letter of the three varieties of graces--a specimen of each--I have
-prepared for you? Here they are by name, and ticketed with the
-attributes they pose for, and fondly imagine they possess. A clever girl
-from Boston of course, Rosalie James--small and dark, and
-critical--reads all the newest books with the most jaw-breaking names,
-goes in for all the 'ologies' and 'isms,' the later the better; likes to
-think herself a disciple of the most advanced agnostic cult, is nothing
-if not cultured, and pins her artistic canons to those of Burne Jones
-and Walter Crane; is a working member of the Sorosis Club, the
-Nineteenth Century, and every other woman's club in the Union; writes
-for the magazines, and always has an æsthetic novel on the stocks, which
-never is launched. How do you like this style, Philip?"
-
-"Honestly, not at all," answered Tremain, echoing her thrill of
-laughter; "from the woman of brains defend me! What have you next to
-show me?"
-
-"Ah well, she's not so bad as she sounds," said Mrs. Newbold, "I've
-known her do a great many kind things; and after all it's not her fault,
-you know, if like the little boy in _Punch_ she fails to take interest
-in any event subsequent to the Conqueror. And now to number two, my
-pretty girl, Baby Leonard, and a very pretty girl she is, in a slow,
-superb Juno-like fashion. I don't _know_ of my own knowledge that she
-ever shows greater animation than a languid yes, or no, implies; but if
-you feel a very keen desire to read beneath the tranquillity of her
-manner, go to Jack Howard for information, she is his latest victim, and
-he may have touched the depths of even her shallow soul."
-
-"Thank you," returned Tremain, "I do not feel _my_ soul intensely drawn
-by occult forces--isn't that the correct jargon?--towards that of Miss
-Leonard; let us allow Jack full innings there."
-
-"Ah, you are very hard to please," cried Mrs. Newbold in pretended
-petulance. "Now this is really my last and only remaining girl; in my
-heart of hearts I think she is worth the other two, in spite of her
-always handicapping herself; enter then Dick Darling, and shouldn't you
-know by the sound of her name that she is a girl of the period? Pretty?
-Oh, yes, but more fascinating than pretty; has a brown face, and
-laughing eyes, and turned-up nose, uses all the latest slang, wears a
-hard hat, a cut-away jacket, a Stanley necktie, and eye-glass and chain,
-and carries the slenderest of walking-sticks, smokes her own cigarettes,
-drinks Bass's ale, and plays a rattling good game at poker; and despite
-all her mannish affectations, has the best heart in the world. She rides
-like a bird, pulls an oar with the best, and can give as ugly a twister
-at tennis as you could wish to see. Now is she more to your liking?"
-
-Mr. Tremain shrugged his shoulders.
-
-"My dear Mrs. Newbold, what can I say? Miss Darling is doubtless a
-thoroughly good young lady, but more after the hearts and tastes of
-younger men than such a graybeard as I. Do not, I beg of you, make any
-efforts in the young-lady line on my behalf, I ask nothing better than a
-good share of your company, and an hour or two of romps with my little
-god-daughter. I shall be more than blessed if you will put up with my
-dulness."
-
-"What a very pretty speech, Philip, it is quite refreshing to my old
-married ears; very well, you may sacrifice yourself on the altar of
-decorum and innocence if you like, I will not say you nay. The men of
-our party I think you know; besides Jack Howard we have handsome Freddy
-Slade--the beauty of the day--and one or two inoffensive lads to fetch
-and carry. And so you don't think either of my graces worthy your
-consideration, Philip? Yet I do believe each one of them owns a good and
-true heart, in spite of their individual fads."
-
-"I do not doubt it," answered Mr. Tremain; "but seriously, my dear
-Esther, you must surely know that having suffered once in that way, I am
-not likely to be easily attracted again. I fancy the woman who could win
-my cynical and fastidious heart, has not yet come from the other world;
-she must needs combine all the beauties of the graces, the attributes of
-the muses, and be withal, like Cæsar's wife, above suspicion. Find me
-such a divinity, Esther, or else I shall wait for your own little
-Marianne."
-
-A silence followed Philip's half-jesting, half-bitter reply, broken at
-last by Mrs. Newbold's lightest laugh, as she asked:
-
-"Do you like my ponies? George gave them to me on my last birthday; Dick
-Darling christened them, Rock and Taffy; hard and soft, you know, or
-dependable and doubtful, or any opposing virtues you choose to select.
-Now then, here we are," as she turned her ponies cleverly over an
-awkward incline, and dashed through the gates.
-
-"Shall we join the world at lawn-tennis, or will you come in with me and
-have a cup of tea?"
-
-"With you, if you please," answered Philip, mock-pleadingly. "My dear
-Mrs. Newbold, don't deliver me into the hands of the Philistines
-prematurely."
-
-Esther's blithe laugh rang out merrily as they sped up the long avenue,
-shaded by the rows of graceful elm trees on either side; she brought the
-ponies to the door with a workmanlike flourish, and scarcely touching
-Philip's assisting hand, sprang out and was up the low broad steps
-before him.
-
-"Let us have tea at once, Long. This way, Mr. Tremain."
-
-They entered the library together; it was a large room and the favourite
-one, _par excellence_, of all the apartments in that most charming and
-hospitable of homes, the Folly. On one side ran a broad, covered,
-outside verandah, on to which opened two large windows of stained glass,
-through whose mellow tints the light shone in tenderest colours; heavy
-draperies, of some wondrous Eastern fabric, fell on either side of the
-broad low door; a neutral-tinted wall supported rare plaques of Moorish
-faïence, and choice selections of _bric-à-brac_, with here and there the
-glimmer of brass sconces and silver _repoussé_ ovals, relieving the
-somewhat sombre tone; while everywhere, in each possible or impossible
-spot, on every table, in every vase or bowl, a wealth of Maréchal Niel
-roses filled the air with their subtle pungent perfume, and caught and
-held the sunshine as in a trance. The one picture of the room stood upon
-an easel, hung with plush of ruddy hue; it was an artist proof engraving
-of Correggio's "Io and Jupiter." A fire of pine-logs smouldered on the
-andirons, and through the curtained doorway a vanishing perspective
-revealed a vista of drawing-room, music-parlour, and billiard-hall, all
-in the half tints of twilight.
-
-Mrs. Newbold threw off her hat and ulster, and pushing back the light
-fluffy curls from her forehead, called out laughingly:
-
-"Mimi, Mimi!"
-
-A little fairy, all yellow curls and white frock, darted through the
-open door, and dancing up to the pretty lady threw her arms rapturously
-around her; her mamma bent down her own head above the little one, and
-kissed the eager little lips.
-
-"See, Philip," she said, "here is your god-daughter. Has she not
-blossomed into a little hoyden?"
-
-"A Hebe, rather," answered Philip, "and as like her mother as a bud is
-like the rose."
-
-Esther laughed. "You certainly do pay one the very prettiest
-compliments, Mr. Tremain; I make you my humble acknowledgments," and she
-dropped him a mock curtsey. "If this is the result of stern law, why,
-commend me to its votaries."
-
-And thus laughing, chatting and sipping their tea, they beguiled the
-time away, until the first dressing-gong broke upon them with surprise,
-and Philip escaped to his room before the tennis party appeared, flushed
-with victory, or despondent with defeat.
-
-As Mr. Tremain moved leisurely about his apartment, his ear caught the
-sound of his own name; he stopped, with a half smile on his lips, and
-listened. The speakers, two girls, were evidently oblivious to the fact,
-that given open windows and unmodulated voices, what is sent out of one
-window, may enter at the other.
-
-"Who is this Philip Tremain?" asked voice No. 1. "I am bored to death by
-Esther Newbold's praises of him. _I_ don't know him."
-
-"He can't be great things then, can he?" said mockingly voice No. 2.
-"Only you see, Rosie, this time you're out of it altogether; Philip
-Tremain is just too awfully utter, just the swellest thing out in men,
-my dear, though you _don't_ know him Boston-way. Handsome mug, heaps of
-shiners, Mayflower family, and good form from way back."
-
-Here a little whiff from a Russian cigarette fluttered in. "Ha, ha,"
-laughed Philip, as he sniffed at it, "the girl of the period, and her
-least hated friend; matters grow interesting."
-
-"How disgustingly slangy you are, Dick," broke in voice No. 1; "really
-your language is most offensive."
-
-"Poor cultured child!" cried out the other, with a merry laugh, that had
-something honest in its tone. "How I afflict her! Oh, ye gods and little
-fishes, how shall I appease her? But seriously, Rosie, don't you
-remember some one telling us all about him, and the dreadful cropper
-handsome Patty Hildreth came over him? Long ago, my dear, when she was
-young, and we had not even seen our 'green and salad days.' He was
-tremendously in love with her, they say, and was blind to Patty's little
-peculiarities where men and flirting were concerned, until at last
-something worse than usual came to his ears, some scrape more daring and
-hare-brained, in which Patty's name figured largely, and he cut up rough
-about it; Patty was wilful and obstinate, and Mr. Tremain injured and
-harsh, and so the engagement came to everlasting smash, and Patty
-engaged herself, before the week was out, to old Tom Naylor, who left
-her a cool million, and died within the year of her dismissing him. What
-luck some girls have! By the way, Esther has asked her here, she says;
-what a lark it will be to see the meeting of the old-time pals. Good
-gracious! are you all dressed, Rosa? I shall be late again, as sure as
-eggs is eggs, and George is such a Turk about meals."
-
-Then the speaker evidently moved away from the window, and Philip heard
-no more; but what he had listened to set him thinking, and brought a
-smile of bitterness to his lips.
-
-"So Patty is coming, Patty is to be here," he mused, "and I must meet
-her after all these long years. Poor, wilful, pretty Patricia!"
-
-A few moments later he entered the library, and found the room still in
-half-lights and apparently tenantless; but as he moved towards the
-fireplace he became aware of a tall, slight figure, severely clad in a
-dark, trailing gown of some heavy silken material. A fall of black lace
-surrounded the drooping head and fell low about the face, throwing such
-deep shadows upon it that Philip looked in vain for any definite
-characteristics. The long and slender hands lay crossed lightly upon her
-knees, and were guiltless of rings. Something in their attitude,
-however, recalled Patty to him, and, with a half-credulous smile, he
-quickened his steps towards the quiet, almost motionless figure; but as
-he reached her side, a ripple of laughter and light voices broke the
-spell, as the door was thrown open, and Mrs. Newbold entered, followed
-by her bevy of fair maidens.
-
-"Ah, Mr. Tremain," cried Esther, "are you here before us? How shall I
-apologise? Now, will you take your introductions homoeopathically, or
-in one dose? Girls, fall into line!"
-
-Laughingly she presented him to each in turn, and with a careless, "The
-men you know," slipped her hand within his arm, saying: "Shall we go in
-to dinner?"
-
-But Philip stayed her.
-
-"You have forgotten _one_," he said, in a low voice, glancing towards
-the figure by the fire, that had remained motionless during all the gay
-_argot_ and repartee.
-
-"Oh," replied Mrs. Newbold, with a shrug of her pretty shoulders, "you
-mean Mdlle. Lamien. She is Mimi's governess. I will present you,
-however. Mademoiselle, permit me; Mr. Tremain--Mdlle. Lamien."
-
-The lady thus addressed turned and bowed slightly--the barest
-recognition of Mr. Tremain's presence. She raised her face a little, and
-the light from the wax candles in the sconce above her head fell full
-upon it. It was a face pale in the extreme, with the dull waxen colour
-of death--a pallor increased and intensified by the masses of snow-white
-hair piled high above it, and the heavy black lace folds about it. The
-dark eyes set in deep shadows burned with a strange inward fire, that
-not even the heavy lashes could veil. Across one cheek a long cruel mark
-of greyish blue seemed to throb, as if in angry remembrance of the cruel
-blow that had caused it; the fair skin would bear its traces for life.
-The mouth was firm and hard, save for a nervous twitching that sometimes
-marred its outline. It was a countenance neither handsome nor
-attractive, and Mr. Tremain turned away, after the barest interchange
-of civilities, with a feeling of irritable disappointment. What right
-had such a figure, youthful and full of grace, to be surmounted by a
-face almost grotesque in its plainness? He had thought of Patty, when
-first he saw the quiet, dark figure and clasped hands; but as he turned
-now with Esther's hand still on his arm, the fleeting evanescent vision
-passed from him.
-
-"Mimi will come to us at dessert, mademoiselle," said Esther, not
-unkindly. "Will you not also join us?"
-
-"Madame is very kind, but I beg she will excuse me," was the reply, in a
-voice that sounded young for so old a face, and yet that held an echo of
-such hopelessness in its cadences, it haunted Philip's ears unceasingly,
-and so dulled his senses that Miss James's most brilliant high
-æsthetical conversation fell unheeded, while Dick Darling's most daring
-slang evoked only a passing shudder of disapproval.
-
-Miss James shrugged her thin shoulders and voted him a good-looking
-bore, then turned her dark head and left shoulder upon him, and carried
-the battle into the enemy's camp, by appropriating Jack Howard, who, by
-all rights, social and flirtatious, belonged to pretty Baby Leonard.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-"THE SINS OF THE FATHERS."
-
-
-Philip thus left unmolested save by his own reflections, and quite
-innocent of his own shortcomings, was only aroused from a long brown
-study by hearing Freddy Slade appeal in his most drawling tones to his
-host, as he lifted his glass of Burgundy, and eyed it lovingly.
-
-"I say, Newbold, what an extraordinary woman you have managed to annex
-as a governess--capital wine this, what's its vintage?--I met her
-to-day, walkin' all alone in that beastly sycamore plantation of yours,
-and thinkin' she might be lonely offered myself as a companion. By
-George! you should have seen the look on her face as she declined; you
-wouldn't have thought me good enough to be her lap-dog--give you my
-word, never saw such scorn on any woman's face before. Who is she? A
-princess in disguise, an exiled Russian of high degree, or a
-disappointed tragedy actress?"
-
-"Oh, you must ask Esther," replied lazy George Newbold. "She's her
-latest importation."
-
-This was Mr. Newbold's usual way of getting rid of all troublesome or
-inconvenient questions. "It saved him trouble," he used to say, "and
-gave the wife the gratification of doing all the talking."
-
-"Esther will tell you, without being asked, _beau sire_," broke in that
-little matron; "I am very much in love with her, you must know; she is
-delightful, and she is mysterious, what more can you ask? She is the
-daughter of a Russian noble and a French girl of the bourgeoisie. You
-can imagine the story, it's for ever repeating itself. The marriage was
-a secret one, the young man's family refused to recognise it; he was
-recalled to Petersburg, and the girl offered money in lieu of her young
-husband, which she passionately rejected. Then followed the old story of
-hopeless waiting; her baby was born, and for a time she struggled
-bravely on, fighting shame and poverty hand to hand. But at last she
-succumbed, and death freed her from her share in life's battle.
-
-"The misfortunes of the mother seemed to follow and dog the daughter,
-whose great personal beauty served only as her worst enemy. She was
-brought up respectably enough, and but for what Lord Byron calls the
-'fatal dower,' would doubtless have lived and died in the monotony of a
-commonplace existence. Little as you may think it, however, Adèle Lamien
-was possessed of such unusual beauty of face and form, it was impossible
-for her to pass unnoticed in the rank and file of humanity.
-
-"In ignorance of her mother's fate, the poor girl, with a blindness born
-of innocence, was soon treading step by step that dolorous path which
-had ended for her young mother in despair and death. There's an irony in
-such repetitions that might well repay the study of one interested in
-the factors of the 'great chance' called life.
-
-"Well, Adèle was wooed and won by a very lofty personage, who, if not of
-the parent imperial rose-tree, could claim close connection with it.
-Like her mother again, the marriage was a secret one, though in
-accordance with the ritual of the Catholic Church, to which faith the
-girl belonged. I believe the months that followed were the happiest the
-girl had ever known in her not too happy life. It made the awakening all
-the more terrible; for of course there was an awakening. Men have a
-habit of tiring of their most beautiful human toys, especially if these
-playthings develop intellect and passion.
-
-"Let me draw a veil over this part of Mdlle. Lamien's history. It is
-enough to say that a terrible crime was committed--a crime so violent
-and so fatal that all Petersburg were roused to action, and the imperial
-blood-hounds let loose to track the perpetrator. It was at this time
-that Adèle fled from Russia, and reached England almost by miracle. From
-there she hastened to America, haven of all persecuted unfortunates; and
-in New York she came under my notice. I listened to her story, and,
-after she had finished its narration, and knowing all against her, and
-nothing in her favour, I took her as governess for my little daughter.
-Quixotic! Yes, I know it was, and a dangerous experiment; but I couldn't
-help it--there were reasons--her eyes haunted me. And truth compels me
-to state that so far she has proved herself fully worthy of my trust.
-Marianne is devoted to her--she is little short of angelic in the
-child's eyes; and I openly confess to a tender regard for her. She is
-unexplainable, enigmatic, fascinating. But, hush, here comes the child;
-and _her_ ears are something abnormal."
-
-Esther finished with a dramatic little gesture that set them all
-laughing, and in the general merriment Philip's gravity passed
-unchallenged.
-
-The story, as told by Mrs. Newbold, with all her little artistic touches
-of gesture and inflection, haunted him strangely. He found himself
-constantly reverting to it, and always with an incongruous and almost
-jarring thought of Patty, running side by side with his unwilling
-sympathy for Mdlle. Lamien.
-
-Miss James found him a very inattentive listener as, later in the
-evening, they sat together on the wide verandah, and looked across the
-broad stretch of lawn to where the faintest streak of shining grey
-marked the waters of the bay. The moonlight was flooding all things with
-reckless prodigality, until even the barest and tiniest twig grew
-luminous, and the budding roses became ethereal in the generosity of its
-rays.
-
-Miss James would have dearly loved to sentimentalise a little; she was
-not at all adverse to a mild flirtation with this handsome grave man,
-whose very presence made her feel her own littleness of mental stature.
-Unconsciously she dropped her usual heroics, and was prepared to be as
-meek and coy as any new-fledged _débutante_. Unfortunately however,
-Philip's mind was not in tune, or she struck the wrong chords, for he
-failed miserably to be responsive. At length, after a rather awkward
-little silence, she requested him, a trifle sharply, to fetch her a
-shawl; she felt the evening growing chilly.
-
-Almost too eagerly Philip sprang up and hastened to obey her, leaving
-her with tears of mortification in her eyes, and hot anger in her heart.
-Meantime, Mr. Tremain, quite oblivious to his shortcomings, made his way
-to the inner hall, where he had an indistinct remembrance of having seen
-something white and fluffy, and which bore about it a faint odour of
-white rose, Miss James's most affected scent. Surely, unless he was too
-awfully masculine, that soft white odorous mass was of the nature of a
-wrap.
-
-As he crossed the entrance-hall on his quest, he caught sight of Mdlle.
-Lamien's tall figure in the little drawing-room which was especially
-consecrated to Marianne. She was standing by the window, her face
-pressed against the frame, her whole form shaken with suppressed
-emotion. Tremain, like most men, was acutely susceptible to tears. He
-stopped involuntarily, hesitated, and in another moment was at her side.
-
-"Mdlle. Lamien," he said, gently, "are you in trouble? Can I help you?"
-
-She made him no answer, save by a quick, impatient movement of her head.
-
-But Mr. Tremain was not to be baffled, though he rather wished himself
-out of the scene, and felt unwarrantably angry at Miss James for being
-the innocent cause of his present position.
-
-"Have you had bad news?" he persisted. "Are you suffering? Let me beg of
-you to tell me what troubles you?"
-
-As suddenly as she had drawn from him before she turned towards him
-now, and lifted her face, pale and haggard in the moonlight, full upon
-him. Her eyes shone hotly.
-
-"I have been looking my dead past--my old love--in the face," she cried,
-passionately, "and I am miserable!"
-
-She turned, and before Philip could put out a detaining hand, was gone.
-He stood as she left him, almost as pale as the wild, white face she had
-flashed upon him.
-
-"Good God!" he muttered. "What a look of Patty there was in her eyes!"
-
-Miss James waited long, and impatiently, and in vain for Mr. Tremain and
-her wrap. He did not come back; indeed, as a matter of fact, he forgot
-all about her commission until later in the evening, when she swept by
-him on Jack Howard's arm. At sight of her, Philip was struck by his sins
-of omission, and with rather less self-possession than usual, made a
-poor apology for his rudeness.
-
-"Were you rude, Mr. Tremain?" Miss James replied, icily. "Pray don't
-apologise; I had not accused you." And with a mocking smile, she passed
-on, laughing ostentatiously at Jack's latest witticism.
-
-Mr. Tremain looked after them with a faint surprise in his glance; then
-he, too, laughed, but quietly, as he said, half-aloud:
-
-"Oh, woman, woman! thy name is caprice!"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-A FAIR PARLIAMENT.
-
-
-The next morning, when Mr. Tremain sauntered down the broad stairs, that
-gave upon the inner hall, he found that favourite place of resort
-already occupied, and about twenty tongues were going at full gallop,
-every one talking, no one listening, while far above the well-bred
-clamour, rose Dick Darling's high-pitched treble.
-
-"I say we must; oh, what a most too unutterably utter lark! Esther, you
-are a trump, you are a saint, you are a double-distilled daisy, and you
-deserve to have a free-actioned, high-stepping trotter, and a skeleton
-selfish waggon, for your very, very own!"
-
-"You are very kind, Dick," and this time it was Mrs. Newbold's voice,
-"but indeed, I don't want a reward of merit of that description, I fail
-to appreciate it, my dear. A nasty little abominable trotting waggon,
-all bones and ribs, and no flesh, and a monstrosity of a horse that
-would drag my arms from their sockets and me over its head before I
-could say----"
-
-"Jack Robinson," broke in the irrepressible Dick, "though why one is
-always supposed to invoke that mythical personage, in times of surprise,
-it is beyond me to explain. However, you are about right, Esther, for
-now I come to think of it, what would you do with your legs?"
-
-"Oh, Dick, you are really too hopelessly vulgar," cried out a chorus of
-voices, to which Miss Darling not a whit abashed, replied:
-
-"Well, and what would you have me call them?"
-
-"You might say pedal extremities," remarked Miss James, to which
-brilliant suggestion Dick vouchsafed no further reply than a pronounced
-sniff and shrug of her shoulders.
-
-Then Esther caught sight of Philip, and rose in pretty confusion to
-greet him.
-
-"Ah, Mr. Tremain, you have stolen a march upon us, and invaded a woman's
-congress, and now, since you have been so very rash and bold----"
-
-"'Oh, rash and bold!'" sang Dick, under her breath, with a comical
-Mikado gesture.
-
-"You shall stay and be umpire. Perhaps, as you are a man," continued
-Esther, severely, "I may be able to drag a little bit of sense out of
-you."
-
-"I doubt it," said Dick again, _sotto voce_.
-
-"And so do I," echoed Philip aloud, at which there was a general laugh,
-and then a general and eagerly expressed desire that Mr. Tremain might
-be made as comfortable as possible, and at once admitted to the inner
-sanctorum of their circle.
-
-Esther pulled forward the most seductive _causeuse_, Baby Leonard
-actually resigned a cushion for his head, and Dick Darling evolved the
-tiniest of cigarette cases and vesuvians from her knowing little coat
-pocket, and striking a light offered him a "real Turkish brew," assuring
-him that they were "quite the knob," and that she imported them herself,
-straight from the shores of the Bosphorus, a fact, which none of them
-being strong in geography, dared to contradict. Only Miss James refused
-to join in the general adulation; she sat quite still in her low
-wicker-chair, leaning her dark head against the gold-coloured cushions,
-and watching Philip, furtively, through her half-closed eyelids.
-
-When the hubbub of welcome had somewhat subsided, and only a rippling
-laugh, or the _frou-frou_ of the women's gowns, as their owners moved
-about listlessly, or settled themselves more comfortably in their
-luxurious chairs, gave evidence of the "concourse of tongues" that had
-been, Mr. Tremain ventured to ask, holding his unsmoked cigarette
-between his fingers, what had been the topic under discussion, when his
-untoward entrance silenced the music of their voices?
-
-"Music of our voices, indeed!" mocked Dick, bringing her shoulders up to
-her little ears. "You flatter us, Mr. Tremain--at least you flatter
-me--the harmonies must have been strangely mixed in that _galère_; I
-never heard my shrill pipe called anything so fetching before. Speak for
-yourselves, girls, I am nothing if not honest."
-
-"Don't be absurd, Dick," answered Miss James, pettishly; "what a miser
-you are to take everything to yourself in that fashion!"
-
-"Speak for oneself, or no one will speak for you," said Dick, calmly. "I
-always find the best policy is that which brings oneself most into
-notice, and if you don't flaunt your own colours boldly, no one will
-haul 'em up for you."
-
-"All this isn't very enlightening to Mr. Tremain," broke in Mrs.
-Newbold, in her pleasant fashion; "of course it's wildly exciting and
-interesting to us, but we can scarcely expect him to enter heart and
-soul, into the rights and wrongs of our feminine policy. Now the case in
-point, Philip, is this: next Thursday--ten days off, you see--will be my
-husband's birthday, and we thought it would be very nice to celebrate it
-for him in some jovial way."
-
-"I suggested a dance," interrupted Baby Leonard, "because a dance is so
-easily done; one has only to put the whole affair in Delmonico's hands,
-and order one's dress, and let one's young men know the colours for
-one's bouquets, and fill up one's dance card twice over, and then you
-see--why then it is accomplished."
-
-"Highly amusing for you, Baby, who never look to such advantage as
-valsing with Jack," said Esther, half indignantly, "but rather hard on
-poor old George, I think, seeing that the poor dear fellow can't dance
-a step, and after all, it's _his_ birthday, you know."
-
-"I don't suppose he would think of that," replied Miss Leonard, "_I_
-never did," at which self-evident ingenuousness Dick went off into a
-frenzy of laughter, which proved so infectious that they all joined in,
-until their united strength of lung attracted Jack Howard and Freddy
-Slade, who emerged from the billiard-hall, cues in hand, to know "what
-the dickens was the joke?" And then, when order was restored, and only
-Dick going off spasmodically in little spurts of merriment, the two men
-were invited to remain and become members of the council of war.
-
-"Now, Esther, _I_ have an idea," suddenly cried out Dick. "I don't get
-one very often, so attach it when you can. Let's have some downright
-first-class athletic sports. There's the gymnasium, just the ticket,
-with all the newest fads in bars, and poles, and trapezes. We girls
-might go in for the lighter exercises against the men, and then make
-way for their competitions in the higher science; and we could end up
-with a rousing good battle at ten-pins! Now that is a good suggestion.
-Don't you like it?" in a tone of intense astonishment, turning from one
-to another with a comical look of surprise on her fresh round face.
-
-"I think it is perfectly disgusting," said Miss James, with scorn; "and
-quite worthy of you, Dick. The idea of making mountebanks of ourselves
-in those odious gymnasium costumes, to romp and riot about like a parcel
-of schoolboys! Besides, I don't see where George would come in, in your
-refined little programme, any better than in Baby's scheme!"
-
-"Oh, he should give the prizes," answered Dick, not a whit abashed.
-
-"Yes, and pay for them, too," muttered Jack Howard, a little
-maliciously.
-
-"Well, I resign," said Dick, with the air of a martyr. "But really I
-don't see what we can do. We can't have races, because the ground's as
-hard as nails, and the poor dear beasties would lame themselves, and we
-can't have a yachting contest, because all the Squadron, and the crack
-boats, have gone off to Newport; and tennis is a bore, and dancing is a
-nuisance, and you look down on my healthy little device, so cudgel your
-own brains, my dears, mine refuse to evolve another iota of an idea!"
-And Miss Darling pulled out her cigarette-case and devoted herself to a
-minute inspection of its contents.
-
-"Well, I am sure, the only things left to us are theatricals, or
-tableaux," said Esther, piteously; "the latter are simply odious, so it
-must be the former. After all, it's strange how one always does come
-back to theatricals; they always seem most satisfactory in the end."
-
-"Because we all believe ourselves to be the one great actor of the
-future," said Mr. Tremain, with a smile; "it's only opportunity that we
-lack, not genius; and it's only other people's stupidity that fails to
-recognise our talents."
-
-"You needn't count me in, Esther dear," cried Dick; "I never could act
-worth a cent, and what's more I hate it, pretending to be ever so many
-qualities that one is not, and never succeeding a third part as well as
-the most tuppenny-ha'penny actress at the Bowery!"
-
-"Dick's severe," laughed Baby Leonard, "because the first and only time
-she was to have appeared in public the committee were obliged to ask her
-to resign, she made love in such a vigorous fashion, and charged the
-_jeune premier_ as though he were a five-barred gate, and over him she
-would go, willy-nilly. She frightened him terribly, and he refused to go
-on with his rôle if Miss Darling continued in hers."
-
-"Baby dearly loves a sell," remarked Dick, good-naturedly, when the
-laugh at her expense had subsided; "but she's quite right, I'm quite
-too awfully horrid when it comes to making believe." With which little
-home thrust Miss Darling settled back in her chair beamingly.
-
-"Then, since acting it is to be, let's settle the play," said Jack
-Howard. "It's always a long business, and we haven't any too much time
-at our disposal."
-
-"There's _School_," suggested Miss James, "or _Ours_, or _The Romance of
-a Poor Young Man_; and oh, doesn't that make one weep for poor
-Montague?"
-
-"Oh, how sentimental!" cried Dick. "Why don't you have something jolly,
-like _The Mikado_, or _Ruddigore_, or even _Patience_? There's something
-more in any one of them, than in all your love and moonshine plays put
-together."
-
-"But since you refuse to join our company, Dick, isn't it a little
-grasping on your part to wish to coerce our choice?" said Esther,
-mischievously.
-
-"I am dumb," answered Dick, shutting her mouth firmly, and only letting
-her laughing eyes glance merrily from one to another, as the discussion
-waxed fast and furious, and threatened to end in tears and temper.
-
-It settled itself down at last, however, into a comedy, or melodrama,
-and a farce; and when, to end all further embarrassment, Mr. Tremain
-suggested a ballot to decide, it was accepted unanimously. The result
-gave the first preference to _The Ladies' Battle_, the second to the
-ever fresh _Box and Cox_.
-
-"Of course you all know I don't act," said Mrs. Newbold, prettily, and
-withdrawing gracefully from all contest over the rôles. "_I_ never like
-anything so much as being wardrobe mistress and prompter, so I shall
-elect myself into those positions at once, and that clears off one
-superfluous woman."
-
-Nor would she listen to any of the protestations and entreaties of her
-companions; she put her hands over her ears, and shook her head, until
-every little golden curl danced again, as she cried, laughingly: "It's
-no use, I don't hear you, and I'm not to be moved. I have chosen my
-favourite characters, and I won't give them up. Now then," bringing down
-her hands, "let us dispose of the rôles. Baby, you must be Léonie de
-Villegontier, you will look the character to perfection; Rosalie, whose
-forte though you may not think it, is comedy, shall be Mrs. Bouncer, in
-the farce; Jack, will you take De Grignon's rôle? And you, Philip, I
-know Henri is an old friend in your hands, will you represent him once
-more?"
-
-"And who is to be the Countess, Esther?" asked Miss James, with a little
-smile. "Are you keeping her part for some special favourite who has not
-yet arrived? It's the most important rôle of all, and should be well
-taken, or the play will prove terribly flat."
-
-"Have no fear, Rose," cried out Dick, forgetful of her vow of silence,
-"I know, my genius is once more to the front; for whom, of course,
-should Esther be keeping that part, except for the cleverest actress of
-you all--Patricia Hildreth--don't you know, pretty Patty----" She
-stopped as suddenly as she began, and, flushing crimson, stole a
-deprecatory look at Mr. Tremain's cold quiet face, which at that moment
-caught a reflection of her own painful blush.
-
-"I beg your pardon," she murmured under her breath; and there followed a
-moment's constraint, broken immediately, however, by Philip asking quite
-naturally and easily:
-
-"Then you are expecting Miss Hildreth, Mrs. Newbold? It is many years
-since I last saw her--act."
-
-And then, just in time to save Esther's confusion, the luncheon-gong
-sounded, and the council broke up, straying off in twos and threes
-towards the dining-room.
-
-"It's all very well," said Dick Darling, scoffingly, to Freddy
-Slade, as they sauntered along together, "having these miserable
-theatricals--they might as well have dumb-crambo at once, and be done
-with it--and, for my part, I can't see that poor George comes into it
-any better than he did with Baby and me, though Esther was so sharp
-about its being _his_ birthday."
-
-"Oh, George can pay the shot," answered Freddy, carelessly.
-
-"I'm sure it's what he's always at, poor dear," retorted Dick, sharply;
-and as by this time they had reached the lunch-room, their argument came
-to an end.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-SENTIMENT AND "BACCY."
-
-
-"Esther," said Mr. Tremain a few hours later, as they sat together in
-the library, just before the time for the tea-tray and the return of the
-other visitors, who, at Dick Darling's suggestion and under her
-guidance, had gone _en masse_ to deal out tobacco and small sums of
-money to the old salts at Snug Harbour, "Esther, did you know Patricia
-was to be here, when you asked me to come?"
-
-His voice was more stern than reproachful, and Mrs. Newbold, glancing up
-at him furtively, thought how cold and impassive was his face. She
-paused a moment before answering him, and the flames from the pine-logs
-on the wide hearth, leaping high, revealed a half-anxious,
-half-hesitating expression in her blue eyes and about her delicately-cut
-mouth. She held a screen of scarlet Ibis feathers, as she sat in a low
-chair, to shield her from the heat, and her hand trembled just enough to
-set the scarlet feathers moving, like so many vivid fire-tongues. She
-answered somewhat evasively:
-
-"And if I did, Philip, what then? Is the old wound so deep it cannot be
-healed, and do you, a Hercules among men, shrink from the light touch of
-a woman's fingers?"
-
-"We are but courageous," he made answer, "according to time and
-opportunity, and the weakness or strength of the temptation. A woman's
-hand has been the cause of a man's undoing ever since the world began,
-Esther. I have no desire to become another sacrifice on the altar of a
-woman's vanity."
-
-"What do you fear, Philip?" she asked, presently, turning the feather
-fan round and round in her fingers, and watching him intently as she
-spoke.
-
-"What do I fear? Everything and nothing. You, who know the whole
-miserable old story, must also know the bitterness of its ending. What
-do I fear? I fear Patricia; I fear the light coming and going in her
-eyes; I fear the grace and beauty of her motions; I fear the subtle
-witchery of her voice; I fear the sweetness of her smile, the studied
-trick of her down-drooped mouth, the soft lingering pressure of her
-hand; I fear--but there, why fight against shadows? I have the remedy in
-my own hands--I can leave you, Esther. Even you cannot compel me to see
-her."
-
-He had risen as he spoke, and moved about restlessly, stopping
-half-unconsciously at a table that stood in his path, and fingered
-absently the several articles of _bric-à-brac_ upon it.
-
-Esther followed his movements with her eyes, a look of pity and yet
-triumph on her face. As his voice grew passionate, she dropped the
-feather-screen, and clasping her hands across her knee, drew a quick
-long breath; but when he came towards her again, she sank back into her
-former listless attitude. He stood up tall and straight before her,
-resting one arm upon the chimney-shelf, and looked down at her with dark
-excited eyes, which the slight smile upon his lips failed to
-counterbalance.
-
-"Did you ask her here with some deep-laid plan of reconciliation?
-Esther, was that your motive? Did you think, knowing me since your
-girlhood--not so many years ago, Esther--and finding me fairly
-good-natured and forgiving, as men go, that you would take the spindle
-of fate into your own hands, and like Atropos of old, cut the tangled
-skein of my life, in the vain hope of reuniting it with hers? It was
-kindly meant, Esther, but--it cannot be."
-
-Mrs. Newbold stopped him with an upward gesture of her hand.
-
-"Philip," she said, slowly, and looking at him steadily, "does it not
-strike you--do you not think--you are taking her acquiescence rather too
-much as a matter of course? Has Patricia no right to repudiate you,
-before even you endeavour to reclaim her?"
-
-He paused before he answered, and the lines about his mouth and eyes
-grew sterner and more defined. When he spoke he took his arm from the
-chimney-shelf, on which he had been resting, as though disdaining that
-slight support, and his voice sounded harsh and uncompromising.
-
-"Has she that right, Esther? Has she not rather by her own actions cut
-herself adrift from the usual consideration granted to women? Did she
-consider me, when she cast me off so lightly? And for what, forsooth?
-Because I was a too eager and too rustic a lover; because my outward
-appearance offended her hypercritical eyes; because she was but a
-butterfly of the hour, as vain and frivolous as the frailest _cigale_ of
-a summer's hour; and because her world, before which she shone as a
-bright particular star--and oh, what a little, trifling world it
-was!--and over which she reigned as a queen, repudiated me. I was not of
-their mode; I was not a _super-chic_; I could not speak their _argot_,
-or join in their light impertinent persiflage. I was too honest, Esther,
-for her world--too honest and too brutally straightforward, and so--she
-threw me over."
-
-"She was young, Philip," pleaded Mrs. Newbold, "young and flattered and
-spoilt. Cannot you now make allowance for her surroundings then, and
-understand how terrible and impossible poverty, imperious poverty,
-seemed to her? You, who so well appreciate the luxuries of life now,
-cannot you put yourself in Patricia's place, and judge from her
-standpoint, and see with her eyes, what it meant, when you asked her to
-fling her old life behind her, and start on a new and untried one, with
-you alone, and you only as recompense and compensation?"
-
-"If she had loved me," broke in Mr. Tremain, "she would not have
-considered, she would not have hesitated; my love and my devotion would
-have weighed heavier with her than all the baubles and gewgaws of her
-fashionable life."
-
-For all answer to this Mrs. Newbold laughed, throwing back her pretty
-head, and throwing out her pretty hands dramatically.
-
-"Ah," she cried, "for wholesale, downright vanity commend me to a man!
-It's no use looking savage, Philip; I cannot help it, I must have my
-laugh out; your cool assumption of the be-all and end-all of Patricia's
-existence is too irresistibly funny. It's very man-like, and very
-characteristic. You never take into consideration, you lords of
-creation, the up-bringing, education and surroundings of a girl of the
-world. You forget that the very trifles you stigmatise as frivolities
-are the daily small necessities of her life: she knows nothing
-different. It is as natural to her to have pretty clothes, artistic
-surroundings, and dainty employments, as it is for you to go to a crack
-tailor and smoke an irreproachable cigar. She cannot understand another
-sort of world where these elements are not: she accepts them as a matter
-of course, and could not fashion her day without them. Then comes some
-untoward fate, in the shape of a lover from that unfamiliar world, whose
-habits, manner of life, occupations, are all opposed to hers--as
-opposite as the luxurious civilisation of Europe is to that of the heart
-of Africa. What she deems necessities, he calls luxuries; her natural
-pastimes become frivolities; her occupations, idleness; her unconscious
-acceptation of all that money brings, worldliness; and her hesitation,
-when her lover and her love demand the sacrifice of all this,
-pusillanimity and calculativeness. And what does the man offer in
-exchange?--for luxurious comfort, straitened means; for dainty clothes,
-the resuscitated dresses of last year; for society--a tired harassed
-husband; and for recreation--perhaps a cheap place at some theatre,
-two or three times a year."
-
-"You are painfully frank, Esther," said Mr. Tremain, stiffly.
-
-"Yes, and I mean to be," continued Mrs. Newbold, "because it is a
-subject I have very much at heart, and because it is the fashion of the
-day to cry down the worldly maiden, and cry up the poor, but
-self-sacrificing lover. Had you anything better to offer Patricia, than
-what my words picture? Was there any brighter prospect for her? Did you
-not make the sacrifice as great a one as possible, and could you
-honourably and reasonably have expected the change in your fortunes,
-when you urged Patricia's choice, and left her no alternative between
-poverty with you, and her accustomed luxury without you? Do you not
-understand her position somewhat better, Philip, since _you_ have become
-a man of luxury and wealth?"
-
-"You should qualify as a special pleader, Esther," was Mr. Tremain's
-reply; "but you are in a manner right, a woman's motives are always
-beyond a man's fathoming;" and then with half a sigh she heard him add,
-under his breath, "poor Patty, poor pretty wilful Patty!" and she smiled
-at the inconsequent words, and nodded her pretty head at the dancing
-flames, while the lurking look of triumph in her eyes shone out
-defiantly, and drove away the droop of apprehension from her lips.
-
-Then came Long, and the tea-tray, and little Marianne, and Mrs. Esther
-was very gracious and sweet, and full of _petits soins_ for Mr.
-Tremain's comfort, and withal so winsome and so subduedly elated, that
-Dick Darling--who returned presently with all her volunteers in
-outrageous spirits--declared she was "the daisyest thing out, and quite
-too superlatively lovely!"
-
-"And how did you find the old salts, Dick?" asked Esther, when every one
-had been served with tea, and little Marianne was particularly happy,
-forcing some scalding milk down the luckless throat of "Trim," her
-_fidus Achates_ in terrier-dog form.
-
-"Oh, as fresh as paint, and as delightfully greedy and selfish as it
-behoves all old men to be. They minutely inspected the 'baccy,' and one
-of them told me, ''tweren't his sort, but shiver his timbers if he could
-expect a young leddy ter know the difference atween "old virginny," and
-"honey dew";' and another one spat rather unpleasantly upon the new
-silver dollar I gave him, and expressed his rather blasphemous opinion,
-as to its being a 'Blaine dollar,' and only worth ninety cents! Oh, my
-dear, they are a most edifying old crew, and their simplicity and
-naturalness is only worthy of that respectable old party, and his
-residence, known familiarly as 'Davy Jones's locker.'"
-
-"Dick, you are incorrigible!" laughed Mrs. Newbold, and that young lady,
-on whom the afternoon's expedition seemed to have acted as champagne,
-began again.
-
-"There was one most particularly refreshing old hero; he said he had
-been all through the civil war, and got his promotion, and his leg
-bowled off, at Gettysburgh----"
-
-"Oh, but I say, Miss Dick," here broke in Freddy Slade, "he couldn't do
-it, you know, not there, because Gettysburgh was a land battle, and how
-could your old man-o'-war's man be there?"
-
-"He said Gettysburgh, I am perfectly sure he did," answered Dick,
-"because I quite well remember how he winked at me when he said it,
-and--yes, I did, I couldn't help it, it must have been capillary
-attraction, Esther--I winked back at him, and then he spun a tremendous
-yarn, all about his gory wounds, and bloody hurts; mixed up, you know,
-with reefing topsails, and belaying mizzen-masts, and setting fore and
-aft sheets, and rolling in the scuppers, and weltering in his own gore,
-and piping up the dog-watch, and losing his leg, and fighting for his
-country, and scoffing at its rewards; and I am sure, yes, very sure, he
-said it was at Gettysburgh it all happened. But really now, when you
-come to think of it, things _were_ a little mixed, and I am not
-responsible for the geography of this country."
-
-At this there was another laugh, in which Dick joined, and then in the
-silence that followed, Marianne's shrill treble made itself heard:
-
-"I do quite think with Perkins, mumsey, Miss Dick's the gal for my
-money!"
-
-At which astounding revelation Esther gasped, and the rest of the
-company fell into renewed shouts of laughter.
-
-"Come here, Mimi," said Mr. Slade at last, putting out his hand, and
-catching hold of the child and the dog, and drawing them towards him, he
-lifted Marianne on to his knee, causing Trim to stand in perilous
-fashion on his back legs, since his little mistress refused to release
-him.
-
-"Now, Mimi," Mr. Slade continued in the hush of a breathless silence,
-"you are a most interesting little girl, and what you have just told us
-has made Miss Dick very happy, only we should like to know a little
-more. Can you remember anything else said by the ingenuous Mr. Perkins?"
-
-"He isn't _Mister_ Perkins, 'cept to Sarah," said Marianne, very proud
-of her position, and rather consequential in consequence; "he's her
-young man, and he comes under her window sometimes, and sings 'Sally in
-our Alley,' real beautiful, and that's _her_, and I heard her tell Jane,
-and she's my very own nursery-maid, that he said 'that there wasn't no
-one could hold a candle to Miss Dick, and she was the gal for his money;
-he wouldn't mind putting a fiver on her, 'cause she'd run straight; but
-he wouldn't go much on that there pal of hers, Miss James, 'cause she
-was a shifty one.'"
-
-"Oh, Marianne, Marianne!" cried out Esther, trying vainly to cover the
-confusion caused by Miss Newbold's parrot-like revelations, "come here
-to me." Then as Mimi struggled down from Mr. Slade's detaining arms,
-and danced over to her mother, she said, reprovingly:
-
-"What were you doing, to hear all that senseless gossip? Where was
-Mdlle. Lamien?"
-
-"Poor Lammy had a 'cruciation' headache," lisped the little girl,
-standing first on one foot and then on the other; "so I was just put off
-on to Jane, 'cause nursey was out, and so she and Sarah did their work
-together and I helped 'em, and they were having 'a crack' over the
-company. Is you sorry, mumsey?" the little thing asked suddenly,
-noticing the look of annoyance on her mother's face. "Was I naughty?"
-
-"Yes, I am very sorry," answered Mrs. Newbold, emphatically; "my little
-daughter, you must not listen to such nonsense. You must get your dolly
-next time, or come to me, when Mdlle. Lamien has a headache."
-
-"Poor Lammy!" echoed the child, "she was cross, too, and said Sarah was
-very wrong, every one wasn't made with Miss Dick's bright face and
-sweet temper; but I could make myself like her if I tried to always say
-a kind thing and not a horrid one, though the horrid one might be
-cleverer."
-
-There was a moment's unbearable awkwardness as Mimi's sage remarks fell
-upon the burning ears of her audience; then Esther made a move, quickly
-followed by the other ladies, and the party broke up, each glad to
-escape the embarrassment of the moment. Esther alone noticed Miss
-James's face, flushed with passion and mortification, and sighed
-involuntarily.
-
-She had reason afterwards to remember that look, and her sigh.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-STAGE-STRUCK.
-
-
-For the next week but little was talked of at the Folly, save the
-forthcoming theatricals.
-
-The morning hours grew strangely silent. Gone was the light laughter,
-banished the echo of gay voices, the quick coming and going of youthful
-feet; indeed, to any one entering suddenly and unknowing, the air of the
-house was so changed and transformed they might well exclaim, "The place
-is haunted!"
-
-And haunted it certainly was, but with fair ghosts in modern raiment,
-who, if they moved about at all, did so with tragic step and abstracted
-gaze, or with comic gesture and exaggerated action, accompanied by
-eagerly-moving lips, from which, however, no sound proceeded, while
-each and all held, tightly clasped and closely scanned, one of those
-thin yellow paper books which Mr. French has made so happily familiar to
-all of us.
-
-Indeed, as Dick Darling remarked, with a piteous shake of her head, and
-a twisting up of her round mouth, "There wasn't such a thing as a 'rise'
-to be got out of any one of them, since the craze for acting had
-descended upon them."
-
-Now and then George Newbold, in honour of whose birthday all this
-commotion was undertaken, would come upon a solitary group of
-two--always a girl and a man--who evidently considered learning in
-couples the quickest way, and who would scowl upon him distractedly when
-he approached them, or seem wrapped in contemplation of the other's
-genius as, with halting speech and flushed face, he or she repeated
-their respective lines.
-
-Mr. Newbold had been heard to declare more than once within the safe
-precincts of the smoking-room, in language more forcible than polite,
-that for his part, he should be glad when the "shindy" was all over; and
-as to its having anything to do with him, or his birthday, it was
-a--lie. He didn't see where his fun came in, since he took no part in
-it.
-
-"Paying the bills, old man," replied Jack Howard, lazily, to this
-outburst; "what more can you ask? Isn't that the proud position and
-boast of the typical American husband?"
-
-To which grim comfort George only replied by lighting a very large and
-disreputable-looking pipe, and smoking furiously.
-
-Miss James was among those who elected to study _à deux_, and had
-undertaken, in this way, Jack Howard's education, who, much to Baby
-Leonard's chagrin, had become in some manner, the clever Rosalie's
-slave. Baby, with tears in her eyes, marked his defalcation from her
-ranks, and with a feeling of self-pity and wounded vanity, sought
-compensation in Freddy Slade, and absorption in her rôle.
-
-Between Miss James and Dick Darling coolness reigned. These once fast
-friends were now almost declared enemies, for even Dick's proverbial
-good-nature was not proof against the continued and unbending anger of
-her whilom friend. Miss James had neither forgotten nor forgiven little
-Marianne's unfortunate revelations, and she visited her annoyance and
-jealousy upon Dick, who at least was guiltless of all wish to offend;
-and from brooding over Mr. Perkins' plain and unvarnished words, Rosalie
-grew to forget they were the utterance of a servant, and magnified their
-consequence until she fairly hated Dick, and longed to see some evil
-befall her.
-
-Perhaps the keenest sting of all lay in the fact of her humiliation
-before Mr. Tremain, for, with an unreasoning confidence, she had made
-out to herself that Philip was attracted to her, that he found in her a
-mind superior to the general run of young ladies, and that consequently
-he might, in time, come to fully realise and appreciate her abilities,
-and so, perhaps, would be solved the enigma of her future; for Miss
-James was no longer a _jeune ingénue_, and the thought of continued
-single-blessedness troubled her not a little.
-
-It was therefore very bitter to be humiliated in his presence, and to
-see the lurking smile gather about his lips at Marianne's reckless
-disclosures. Mr. Tremain, be it remarked, was innocent of any
-co-operation in Miss James's schemes; he did not even give her a second
-thought beyond the necessities of every-day life; and the fact that they
-were often thrown together created no suspicion in his mind, as to any
-ulterior hopes being built upon his words and manner. Though, indeed,
-Philip had that courteous and deferential bearing towards women which
-made his smallest service an appeal, and his lightest word a caress--as
-Dick Darling said, "When he asked one to have sugar in one's tea, it was
-with such an assumption of intimacy and entreaty, one might well imagine
-he was suing for one's heart and hand."
-
-Perhaps Miss James built upon this manner, and though so clever in
-ologies and ethics, failed to read aright the signs of this man's heart,
-and raised foundations on sand in consequence.
-
-And still Patricia did not come. Each day Mr. Tremain looked for the old
-familiar witching face in the circle of "fair women" who gathered at
-tea-time in the pleasant library; where the wide fireplace, never empty
-of smouldering pine-logs, was very attractive in the chilly spring
-mornings and evenings. But he looked in vain. The faces were constantly
-changing--for Mrs. Newbold was a great favourite, and had many
-guests--and they were fair enough, too, but none so fair as Patty's, as
-he remembered it, ten years ago, and not so winsome or so full of grace.
-
-He was too proud to ask news of her; ever since his conversation with
-Esther, his heart had gone forth more and more to his little wayward
-love of a decade ago, and though he turned his thoughts resolutely from
-all remembrance of her, and sternly told himself that he had been right
-in his judgment of her, she was but a frivolous butterfly, and as such
-more unsuited than ever to him in his graver years, still there would
-come unbidden a lurking memory of her sweet mutinous face, the wilful
-lips, the flashing eyes, the silks and laces that surrounded her lithe
-form, the faint sweet odour of violets that always accompanied her, and
-he would pull himself up with a start to find his heart and mind gone
-captive to the ghost of his old love.
-
-"Ten years ago!" he said, half unconsciously to himself, "ten years ago!
-It is ten years since we parted; why, Patty must be past her _jeunesse_
-now; she was nineteen then, she is nine-and-twenty now, and what woman
-keeps youth's fairness or freshness when so close on thirty? Patty
-thirty! Patty grown out of wilful, petulant girlhood; Patty with
-suffering and change written on her face; nay, with perhaps a wrinkle
-or two, or even a gray thread in the soft brown darkness of her hair!"
-
-Impossible! He could never think of her save as when they parted, when
-she was in the full flush and arrogance of her young beauty, surrounded
-by every luxury, and flattered by the gay homage of her little court,
-triumphant, sparkling, inaccessible. To picture her in any different
-guise, was to wilfully take down his idol from its pedestal.
-
-He sauntered into the library one afternoon, at the accustomed hour of
-tea, and found the room full of people. Mrs. Newbold was pouring Indian
-Hyson into faultless cups of royal Worcester, which Jack Howard passed
-about, followed by Dick Darling with what she called "the trimmings,"
-_i.e._ sugar and cream.
-
-An animated discussion was going on, so Philip's entrance was unnoticed
-save by Miss James, who beckoned to him to take the empty chair beside
-her. Nothing loth to escape introductions, he fell into her scheme and
-made her supremely happy; for they sat a little withdrawn from the
-general group, and this made Mr. Tremain's position all the more marked.
-Miss James was never quite content unless what she called Philip's
-"attentions" were fully _en évidence_.
-
-Dick Darling's bright eyes spied him out presently, and she brought him
-a cup of tea, handing it to him with a shrug of her shoulders and an
-absolute wink of her eye, at which Miss James coloured and cast an angry
-look after the retreating culprit.
-
-"And when is Miss Hildreth coming?" were the first words that caught Mr.
-Tremain's ear, and riveted his attention at once.
-
-"Not until the very day of the play," replied Mrs. Newbold. "It's rather
-provoking of her, isn't it? But really, you know, Patricia's so spoiled,
-and it doesn't very much matter. She's quite perfect in her part, and we
-can have a dress rehearsal before evening on _the_ day, if necessary."
-
-"And who acts Henri de Flavigneul's part?" asked another voice.
-
-"Oh, Mr. Tremain," replied Mrs. Newbold again. "You need have no fear,
-Mrs. Beverley. Mr. Tremain is _sans reproche_ in his character."
-
-"Do you mean Philip Tremain," the lady persisted, "the clever Mr.
-Tremain, who has such bijou chambers and who is so unapproachable? But
-surely, won't that be a little awkward? Wasn't he once engaged to Miss
-Hil----?"
-
-But here Dick Darling managed to upset the brass water-kettle, and in
-the confusion which ensued the question was never completed.
-
-Soon after the guests took their departure, and as the house party stood
-about the fire waiting for the dressing-gong, Esther said:
-
-"I am sure it is high time we had a rehearsal; we shall never be ready
-if we go on in this lazy fashion. I have sent for Mr. Robinson, of
-Wallack's Theatre, to coach you all, and he will be here to-morrow; so I
-call a rehearsal for that afternoon, and I advise you to study up well,
-for he's a perfect martinet regarding correct lines, and thinks nothing
-of reducing one to abject misery by his sarcasm."
-
-"But who will take Miss Hildreth's part?" asked Baby Leonard. "It's no
-use our rehearsing if the Countess isn't here--it will be _Hamlet_ with
-Hamlet left out, and no mistake."
-
-"Baby is thinking of her grand scene," murmured Miss James aside to
-Philip. "Her part is nothing without the Countess as a foil."
-
-"Some one might read the lines of her rôle," suggested Freddy Slade,
-who, as De Grignon, thought very little of any other character. "It
-won't matter very much if one only gets one's proper cues."
-
-"Oh, but it matters a great deal, thank you," cried Baby, quite roused
-from her usual lethargy. "Who wants to act to bare cues, I should like
-to know? And how is one to work up into anything, if one hasn't the
-proper assistance?"
-
-"You are quite right, Baby," said Esther, when she could make herself
-heard, "and you shan't be put in any such dampening position. Mdlle.
-Lamien has offered to be Patricia's substitute, and she knows the lines
-by heart. I think it's very good-natured of her."
-
-To which there was a general assent, only Miss James whispered again to
-Mr. Tremain:
-
-"You will have no temptation to draw you from your allegiance to your
-Baby-ish sweetheart, Mr. Tremain. Mdlle. Lamien can scarcely offer any
-counter attractions, as the Countess, to Baby, as Léonie."
-
-Then with a quick upward look and the least perceptible halt: "How would
-it be, I wonder, if our capricious leading lady were here in person?"
-
-The glance she gave him was brief; but in the second that her eyes
-scanned his face, she noted the blood steal slowly into his cheeks, and
-the lines deepen about his mouth, and with an angry impotent throb at
-her heart she realised his secret, and the hopelessness of her plans and
-desires. She turned away however, as the gong sounded, with a light
-laugh, despite the dull heavy sense of her own impuissance.
-
-Mr. Tremain was not long in completing his toilette that evening, and
-when he came downstairs and made his way to the library in search of a
-book, it was with the purpose of half an hour's quiet reading before
-dinner. He crossed the room to the low book-cases that lined one side,
-and selecting his volume turned back to the fireplace, where a low
-reading-lamp on the sofa-table made an inviting resting-place.
-
-He had thought himself quite alone, and was consequently not a little
-surprised to see within the shadow of the chimney recess, opposite to
-him, the dark quiet figure of Mdlle. Lamien. He put down his book with
-a half-sigh, and approached her; not even at the sacrifice of his
-dearest self-indulgence could Mr. Tremain be discourteous to a lady,
-still less to a stranger and a dependent. Moreover, he acknowledged to
-himself that Mdlle. Lamien exercised a distinct and strange kind of
-spell over him, reminding him in some occult mysterious way of Patricia,
-though why and wherefore he was at a loss to explain.
-
-It was not that these two women--who had so little in common, whose
-lives were as wide apart as the poles, and whose interests were as
-diversely opposite as well could be--had ever met; and yet--such is the
-strong personal magnetism of certain natures--Philip, though he had
-spoken but twice to Mimi's governess, felt the sense of her power over
-him; a power so subtle, and yet so strong as to amount almost to
-physical force; while always with the sense of this domination came the
-thought of Patricia.
-
-Mdlle. Lamien was sitting where first he remembered seeing her, well
-within the shadowed recess; her face, even in the subdued light of the
-single lamp, looked paler than ever, perhaps because its waxen pallor
-was touched by a shade of red in the cheeks; the kindly shadows hid the
-painful mark that disfigured one of them, but the light, catching the
-silver of the wavy hair beneath the falling lace folds, played about it,
-and across the dark sombre eyes, and thin hands that lay clasped with a
-sorrowful droop on her knees.
-
-As Philip drew near to her, some polite words of salutation on his lips,
-she suddenly raised her head, and turning it more fully towards the
-light, smiled at him. It was wonderful, the effect of her smile; in a
-moment, as it flashed across her face, it transfigured it wholly, and
-restored, once more, somewhat of the youth and beauty of bygone days.
-
-Mr. Tremain stood spell-bound; once again there swept across him that
-strange intangible _something_, that reflex of Patricia, that evanescent
-likeness, gone as soon as caught, yet so tantalising in its reality. As
-he stood silent, amazed, and yet in a manner fascinated, by the singular
-metamorphose wrought by a smile, two lines of an unpublished poem,
-written by a dear dead friend, rose unbidden to his lips. He repeated
-them, half unconsciously, below his breath:
-
-    "Light my path thro' Stygian darkness,
-    By the splendour of thy smile."
-
-Such indeed must have been the light that glowed upon the face of
-Cleopatra, when Anthony called her his
-
-    "Glorious sorceress of the Nile."
-
-As Philip gazed upon the face before him, and no word was spoken, he
-felt a sudden thrill of life and fire pass through him; the blood leapt
-in his veins and flew to his face, he put out his hands entreatingly,
-drawing nearer to her; he felt the subtle essence of her being wrapping
-him around, enervating his mind, his will; and yet he had no power, no
-desire to combat it. For it was not Mdlle. Lamien he saw, it was not her
-white, wan face, with its disfiguring scar, that enchanted him, it was
-not her burning eyes that held his, it was not even the present he was
-conscious of. No, he was back again in the past, ten years ago, and he
-was looking his last upon his sweet girl-love, seeing the mocking smile
-upon her lips, the trembling hands, the piteous, defiant eyes.
-
-"Patricia," he cried, "Patricia!" And as he called her name, the spell
-was broken, the glory faded, the past fell from him, and he found
-himself alone; and only the light rustle of a silken gown, the faint
-click of a closing door, gave evidence of a departing presence.
-
-"Good heavens!" he said at last, drawing a deep breath, and looking
-about him uncertainly, "who and what is this Mdlle. Lamien, that she is
-so like, and yet so unlike Patricia? And what spell does she own to
-trick me into such hysteric emotion?"
-
-Then the door opened, and Long came in, followed by Perkins, and the wax
-candles were lit in the brackets and sconces, and the room from
-semi-darkness and mysterious shadows, leapt into vivid, brilliant life.
-Then came Mrs. Newbold, bringing a touch of this world's goods in her
-latest importation of a Wörth gown, full of joyful content and
-well-being, fastening her gloves and jingling her jewelled bangles, and
-looking very much surprised to find Mr. Tremain in advance of her.
-
-And so the hour passed and the spell faded, and Philip gave no further
-thought to Mdlle. Lamien or, strange to say, to Patricia.
-
-Miss James scored several points that evening in her own estimation,
-and felt almost feverishly anxious to have the preliminaries over with,
-and her engagement to Philip recognised as _un fait accompli_.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-DANGER AHEAD.
-
-
-Meantime the preparations for the theatricals went on rapidly. Mr.
-Robinson came down the next day, and found his amateur troupe duly drawn
-up for inspection. Not one of them, however, was word-perfect, in spite
-of their diligent study, singly or in couples, except Mdlle. Lamien and
-Mr. Tremain, to neither of whom did the text present any difficulties.
-
-Much to Philip's surprise, Mdlle. Lamien proved but an indifferent
-actress; she recited her lines without a mistake, but that was all that
-could be said in praise of her. She was dull, apathetic, heavy, made no
-effort to throw life or emotion into her part, and was, indeed, so
-studiously indifferent, that Mr. Robinson took no trouble to either
-remonstrate with or contradict her, knowing her to be but a substitute,
-and feeling perfectly sure of the real impersonator, who had been
-trained untiringly by him, and had made her _début_ as his favourite
-pupil.
-
-Mdlle. Lamien made it so very apparent that she only appeared in
-obedience to Mrs. Newbold's request, that Philip found acting up to her
-not only laborious, but ridiculous, and consequently shirked his scenes
-with her as much as possible, though not without wondering at the
-strange contradictions of which her character seemed formed.
-
-The days were drawing on now, and only three remained before that one
-which, as Dick Darling remarked, "they were to so appropriately
-celebrate--George's birthday, with George left very much out of it." Now
-that Philip knew Patricia was not expected until the very morning of the
-all-important day, he put away from him all thought of meeting her,
-and, with a suddenly developed gaiety, joined heart and soul in the
-frivolities of the hour.
-
-The day before the great event, however, something happened which
-threatened to deprive the company of Henri's personation, and which for
-the moment, threw even the theatricals in the shade. A letter written by
-Mr. Tremain to his one intimate man friend best explains the situation:
-
-     "THE FOLLY,
-     "_April, 188_--.
-
-     "DEAR MAINWARING,
-
-     "Here I am with a strained wrist and a halo of heroism. The first
-     is uncomfortable, the second undeserved. No doubt you will receive
-     a garbled account of what has occurred, and a highly-coloured
-     report of my 'heroic action and wonderful presence of mind'--the
-     words are Miss James's, not mine. Well, then, to save your brain a
-     shock, and your friendship a blow, I send off these somewhat
-     unintelligible lines. I don't want you repeating the tale, with
-     mock heroics, at the club and about town, and I know your fondness
-     for a good story.
-
-     "Let me say then, as a premise, that whatever of bravery or heroism
-     was displayed, at a somewhat critical moment in a commonplace
-     incident, belongs solely to Mdlle. Lamien, Mimi's governess; and,
-     by-the-bye, I don't know but that it is just at these commonplace
-     times that one's nerve and resolution are most often put to the
-     test.
-
-     "Here are the facts: Mrs. Newbold has a pair of new ponies,
-     George's latest gift, and her last fad; she drove me up with them
-     the day I arrived, and I didn't care for their style particularly,
-     they pulled too hard, and had an obstinate trick of catching at the
-     bit that might prove nasty. Esther's groom on these occasions is
-     Tony, elected, presumably, because of the smallness of his stature.
-     You have seen Tony, and therefore know that he is mostly hat.
-
-     "Very well, this morning being bright and cool, Mrs. Newbold
-     decided to take little Marianne and Cissy Beverley for a drive; it
-     was in vain both George and I pointed out to her that the ponies
-     had not been exercised for the last two days, and would therefore
-     be very fresh and too great a handful for her, she would not
-     listen--her sex never will, you know, when advice runs against
-     inclination--and woman-like, she must play with her latest toy.
-
-     "So off they started, the children tucked in beside Mrs. Newbold,
-     and Tony perched up behind. The little brutes were fresh enough,
-     but Esther had them well in hand, and drove off in true workmanlike
-     style. They had their drive, along the upper road, and round by the
-     Bay, and so through the town to Beverley's house. Here Mrs. Newbold
-     got out, letting Marianne hold the reins, with Tony at the ponies'
-     heads. She lifted Cissy down, and was just turning to give a word
-     of caution, when a cat, followed by Beverley's setter pup, ran out
-     from the kitchen garden and flew directly under the ponies' heads.
-
-     "Then came a sudden shying movement, the light carriage swayed
-     dangerously, and then, with tossing heads, the little brutes broke
-     loose from Tony's hold, took the bits between their teeth, and in a
-     second were off on a dead run.
-
-     "You will admit it was not a pleasant situation for Esther. She has
-     since told me that her first intimation of danger was the sight of
-     her darling's bright sunny hair and frightened blue eyes being
-     borne away in the rocking, swaying carriage, as it sped down the
-     drive, drawn by horses wild and young.
-
-     "They passed the gate safely, and started off down the Terrace at a
-     full gallop. And now my part comes in. I was walking leisurely up
-     from the post-office when, as I neared Snug Harbour, I saw the
-     ponies dashing towards me; in a second I recognised them; in that
-     second they were past me. I started after them, but with a feeling
-     of hopelessness, for who could hope to come up with their flying
-     feet? And though the road was broad and open for several miles,
-     little Marianne--whose piteous white face caught my eye as she was
-     borne by me--might at any moment loose her hold and be dashed out,
-     or dragged in the trailing reins.
-
-     "I put on what speed I could, and as I reached a slight curve in
-     the road, beyond which the ponies would be lost to sight, a woman
-     flew through an open gate and threw herself directly in front of
-     the frightened animals.
-
-     "Thus checked for a second, I saw her measure the distance with a
-     glance, then jump and catch the bridle with one hand, flinging all
-     her weight upon it and never letting go, though the little brutes
-     dragged her several rods. To reach her side and add my strength to
-     hers was but the work of a moment; the ponies, easily tired,
-     submitted to my soothing voice and hand, while little Marianne,
-     who throughout had behaved like a heroine, now covered herself with
-     glory, by stepping deliberately out of the carriage and throwing
-     her arms about the tall, dark figure beside her.
-
-     "I turned then to face my brave companion; it was, as I suspected,
-     Mdlle. Lamien, who stood there, calm and unmoved, the heavy lace of
-     her veil concealing whatever emotion her face might have revealed.
-     It was she, and no other, who had risked her own life to save the
-     child; and yet, Mainwaring, I declare to you solemnly and in all
-     calmness, it was not of her I thought as we stood together side by
-     side; it was not her personality that seemed so near me, nor her
-     spirit that had carried out so brave a rescue. Laugh at me if you
-     will, suggest hysteria and nerves; so be it, I accept the taunt,
-     and repeat again, it was not Mdlle. Lamien who made captive my
-     admiration and esteem--it was Patricia Hildreth. Explain it as best
-     you can. I do but repeat, it was Patricia who dominated me then;
-     Patricia who seemingly stood so close, I had but to put out my hand
-     to touch her,--and yet--it was Mdlle. Lamien who replied coldly to
-     my inquiries, and who walked swiftly away, leaving me with
-     Marianne, and the now quiet horses.
-
-     "Strange to say, neither she nor the child have received any
-     injuries, and I have escaped with a strained wrist--my left
-     one--which will not incapacitate me for to-morrow; indeed, a Henri
-     de Flavigneul with a sling will be a new departure, and ought to
-     prove what Miss Darling would call 'very fetching.'
-
-     "By the way, you come down, I believe, for the play; did I tell you
-     Patricia will also be here? I think in many ways this place grows
-     dangerous, and I shall return to my own den, as soon as the
-     theatricals are over.
-
-     "As ever, old friend, yours faithfully,
-
-     "PHILIP TREMAIN."
-
-But if Mr. Tremain was inclined to treat thus lightly his share in
-Marianne's rescue, the others refused to look at it in so trivial a
-light. Esther, with tears in her eyes, took both his hands and thanked
-him with a tremulous smile.
-
-"I shall never forget it, Philip, never," she said, and turned away to
-hide the falling drops.
-
-George Newbold, proverbially a man of few words, wrung his friend's hand
-in the grip of a giant, and muttered an incoherent "Old fellow, can't
-thank you; it was splendidly done."
-
-And then came Dick Darling, her laughing face sobered for a moment, and
-a look of true admiration in her eyes, as she said:
-
-"Mr. Tremain, you are a brick; it was awfully tip-top of you! I tell you
-what; for downright bravery you 'take the cake!'"
-
-But from no one did Philip receive such delicate and subtle flattery as
-from Miss James. That young lady fairly glowed with the magnitude of her
-admiration. She went about with raised eyelids and drooped lips, as
-though always contemplating, mentally, his past danger, and returning
-thanks for his deliverance. She was also always meeting him at odd
-times, and in out-of-the-way corners, and asking with solicitude after
-his "poor injured wrist," offering to bind it up for him, or write his
-letters, or read to him; which last, as Dick said, "was palpably absurd,
-since Mr. Tremain's eyes and brains were not injured, or out of working
-gear."
-
-Philip, hating all fuss, and especially fuss in which he deserved so
-small a share, made the most of his strained wrist and kept in the
-smoking-room, or his own chamber, the rest of the day, and there nursed
-his rancour against Miss James for being a fool herself, and making him
-appear an equal one; and his resentment towards Mdlle. Lamien, who had
-passed him by almost without recognition, drawing the falling laces
-closer about her face, and not heeding the eager hand he put out to
-detain her, or the alert tone in which he asked after her health. She
-had paused just one brief instant, as though about to speak, and then,
-evidently changing her intention, drew herself up and passed down the
-stairs, not once looking back, or replying by a word to his courtesy.
-
-There was a full-dress rehearsal called for that evening, and Philip, as
-he sat moodily in his own room, smoking his cigar, felt a half savage
-delight in the knowledge that Mdlle. Lamien must appear for it, and
-respond in a somewhat less chilling and uncomfortable manner to the
-requirements demanded by his rôle.
-
-A little before tea-time he heard voices in the corridor outside, which
-he recognised as Dick Darling's and Baby Leonard's.
-
-"Only think; she has actually come," Miss Leonard was saying, "and a day
-before she promised!"
-
-To which Dick briefly replied, "Who?"
-
-"Why, Miss Hildreth, of course; who else are we all waiting for?
-Really, Dick, you grow very dense!"
-
-"Oh, do I?" returned Miss Darling, unmoved. "And so Patricia has come at
-last? Patricia the beautiful, Patricia the inconstant, Patricia the
-slayer, Patricia the conqueror! Well, I agree with you, Baby, 'tis
-something to be sure of her, for Miss Patty is but kittle cattle at
-best!"
-
-Here the two girls walked down the passage, their voices growing fainter
-and then sinking into silence. So Patricia was come. For a long time Mr.
-Tremain sat very still, not heeding his outward surroundings, immersed
-in retrospect; his cigar went out, the fire died on the hearth and fell
-into little heaps of white ashes, the day darkened, the hours drew on to
-evening, and the shadows came out of their hiding-places in the large
-room, creeping up from indistinct corners, and from behind the heavy
-furniture, shaking themselves free from the window draperies, and
-drawing nearer, nearer, until they wrapped him all about in their
-impalpable obscurity, and he became a part of them, as unreal and
-intangible as they.
-
-Patty was come! Patty! And he must see her again, must look into her
-eyes, and touch her hand, and watch the smile come and go upon her lips,
-just as he had known it all, and loved it, ten years ago.
-
-And now a strange thing occurred; at least it seemed strange at the
-time, and Philip could never quite shake off the indefinable feeling of
-the supernatural that then enveloped him, whenever in after years he
-recalled that evening.
-
-His rooms were situated in what was known as the "bachelor wing" of the
-Folly, though not separated from the main corridor, as were the other
-apartments of that class. He knew that next to his chamber was what was
-called the Green Room, occupied by Miss James and Dick Darling, while on
-the other side was the dressing-room belonging to his suite, and used by
-his man-servant; the remaining rooms beyond were bachelor apartments,
-separated from the main part of the house by a heavy baize door, that
-cut off all sound. He also knew that the fair occupants of the Green
-Room were at that hour sipping tea and scandal in the library, and his
-man flirting with the maids in the hall. To all intents and purposes he
-was absolutely alone, as no sound of arriving guests could reach him,
-the greater spare rooms being situated in the west wing. Marianne and
-Mdlle. Lamien's apartments were in the main corridor, but a storey
-above. All this flashed across Mr. Tremain's mind in a second, though it
-has taken somewhat long to explain.
-
-As he sat brooding in the chill dim shadows, conjuring up the ghosts of
-bygone years, and speculating moodily upon the fate that had marred his
-life, and the strange, inconsistent, unwilling homage he even yet bore
-for the woman who had played the part of a gay mocking Cassandra to him,
-and with a dreary pessimist philosophy accepted his destiny as
-inevitable, he became suddenly aware of a faint subtle perfume, that
-stole over his senses imperceptibly, which he recognised physically to
-be the odour of violets. And as this sweet scent swept over him, there
-came before him vividly, a sudden sharp remembrance of the past, while
-the words of the poet rose unconsciously to his lips:
-
-    "--I think of the passion that shook my youth,
-      Of its aimless love and its idle pains,
-    And am thankful now for the certain truth
-      That only the sweet remains."
-
-He was no longer Philip the successful, resting in his easy-chair, the
-idol of the hour at the Folly; but he was Philip the ardent, and the
-impecunious; Philip in a badly made coat, heated and travel-stained,
-hurt and angry; standing in a room that was dainty in its luxury of
-flowers and half lights, with a vision of a drawing-room beyond,
-brilliantly lighted, softly coloured, and from whence came the echo of
-gay laughter, and bright voices.
-
-And now from out that room came slowly, ah, how slowly, to his wildly
-beating heart, a tall slight figure, clad in softest silks and laces,
-with a breast-knot of violets; and as the vision advanced nearer and
-stood half within the shadow of the outer room, he could see the soft
-fair face, crowned with its dead-brown hair, and wearing a look half
-frightened, half pleading in the sweet eyes, and on the arched and
-trembling lips.
-
-Slowly, slowly the figure drew nearer to him; now it was but a few paces
-off, he could almost touch it with his hand, he could see the violets
-rise and fall with the lace upon her bosom; their scent came to him
-strong, and sweet, and pungent. He sprang from his chair, and held out
-his hands.
-
-"Patty!" he cried, "Patty, have you come to find me, my little Patty?"
-
-But even as he spoke the vision faded; there came one clear loud
-whisper, calling his name, "Philip! Philip!" and then, even as he
-looked, the shining lights were gone, the gaily echoed voices silent,
-the figure grew indistinct and unreal, and then vanished, and Philip
-found himself standing in the middle of the room, gazing on vacancy,
-with only the sad perfume of violets left on the air.
-
-He sank back into his chair, bewildered, exhausted, and as he did so, a
-strain of saddest music reached his ears, and a voice that was almost a
-monotone, and yet that struck an answering chord of misery in his heart,
-said, rather than sang, some words that ran in this wise:
-
-    "I am a woman,
-      Therefore I may not
-    Call to him, cry to him,
-      Bid him delay not;
-    Showing no sign to him,
-    By look of mine to him,
-    What he has been to me.
-    Pity me, lean to me,
-      Philip, my king!"
-
-The voice ceased, and Mr. Tremain, his composure gone, his heart beating
-wildly, cried out again, this time with a ring of deepest passion:
-
-"Patricia! Patty, have you come back to me?"
-
-But it was not Patty's sweet voice he knew so well, that made answer, it
-was a far higher, lighter treble that cried out, as the door was flung
-open impetuously:
-
-"Oh, Mr. Tremain, how very dull and mopy of you! All alone, in the dark,
-and no fire!" And Mrs. Esther swept in, trailing her plush tea-gown
-after her, followed by Perkins with a lamp, and Long with a silver tray
-set with a tea equipage.
-
-"Dear me!" continued Mrs. Newbold, coming nearer, and blinking her eyes
-in affected short-sightedness, "how very dismal you look, and how very
-cold you feel! Here, Perkins, make up the fire directly. I have come to
-give you your tea, Philip, I am sure you need it, for you look as white
-as a ghost, and as dazed as a clairvoyant! Put the tray here, Long,"
-drawing up a small table, "there, that will do; now tell your master to
-come to Mr. Tremain's sitting-room, immediately." Then as the two
-servants withdrew, she added with a comical little grimace, "now for
-ten minutes, until George can join us, my reputation is at stake! Isn't
-it awful? and I who have known you since my days of short frocks and
-pig-tails!" Then with a light laugh, "I knew you would be dull, Philip,
-I always think it's very trying work posing for a hero, and you know we
-all insist upon your personating that most uncomfortable character,
-whether you like it or not, so if I were you I'd get all the glory out
-of it that's possible! Now then, here's a cup of tea for you," and she
-jumped up, carrying it over to him, where he sat, half hidden in his
-arm-chair.
-
-The newly kindled fire flashed up as she came to him, and shining full
-upon him, revealed the whiteness of his face, and the look of
-introspection in his eyes.
-
-"Are you not well, Philip?" she asked; and then before he could reply,
-"Why, what a delicious odour of violets! You dear thing, have you got
-some for me?"
-
-But Mr. Tremain made no answer; he put out his hand and took the cup
-from her, saying as he did so: "Then you, too, perceive it, Esther; it
-_is_ the odour of violets, is it not, and yet I have none for you."
-
-"Of course it's violets," replied Mrs. Newbold, positively, "and of
-course you are hiding them from me. Ah, well, I don't mind, I dare say
-you are keeping them for _some one_," and she smiled a little fine smile
-of superiority and knowledge.
-
-After a moment's pause Mr. Tremain asked another question, and in spite
-of his attempted carelessness, his voice had a ring of anxiety.
-
-"Esther, who--who was singing, just now, when you came in, or a moment
-before?"
-
-"Singing?" queried Mrs. Newbold. "Oh, no one; they are all far too busy
-discussing this evening's rehearsal; though, stay a moment--yes, I
-remember now, I did hear some one grinding out a melancholy ditty, as I
-came down the corridor. Of course, it was Mdlle. Lamien."
-
-"Mdlle. Lamien?" echoed Philip.
-
-"Yes," replied Esther, "she has a little, tiny room in this very wing,
-where she keeps a piano and some books; you might hear her here, it's
-just possible."
-
-But Mr. Tremain was not heeding her. Once again he was overwhelmed and
-confused as the strange spell of this woman's personality crept over
-him. He could have sworn the voice was Patricia's, just as the face of
-his vision had been Patricia's! Was he always to be haunted by this
-strange dual resemblance--which was no resemblance--between the Patricia
-of his youth, and this incomprehensible, mysterious stranger?
-
-If the voice was the voice of Mdlle. Lamien, why should it affect him so
-strongly, or why should it seem but the fitting adjunct to the face of
-his vision, since that vision wore the semblance of Patricia?
-
-    "But whether she came as a faint perfume,
-      Or whether a spirit in stole of white,
-    I feel, as I pass from the darkened room,
-      She has been with my soul to-night!"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-AN ARRIVAL AND A MEETING.
-
-
-When Mr. Tremain entered the drawing-room later in the evening, he was
-at once conscious of Patricia's presence. It did not require the
-practical use of his eyes to assure himself of the fact, for to him the
-room and the company were permeated with her personality.
-
-It had always been so with Patricia. When she entered an assembly she
-drew to herself all the light and vivacity and beauty of the scene; and
-the homage which was always immediately accorded her, seemed but a
-fitting tribute to her fascinations.
-
-Other women, by far more beautiful, paled before the witchery of her
-face; other wits, whose slightest expression was a _bon-mot_, faded into
-insignificance when she entered the lists.
-
-And yet she was neither very beautiful, nor very _spirituelle_; but she
-possessed in a rare degree that nameless _something_, that charm of
-presence, of voice, of manner, which is unconquerable because
-intangible, and against which it is worse than useless to resist. It is
-a dangerous attribute, and heavy is the responsibility of those who
-possess it; it may lead them and others to the highest feats of heroic
-sacrifice, and it may doom them to the lowest depths of the woe that is
-eternal.
-
-Philip, as he crossed the room, looked not so much for Patricia herself,
-but rather to where the black coats gathered thickest, and the tinkling
-sound of gay laughter and careless _persiflage_ waxed loudest; there he
-knew he should find Miss Hildreth, for was she not the candle about
-which the silly moths gathered eagerly, glad to singe their humble
-wings, or even spend their lives, if only once the flame of her
-brilliancy might rest upon them, and lift them for a moment from the
-dull round of commonplace?
-
-The seal she affected was indeed a typical one, he thought, as he moved
-towards her with a slight smile upon his lips, his face still pale from
-his recent emotion; and was he any better than his fellows? Were not his
-unwilling feet moving towards her, drawn as the needle to the magnet?
-Was not his heart beating tumultuously at the thought of holding her
-hand in his once more? Was he not, in fact, the silliest of all human
-moths, since he, who knew by experience the cruelty of that flame, yet
-sought it wantonly, glad to bask again for a brief half-hour in its
-baleful light? As he came close to where sat Miss Hildreth, a queen of a
-mimic court, the knot of adorers and worshippers fell back, and accorded
-him, as of a right, a free passage to the lady of their allegiance. In
-a moment the hum of general conversation ceased; even Mrs. Newbold, who
-had watched his entrance with only half-suppressed excitement, felt the
-words die upon her lips, while Miss James made no pretence of even
-listening to her cavalier as she noted with flashing eyes and sullen
-heart the meeting of these whilom lovers, and Dick Darling, with
-sympathy written on every line of her fresh young face, laid an
-impetuous hand on Jack Howard's arm, drawing him a step or two nearer
-the charmed circle. Thus watched by every eye, and almost in total
-silence, Mr. Tremain bowed low before Patricia, holding out his hand, as
-he said in his most deferential tones:
-
-"May I hope that Miss Hildreth still keeps a place for me in her
-remembrance, although it is so long since we last met?"
-
-And now surely, if ever, Patricia earned for herself the character so
-freely bestowed upon her, of petulance and inconstancy. She raised her
-head a trifle haughtily as she replied, and so managed as not to see Mr.
-Tremain's outstretched hand, while her words fell cold and cutting:
-
-"Can Mr. Tremain expect any woman to remember ten years back and own to
-it?"
-
-Then she laughed, a cool, well-trained little defiant laugh, and turned
-nonchalantly to a tall, dark, foreign-looking man, who alone of all her
-court had refused to fall back as Philip approached her. The slight was
-a direct one, but if it told, the hurt was invisible to the world, for
-Mr. Tremain, smiling a little more indulgently, answered her no less
-coolly:
-
-"That Miss Hildreth should remember the number of years since we met is
-answer sufficient, and too great an honour."
-
-Then he bowed again, and turned away, and the crowd of eager satellites
-moved up closer and filled the gap; only Miss James remarked the wave of
-angry colour that swept across Patricia's face, and for an instant dyed
-it crimson.
-
-Meantime, Mr. Tremain moved quietly back, and stationed himself where,
-half-hidden by the heavy falling _portières_, he could study unseen the
-face and form of the woman on whom for ten long years he had bestowed
-the greatest love of his life.
-
-It was with keenest eyes of disapproval that he noted each change in
-her, changes that to him seemed indicative only of the interior
-alteration that had come over her, and that while it gave her the
-polished brilliancy of a costly gem, he felt was gained only by some
-corresponding loss of heart.
-
-Miss Hildreth was dressed in white, without a spot of colour save for
-the large bouquet of Parma violets that lay unheeded on her lap. Her
-costume, though simple in the extreme, yet bore evidence, even to
-Philip, of its costliness, and reminded him sadly, with its soft silken
-folds and filmy laces, of the dress in which he had last seen her.
-Evidently these baubles of fashion had not lost their charm to Patricia.
-Mr. Tremain in his character of critic saw only artificiality in each
-little curl that formed the coronal of soft, dusky hair, crowning the
-small delicate head; he read worldliness in each guarded laugh, each
-well-modulated tone; he descried vanity and pride in the very gestures
-of her hands--those little hands that had once rested so trustingly in
-his, and on which he had showered so many hot, youthful kisses. He noted
-every turn of her head, every line of her sweet face, every movement of
-the slim upright form, and to him it seemed as though a cold hard
-imperceptible coating of worldly artifice and selfishness wrapped her
-around and about, as hard and keen and impregnable as any corslet of
-triply-tried steel, from which all shafts of remembrance, affection,
-compassion, or naturalness, glanced off harmless, not leaving even a
-dent behind upon the polished surface.
-
-This, then, was Patricia after ten long years? This was the woman of his
-love. This was the wilful Patty for whom Esther Newbold had pleaded so
-generously, and towards whom his heart had become as wax in the fire of
-tender remembrance. This was the reality of his vision; he had come from
-the presence of that spiritual Patty face to face with the real
-Patricia, and so coming his heart and soul had been moved with love and
-compassion towards her; he had yearned to make all right between them,
-to forget the past, to knit together the broken skein of their two
-lives, to be, in fact, magnanimous and generous, to hold out the hand of
-forgiveness and reconciliation, and to welcome in return a heart-broken,
-remorseful, penitent Patricia, who should fall upon his heart with glad
-gratitude, while she owned herself vanquished and grateful for the
-immensity of his goodness and patronage.
-
-And he had found instead of this imaginary Patty a woman of the world,
-unmoved by his presence, irresponsive to his generosity, unconscious of
-her own shortcomings, unremorseful for the past, in fact, forgetful of
-it and of him; who, with cool insolence, overlooked his outstretched
-hand, and, with the well-bred impertinence of her class, made plain her
-indifference to him. Well, and was he not right when he told Esther
-Newbold that he would not consent again to play the fool to a woman's
-vanity? Had he not read aright Miss Hildreth's character when she
-scorned him ten years ago, and withdrew her love, because of his poverty
-and his bucolic indifference to the _petits soins_ of her every-day
-life? Had he judged her too harshly? No; a thousand times no! Her
-character was but in bud then, and he had only too well foreseen how
-bitter would be the blossom, though so fair in outward seeming.
-
-Ah, well! Let the dream vanish, the vision fade! He had been but allured
-by the Lorelei of desire, and, however near he had approached to the
-scorching flame of her seductions, he had come forth unscathed.
-
-His meditations were here interrupted by a touch on his shoulder, and
-George Newbold's pleasant voice in his ear.
-
-"I say, Tremain, I want to introduce some one to you----. Oh, no, my
-good fellow, _not_ a woman; I am too much your friend to betray you in
-such a fashion. It's a man for whom I bespeak your politeness--a man,
-and not a brother, since he is a foreigner."
-
-Mr. Newbold, after this, for him, very long speech, stopped to take
-breath, and, as he did so, patted Philip affectionately on the shoulder.
-
-"There he is," he continued, presently, moving Mr. Tremain about, and
-motioning towards the crowd that still surrounded the spot where sat
-Patricia. "Don't you see him? Tall, dark man, pasty face and black eyes,
-wears a red ribbon in his button-hole that fetches all the
-women--there, bending over Miss Hildreth! By Jove! he's scarcely left
-her side since I presented him. She's a witch, is Miss Patty--a witch,
-with a long head, and minus a broomstick."
-
-"Who is he?" asked Philip, not particularly impressed by the stranger's
-appearance. "Where on earth did you pick him up, and what the devil made
-you bring him down here?"
-
-"He picked me up, don't you see?" replied George Newbold, not in the
-least put out by Philip's evident bad temper. "Found him at the
-Club--the Union, you know. Townsend had introduced him, and made him a
-stranger member. He brought a line of introduction to Townsend from Jim
-Goelet, who knew him in Paris. Townsend said he had been asking for
-me--knew my name, he said, from hearing the Goelets speak of me so
-often--awfully kind of Jim and Ada, I'm sure--so he wanted to know me,
-and I couldn't do less than be civil, so I asked him down for the
-theatricals--my birthday, you know--and he leaped at my fly at once, so
-here he is."
-
-"I don't like him," said Mr. Tremain, didactically. "What's his name,
-Newbold, and where does he hail from?"
-
-"Here's his card," replied George, pulling it out of his
-waistcoat-pocket. "I thought I had better be sure about it because of
-introducing him, you know. The women do get so savage when you leave a
-fellow's patronymic vague. Bless them, the dears! They've got their
-'Almanach de Gotha' at their fingers' ends, and know to a fraction's
-nicety just how cordial they should be to each individual mother's son
-of them. So many smiles and graciousness to the elder son of a peer, so
-many less to an Honourable, and so many less again to a younger
-detrimental. The women of this country, my dear Tremain, are mad, simply
-mad over titles. It's the irony of history. What our forefathers fought
-and died for--equality, and the abolishment of mere hereditary
-rights--their grandchildren fall down and worship. For my part, I
-wonder the stern old Puritans don't turn in their graves with horror!"
-
-The card which Mr. Tremain held bore the name of Count Vladimir
-Mellikoff, and had no address save a pencilled one--"Brevoort House"--in
-one corner. The bit of paste-board was as non-committal as the
-stranger's face.
-
-"Is he a Russian?" asked Philip.
-
-"It looks so, doesn't it?" was the careless reply. "'A Roosian or a
-Proosian,' but certainly _not_ 'an Englishman.' Perhaps he's a Nihilist
-in disguise, perhaps he's a dynamiter, or a Land-leaguer, or a
-red-handed Communist, who knows? At any rate, he's got his match in Miss
-Patty; never saw such a case of 'bowl over' at first sight in my life,
-never, I give you my word."
-
-But Philip failed to rejoice in Mr. Newbold's hilarity; and that
-gentleman strolled off presently, in his peculiarly aimless fashion, and
-securing Count Vladimir Mellikoff by the simple device of slipping his
-hand within his arm, led him up to Philip, presenting him with all due
-ceremony.
-
-Mr. Tremain, contrary to the traditions of his country, and taking a
-leaf from Patricia's own book, passed by the foreigner's outstretched
-hand, and with a somewhat forbidding manner and bow, entered into
-conversation.
-
-Count Vladimir, however, was not to be easily distanced or put down; he
-could with rare tact suit his manner and his words to the individual of
-the moment who formed his audience; so now, with his usual keen insight,
-while discovering Mr. Tremain's half-formed distrust and dislike, he
-also recognised his superior intellect and position, and set himself to
-work at once to dispel the unfavourable impression he had made. He had
-not learned his earliest lessons in diplomacy at Europe's politest
-Court, Petersburg, for nothing, therefore it was not long before Philip
-found his suspicions and scepticism melting beneath the charm of his
-manner, and his cultivated, modest conversation. He learned without
-trouble, that Count Mellikoff was travelling in the States for pleasure
-principally, though with a suspicion of political business to give
-interest to his visit; that he was a diplomat by birth and training, and
-a loyal servant to the present Tsar of all the Russias, whom he served
-with the like love and fidelity he had formerly bestowed upon Alexander
-II.
-
-He was a distinguished-looking man, rather than handsome, with an air of
-breeding and distinction in the thin face, keen small black eyes,
-aquiline nose and broad, rather pointed forehead. His manners were
-self-possessed and quiet, he spoke English fluently, and in a pleasantly
-modulated voice, while the few gestures he used were indicative of
-absolute self-control. Mr. Tremain soon discovered that nothing escaped
-his observation, he was aware of every movement of the various groups
-scattered about the drawing-rooms, and while apparently absorbed in the
-topic of the moment, had the attribute of prescience so widely
-developed as to be conscious of the general tone of conversation
-throughout the room.
-
-Philip acknowledged himself fascinated, and ere long dropping his
-habitual reserve, he entered cordially into Count Vladimir's graphic
-descriptions of life in Petersburg. By degrees the conversation glided
-on to more intimate grounds, and Philip found himself asking somewhat
-bold questions as to a certain Russian practice in which he had long
-been much interested. Count Mellikoff replied frankly and with great
-openness, and only laughed a little indulgently when Mr. Tremain
-advanced gingerly upon the spy system of the Tsar's Government. His
-remarks were firm and to the point, and the Count became more and more
-earnest as he refuted them, giving his interlocutor, every now and then,
-a keen and searching look.
-
-"You cannot deny, Count Mellikoff," said Mr. Tremain at last, speaking
-with more than his usual animation, "that the spy system, as practised
-by your Government, makes of every true Russian a special constable,
-whose work is well understood, and whose life is devoted to the
-espionage, not only of suspects, but of every Russian citizen. You
-become, in fact, individual policemen, and you each watch the other with
-keenest scrutiny, ready at any moment to denounce and arrest each
-other."
-
-"Why should I deny it, my dear sir?" answered the Count, very quietly.
-"It would be but useless waste of breath on my part, since all the world
-looks with awe and wonder on the workings of the Imperial Chancellerie
-of Petersburg. Nay, so far from denying it, let me give you some faint
-idea of its workings, and of the far-reaching, all-powerful engines it
-employs. Our system is divided into two sections, one of which is
-devoted to all international or foreign questions; the other deals only
-with the surveillance of the Tsar's subjects, who, for the time being,
-are non-resident or abroad. Our agents of the first section are
-generally well known; as a rule they make no secret of their connection
-with the Imperial Chancellerie, and they consist of both sexes and of
-all classes. Indeed, we find our cleverest work often accomplished by
-ladies. I need but mention Madame Novikoff, whose influence and power
-over a certain Premier of England is but a matter of common _on dits_,
-and who, at one time, seriously affected the foreign policy of Great
-Britain. That work accomplished, she has wrought further mischief to Her
-Majesty's Government by encompassing the defection of Dhuleep Singh and
-enrolling him under Russia's flag. It is not beside the question, sir,
-if, in the future, he does not become a source of trouble to the British
-authorities at Calcutta. That, sir, is one woman's work. On the
-Continent, again, I could point out to you, in almost every city of
-importance, a like emissary. In Paris there was the charming Princess
-Lise Troubetskoi, followed now by that Marquis de ---- and his
-fascinating wife, whose hotel is the gathering-place of all the _élite_,
-and whose identity is as strictly unknown now as when first they
-startled all Paris by the magnificence of their entertainments. At
-Brussels you will find Madame de M----; at Dresden, the Countess de
-B----; in Switzerland, the Prince A. P----; and at Rome, the Marquise di
-P----. Even Egypt is not forgotten, and in the Countess J---- Russia
-finds an able coadjutor, whose position as lady-in-waiting to the
-vice-Queen gains for us many secrets communicated by the British
-Government to the Khedive. And even you, sir, must remember the great
-noise regarding Madame Blavatsky, who, as the priestess of theosophy,
-for many years carried on a secret correspondence with Monsieur
-Zinovieff, then Chief of the Asiatic Department of the Foreign Office,
-and with Prince Doudaroff Korsakoff, Governor-General of the Caucasus?
-But for Lord Dufferin's clear-sightedness, Madame might still be
-carrying on her patriotic work."
-
-"You astonish me, Count Mellikoff," said Mr. Tremain, as his informant
-stopped to draw breath; "I knew that 'the little father' held undoubted
-sway over all his own vast territory, but not that he bisected other
-nations with such regular and effective engines."
-
-Count Mellikoff smiled, and the fire in his deep-set eyes leapt up, as
-he answered:
-
-"Sir, this is but a small portion of the all-powerful protection
-bestowed on his children by our father, the Tsar. Even here, in your own
-land of equality and freedom, his emissaries are ever at work, and from
-every capital of Europe, indeed from many insignificant towns and
-villages, there go forth daily weekly or monthly reports to the Imperial
-Chancellerie at Petersburg. Is it not useless, then, for any one
-individual to fight against so omnipotent and universal a power?"
-
-"Worse than useless, I should say," replied Philip, wondering within
-himself as he spoke, what part was played in the great political drama
-by this same quiet, well-bred gentleman who stood before him.
-
-"But this," continued Count Mellikoff, smiling again, and turning his
-intensely black eyes, in which no pupil was visible, but all seemed
-iris, full upon Mr. Tremain, "this is but one section of the great
-organisation, and in some ways the most insignificant. The second
-section, which has to do directly with the Tsar's subjects abroad, is of
-much vaster proportions, and wields a far greater power. If you will
-permit me, sir, to introduce dry statistics?" And the Count drew from
-his pocket a small but substantial note-book, which he held unopened,
-waiting for Mr. Tremain's reply.
-
-Philip bowed a trifle impatiently, as he said: "I beg you will continue,
-Count Mellikoff; statistics are the back-bone of political economics in
-all countries; to me they bear a special charm."
-
-"I thank you, sir," replied the Count, who evidently was a literal
-translator of the polite Gaelic, _Monsieur_. He opened the note-book,
-and turned over the pages carefully and with a practised hand.
-
-"Ah!" he said at last, "I have it. Listen, sir, to a quotation from the
-reports of the Chancellerie: 'In the year 1884, no less than 890,318
-Russian subjects of the Tsar crossed the Western frontier, for the
-purpose of paying more or less prolonged visits to foreign countries.
-The next year the numbers had increased to 920,563;' and you must bear
-in mind that I do not exaggerate when I assert that every one of these
-travellers is subjected to the same amount of espionage abroad as at
-home. Their every movement is noted, every remark reported, every change
-of residence recorded. There lives no true-born and loyal Russian who is
-not bound by conscience, if not by oath, to report to Petersburg
-anything that may seem to him suspicious, or amiss, in any of his
-fellow-countrymen. It may be only a word, a look, a letter, a handshake,
-nothing is too trivial, because out of trivialities have grown the great
-revolutions of the world. You may be living in India, China, England, or
-America; you may be rich and noble, or poor and dependent; if you are
-one of the Tsar's children, you may be very sure that every day and hour
-of your life is known, nay, is commented upon and discussed within the
-Imperial Chancellerie, no matter how many thousands of miles of sea and
-land separate you from Russia. At any moment the Tsar can call you to
-account; he is no respecter of persons; it may be the highest noble at
-the Court, the poorest serf on the steppes, the fashionable beauty of
-the hour, the hired governess of your children, the maid of your
-toilette, the _valet de place_; the very highest and the very lowest,
-one and all must obey when the voice of the Tsar of all the Russians
-speaks the word of command. No crime can be so hidden but it will be
-unearthed, no reparation accepted unless appointed by Imperial edict, no
-forgiveness sanctioned unless granted by word of the Tsar. Said I not
-right, sir, is it not a grand and wonderful system, this that puts to
-shame Nature's barriers, and acknowledges no limits to its power, save
-its own Imperial will?"
-
-Count Mellikoff ceased speaking, and Philip, looking at him, saw his
-face for one moment lit with the mocking fires of conscious malignity
-and indomitable, cruel perseverance. For one moment only; but in that
-moment the fierce light of his eyes seemed to scorch all who came within
-its radiance--nay, seemed even to traverse the long room and touch
-Patricia with its malevolence. Then the passion faded, and the Count
-stood quietly before him, a smile on his lips, the black note-book
-clasped firmly between the long, thin fingers of both hands.
-
-Mr. Tremain felt all his original dislike and mistrust rush full upon
-him once more. He for one moment felt actual hatred for this calm,
-composed foreigner, and his quiet, well-tutored face, his low voice and
-persuasive manner, and, above all, for the horrible system of torture
-and surveillance he upheld as his tenets and dogma. He gave a short,
-hard laugh as he replied:
-
-"I cannot compliment you, Count Mellikoff, on either section of your
-system. To me, as I said before, you all appear to act only as special
-police spies, each one ready and eager to betray the other should
-occasion arise, and each knowing the other to hold this power over him.
-You have interested me deeply; but, pardon me, I cannot jump with you
-the entire length of the Tsar's fatherly protection, as exemplified by
-the Imperial Chancellerie. I have an old-fashioned prejudice in favour
-of individual free will and independence."
-
-Count Mellikoff made a slight bow, and the smile on his lips deepened as
-he answered:
-
-"At least, sir, you will pay us this justice, you never hear one
-Russian speak evil of another (I speak, of course, only of those of a
-certain social standing), nor will our ambassadors give any direct
-information to foreigners concerning any fugitive from justice, no
-matter how doubtful and suspicious their actions may appear. With us,
-sir, loyalty to our great Tsar and to his Government go hand-in-hand
-with our lives."
-
-Mr. Tremain replied only by a gesture of assent, for, as he began to
-speak, George Newbold came up to him once more, and carried him off,
-with a hurried apology to the Count.
-
-"We want him, you see. Many pardons, but he is needed for rehearsal.
-I'll be back directly," and Philip, thus hustled away, had no time to
-explain.
-
-Count Vladimir Mellikoff stood very still for some moments after Philip
-left him; the lines of care and thought that were graven innumerably
-about his eyes and the corners of his mouth, came forth with startling
-prominence, and gave a crafty, sceptical look to his countenance; his
-eyes gleamed in their hollow sockets, his lips moved quickly, and then,
-with a sudden upward gesture of his right hand, he put back the
-note-book in his pocket, and, turning, walked slowly back to where he
-had left Patricia surrounded by her gay adorers.
-
-The room, however, was empty now, and had Miss Hildreth been in very
-deed but a vision of his own creating she could not have vanished more
-completely--not a trace of her remained. The great carved chair in which
-she had sat was pushed hastily back, and about it, grouped in confusion,
-stood the ottomans, stools, _causeuses_ and low _fauteuils_, in which
-her train of devotees had reposed themselves, all equally unoccupied
-now. Not a trace of the queen of the revels, or her light-hearted
-companions, remained--not one. Yet stay; what is this lying on the
-floor, half-hidden by the fallen satin cushion of her chair? This bit
-of finest muslin and filmy lace, dropped or forgotten by Patricia as she
-moved away indifferent, yet alive, to every note of praise or flattery
-that rang about her.
-
-Count Mellikoff crossed the room with noiseless footsteps, bent down and
-picked up the dainty morsel; it proved to be a lady's handkerchief, and
-in the corner were an embroidered crest, and the initials _A. de L._ The
-Count gave one long-drawn sigh, almost a gasp, and then with dexterous
-fingers folded the delicate article neatly and placed it in an inner
-pocket of his waistcoat. He smiled as he did so, and said, half aloud:
-
-"There's treason in every inch of that cambric and lace! Ah, madame, how
-we overreach ourselves sometimes, and how the odour of violets clings to
-every thread of this little traitor!"
-
-Then he turned and walked down the empty room, and as he reached the
-heavily-draped doors dividing the drawing-rooms from the music-hall, one
-of the curtains was pulled further aside, and he came face to face with
-Miss Rosalie James.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLERIE.
-
-
-Three months before that meeting between Patricia Hildreth and Mr.
-Tremain--out of which had grown such cynical disillusion on
-his part, and which had called forth such cogent reasons for his
-disenchantment--winter still held captive the great metropolis of
-Petersburg. But a winter of such dazzling brilliancy, such blue skies,
-such clear and glittering frost and snow, such floods of sunshine, such
-ringing out of joyful sleigh-bells, such flashing past of fair women
-robed _cap-à-pie_ in costly furs, and such a constant round of gaiety
-and frivolity, as to rob the ice-king of his usual hardships and
-terrors.
-
-Looking on as an unbiassed spectator at the life and vivacity of the
-scene, the riches and luxury displayed day by day on the Nevski
-Prospekte, at the line of handsome equipages, the brilliant uniforms of
-the Tsar's Guard Imperial, at the laughing eyes and fair faces of the
-fairest women of the world, at the hourly ebb and flow of the splendid
-pageant, who could believe, or, believing, realise that not a
-stone's-throw away, beneath the horrible gloomy walls of Peter's
-fortress, there languished men and women, equal in birth and position to
-those gay _flâneurs_ of the present hour, and who once had flaunted
-their colours as bravely as the best, but who now, owing to the
-inexorable will of an acknowledged tyrant, wore their hearts away in
-imprisonment for some political lapse, some inadvertent dereliction, no
-matter how slight; perhaps but a word whispered in a lover's ear, a note
-given or taken, an uncontrolled exclamation, a gesture of emotion; and
-who, victims of that despotic secret police, betrayed, maybe, by their
-nearest and dearest, were hurled in one moment from comparative security
-and protection into the terrible, silent, unapproachable dungeons of
-Petropavlovsk, from which no word or sigh, no cry for help, no appeal
-for justice ever resounds, and into which no whisper of comfort or
-encouragement, no sign of love, friendship, or remembrance, ever
-penetrates, whose only outlook is the still more horrible sentence of
-exile to Siberia, or perhaps a merciful deliverance through death on the
-weary march thither?
-
-The very air of the gay city breathes disaffection and suspicion, while
-upon the brightest countenance, beneath the merriest jest and laugh, one
-reads the fleeting look of terror, or hears the echo of strained
-anxiety.
-
-It was of Venice that Lord Byron wrote his famous line:
-
-    "A palace and a prison on each hand."
-
-And yet, surely, it may well be typical of great Petersburg, where
-fair, and grand, and imperial rises the Winter Palace, guarded night and
-day by ranks of soldiers and police, within which reign luxury, power,
-and wealth, though stalked by the grim shadows of treachery, deception,
-Nihilism; while hard by, the frowning bastions of Peter and Paul tell of
-the first Peter's cruel tyranny, as of the latter-day hand of iron
-despotism and oppression; within whose death-encircling walls languish
-many of Russia's proudest sons and daughters, who, grown hopeless from
-long and fruitless waiting for deliverance, have become
-
-            "... Bowed and bent,
-    Wax gray, and ghostly, withering ere their time."
-
-Thus does history but repeat itself, and the story of _Ivan Ivanowich_
-is rehearsed again and again, only the actors changing, not the drama,
-or the _mise-en-scène_.
-
-On one bright and beautiful morning in January, when all the fashionable
-world of the famous capital were out and abroad, and to all outward
-seeming "youth was at the prow, pleasure at the helm" of the day's
-amusements, a group of some half-dozen men were gathered together in a
-small inner apartment of the building known as the Imperial
-Chancellerie. Of these, some were in the police uniform of the Tsar, the
-others in plain morning dress, in one case enhanced by a great-coat
-lined with almost priceless sables. Conversation, which had been carried
-on in low tones, languished somewhat, and the only sounds that broke the
-increasing silence, were the scratching of a quill-pen over rough paper,
-or the fall of a coal from time to time from the open fireplace. It was
-the owner of the fur-lined great-coat who was writing, and as he sat
-busy and preoccupied, the clear, searching sunlight fell full upon him,
-and revealed a face of more than usual distinction. The brow was broad
-at the temples, growing narrow as it reached the hair that fell heavily
-across it, and which was well streaked with grey; the eyes were
-intensely black, deep set in cavernous sockets, out of which they
-flashed and glowed like smouldering fires; the cheeks were thin, the
-complexion olive; a slight, short beard and moustache accentuated the
-pointed chin and firm, thin lips; the hand that guided the pen was
-slender, nervous, long-fingered, and capable.
-
-In a word, the man writing in the inner sanctum of the Petersburg
-Chancellerie, and the man paying his _devoirs_ to Patricia Hildreth, and
-conversing amicably with Mr. Tremain, are one and the same, Count
-Vladimir Mellikoff. It was easy to see that he was the ruling spirit of
-the group assembled, each one of whom treated him with deference and
-respect.
-
-The quill-pen continued its noisy progress over the official paper for
-some moments, and the silence grew so intense that the tinkling of the
-sleigh-bells and the echoed laughter of the occupants of the droschkies
-as they flew past could be distinctly heard, despite the heavy double
-casements. At length the door opened and another person entered, at
-sight of whom the assembled men fell into attitudes of anxious respect,
-even Count Mellikoff rising from the table and bowing deferentially to
-him.
-
-The new-comer was a tall and handsome man, with a stern, uncompromising
-face, and of alert and dictatorial manner. He was dressed in morning
-attire, and wore on his coat more than one ribbon of merit or
-distinction. He advanced rapidly, bowing comprehensively, and took the
-chair offered him by Count Mellikoff, from which the latter had just
-arisen, with a courteous word and gesture.
-
-This personage, for he well deserves the grander designation, was Paul
-Patouchki, a naturalised Russian, who owned Poland as his mother, yet
-yielded his allegiance to the Tsar; he was the head and chief in
-Petersburg of that secret section of the Chancellerie whose work it was
-to keep strict watch and ward over the Imperial subjects, who, from
-business or pleasure, elected to live without the Tsar's boundaries.
-Patouchki was trusted implicitly by his superiors, whom, indeed, he had
-often served at the risk of his life, and by them, the Emperor of all
-the Russias not excepted, he was entrusted with the organisation and
-development of the most delicate missions; for by no harsher word were
-the despotic actions and orders of the Chancellerie ever designated.
-
-Patouchki seated himself and drew towards him a heavily brass-bound
-despatch-box, and unlocking it with a key suspended from his
-watch-chain, took from it his morning's correspondence; this he
-scrutinised rapidly, sorting out the more important papers, and pushing
-the largest number towards a fair, boyish-looking young man, who had
-entered with him, with a muttered, "For you, Ivor," and then opening and
-reading with quick and comprehensive eyes the few special
-communications he had reserved for his own perusal.
-
-Indeed, every movement and action of this remarkable man bespoke a
-character of keen perceptions, unbending will, inflexible opinions, and
-quick deductions. As he finished his letters he folded them neatly and
-laid them down with nice precision, in due regularity of sequence of
-importance; this done, he leant back and looked up at the men who stood
-somewhat back from him in the same respectful attitudes. This slight
-movement was evidently a signal well known, for each one of the group
-now advanced in turn and laid before Patouchki their reports, which were
-in the form of sealed documents; then falling back again, waited for the
-chief to speak.
-
-When he did so, his voice was harsh and crisp, the words fell from his
-lips with the precision of bullets from a repeating revolver, and it was
-noticeable that, whatever the bearing or meaning of his instructions,
-his countenance and expression never changed or softened; that hard,
-imperious, unsympathetic human mask was never known to show emotion of
-any kind.
-
-"Count Vladimir," he said, addressing the most distinguished of the
-group, after himself, "I have read and considered your report of the
-work done by you in western France, which, I am requested by his
-Excellency to say, does you infinite credit; it has been decided by the
-secret committee of the Chancellerie to give into your hands a somewhat
-delicate mission. What say you, sir, to an expedition into the heart of
-Africa?"
-
-"His Excellency knows he has but to command me at all times, and in any
-mission," replied Count Mellikoff, his musical voice sounding in marked
-contrast to the other's harsh tones; "my life is at the service of our
-father the Tsar."
-
-"Well said," replied Patouchki, shortly; then, turning towards the
-others, he continued: "Gentlemen, we will dispense with your presence;
-we wish you good morning, sirs."
-
-The salutation was a command, and so understood by those to whom it was
-addressed; they responded to it by bowing and withdrawing in silence;
-all but Ivor, who, as the chief's private secretary, was a privileged
-person.
-
-As the door closed on the last departing agent, Patouchki turned
-somewhat hastily towards Count Mellikoff, and bade him be seated. Ivor
-Tolskoi's fair head was bent in studious attention over his official
-papers, and the chief had learned by experience that Ivor, despite his
-boyish face and girlish complexion, was both deaf, dumb, and blind when
-it behoved him to be so in the service of his master, even as his soft
-dimpled hand could, when occasion required, sheath itself in a gauntlet
-of iron, and deal a giant's blow.
-
-"Vladimir Mellikoff," said the chief, dropping the more ceremonious
-title, "we have tried your metal often, and know of what true steel it
-is fashioned; but the mission I am now desired to commit to your skill
-and judgment is one requiring even more _finesse_, delicacy, and
-determination than any that have gone before. Let me put well before you
-its hazards and unpleasant features, that you may withdraw your
-acquiescence, if you so desire."
-
-Count Mellikoff, whose mobile face had responded by varying expressions
-to Patouchki's warning, now flushed suddenly, and as suddenly paled
-again; he leant forward impetuously, and spoke rapidly, the nervous
-fingers of his right hand moving restlessly as he did so.
-
-"In what have I failed, chief, that you should think such words
-necessary?"
-
-"In nothing, Vladimir Mellikoff," replied the other, coldly and without
-change of expression or voice; "we have ever found you ready and willing
-and zealous in our service; indeed, but one reproach can be attributed
-to you, and that is more an attribute of temperament than a fault; _trop
-de zèle_, Vladimir, _trop de zèle_, has ruined more than one diplomat,
-and frustrated more than one mission."
-
-Count Vladimir drew back as if struck an unexpected blow; his eyes
-flashed for a moment intemperately, the lines about his mouth tightened;
-then the habitual and tutored reserve and control of long apprenticeship
-reasserted itself, and when he bowed in answer to the implied reproof,
-his face was as expressionless and cold as that of his monitor.
-Patouchki continued:
-
-"It goes without the saying that your mission will not take you into
-Africa, that was but a _pour-parler_; indeed, you must leave the East
-behind you and travel westward to the great continent of America; your
-work lies there, and if I mistake not, within the somewhat narrow limits
-of New York. You have read the minutes of the murder of Count Stevan
-Lallovich, and you know that our suspicions regarding the murderer all
-point to a woman, either as instigator or accomplice. _You_ must find
-that woman, Vladimir. Stop," raising his hand imperatively, "we ask no
-impossible _devoir_; you shall have every facility afforded you, and as
-the case now stands, you will want no deadlier weapons than tact,
-_finesse_, and delicacy, the surest tools with which to meet a woman,
-since they are essentially her own."
-
-"It is but a poor warfare, chief," replied the Count, a smile curving
-his lips in disdain.
-
-Patouchki frowned.
-
-"No warfare is poor or trivial, Count Vladimir, that sustains the safety
-of our father the Tsar, or that strengthens the hands of his Government.
-Women have proved ere now our most dangerous foes; they strike in the
-dark, and pay no regard to honourable codes. Since, then, we may not
-fight them openly, let us turn their own forces of cunning, artifice,
-and falsehood against them. He who would serve the interests of the
-Tsar must put aside all considerations of sex."
-
-Again Count Mellikoff bowed; and after a moment's silence the chief
-continued:
-
-"You know the incidents of the murder, Vladimir, no need to recapitulate
-them; you know Count Stevan's near kinship to the Tsar, and the
-consequent lesson that must be read to all miscreants who think to spill
-the Imperial blood of Russia and escape unpunished. You know also of the
-oath sworn by that wretched woman, when, by Imperial ukase, her marriage
-to Stevan Lallovich was pronounced void; you know her subsequent career,
-and the chain of circumstantial evidence that points to her as at least
-an accessory to the crime. We have reason to believe that she has
-escaped to America, and is living there in disguise; the chain has
-narrowed its links until we can confine ourselves to one state and one
-city of that great country--New York, or a narrow radius therefrom. But
-so far the Chancellerie has been unable to lay the finger of certainty
-upon her, so far she has eluded our absolute knowledge; and therefore it
-is to you we would depute the task of tracking her, dogging her, and
-bringing her personally within the power and jurisdiction of the
-Imperial Chancellerie. Are you willing to accept this work, Vladimir?
-Remember, we ask it in the service of the Tsar, to whose protection you
-have hitherto, with undeviating fidelity, sworn to be true, even at the
-cost of your life."
-
-Count Mellikoff, as Patouchki concluded, rose from his chair and walked
-quickly across the room to the window. As he did so, Ivor Tolskoi raised
-his fair head and youthful face, and looked after him. "Does he
-hesitate?" he said within himself. "By our Lady of Kazan, I wish the
-chance were but offered me. The chief should find me ready, and as
-adamant against the softest lures of the fairest woman of all her sex."
-Then he dropped his innocent blue eyes, and continued the monotonous
-pen-work on which he was engaged.
-
-Vladimir Mellikoff remained for several long moments beside the window,
-looking out with unseeing eyes upon the well-known scene before him;
-upon the gaily decorated sleighs and droschkies flying by; upon the
-frozen Neva, over whose glittering ice the skaters were deftly circling;
-upon the Austrian band playing before the Admiralty, their light-blue
-uniforms seeming like a bit of the sky above, fallen to earth; upon the
-huge Imperial Winter Palace, whose innumerable windows glanced like
-jewels in the crisp cold sunlight; upon the officers and sentinels
-relieving guard at its gates; upon the throng of brightly attired
-pedestrians coming and going, up and down the broad streets, in quick
-succession; he knew it all so well, had been part of it for so many
-years. Was not this very scene photographed upon his brain's camera,
-with all the high lights accentuated, and all the shadows deepened? Who
-shall say what wave of memory swept over him, as he stood there gazing
-down, seeing, yet not seeing the ever-changing panorama that since his
-boyhood had been dear to him; from the unique charm with which only
-youth and youth's memories can embellish the most ordinary scene?
-
-Did he hesitate, or draw back from this mission laid upon him; did his
-heart and soul shrink from hounding out a woman, whose wrongs and griefs
-had hurried her on to the perpetration of a crime, which even he felt to
-be but an outburst of that savage justice that reigns deep down in every
-human heart? Did he confess to himself that it was but coward's work to
-bring to bear upon this wretched fugitive all the political force of the
-Imperial Chancellerie, with himself at its head as its willing and
-revengeful agent?
-
-He knew well that if he undertook this mission he would carry it
-through to the very end, that was his nature; combining something of the
-sleuth-hound and the bulldog, he could track his prey indefatigably, and
-could fasten his cruel fangs upon it relentlessly when found. But was it
-worth his while, was the game noble enough; was not fighting a woman,
-with her own weapons, but poor sport for one who had won his spurs in
-signal service under far braver and more dangerous circumstances?
-
-As he stood thus, wavering within himself, a hoarse and mighty shout
-went echoing up to the blue vaulted sky; then came the clank of arms,
-the rattle of metal trappings, and a mounted guard swept into sight,
-their scarlet kaftans brilliant against the snow, the precursors of the
-Imperial equipage, in which, as it dashed past, Vladimir recognised the
-Tsar and Tsarina, enveloped though they were in robes and mantles of
-rarest furs. Behind them came another sleigh in which sat two ladies and
-an equerry; as they passed the Chancellerie, the lady nearest
-Vladimir's window lifted her face and turned it towards the grim walls;
-it was a pale and beautiful face, enhanced by the rich cap of sables
-that seemed to embrace lovingly the waves and masses of golden brown
-hair beneath it. As Count Vladimir caught sight of that proud, fair
-countenance, a sudden smile broke over it, called forth by some remark
-of her companion's, and melted all the pure still lines into the
-tenderest curves of youth.
-
-It was but an instant. Then the sleigh had passed by, and was already
-far down the Nevski Prospekte, while the shouts and cries of "Long live
-the Tsar! Long live the Little Father!" grew fainter and fainter as the
-crowd followed in the wake of the Imperial _cortège_.
-
-Count Vladimir started as from a reverie, and unconsciously drew up his
-tall figure proudly, while his face became haughty and resolved. Well he
-knew that fair, proud woman, and long had he served her as the most
-ardent and loving of her slaves. She had been a hard task-mistress, but
-he loved her, and to win her would gladly have sold his soul to the
-Prince of Darkness. She had given him some half-encouragement when last
-he urged his suit, and laughing half tenderly as she dismissed him, bade
-him bring her yet one more proof of his undeviating fidelity to the
-Tsar, augment by one more public expression his unqualified loyalty, add
-one more ribbon to those he already wore on State occasions, and
-then--why, then, she, Olga the beautiful, the Tsarina's favourite, most
-beloved and loving maid of honour, Olga the cold, the proud, the
-unbending, would consider his passionate pleadings, his long service,
-and perhaps reward it in the way he implored.
-
-"You must hesitate at nothing, Count Vladimir," she had ended, "if it is
-to serve our father the Tsar. Remember, it is in small actions, rather
-than in great ones, that we prove our loyalty. Nothing can be too
-trivial or too heroic if it be undertaken for him."
-
-And Vladimir had gone from her presence resolved to win her at any cost.
-Here then, lay his opportunity close to his hand. He turned abruptly
-from the window, and met Ivor Tolskoi's eager blue eyes with such an
-expression of determination and pride that that youth dropped his
-abashed, and felt his chances of superseding Count Mellikoff to be but
-vain and delusive hopes.
-
-"Your pardon, chief," said Vladimir, in a quiet voice, once more taking
-the chair facing Patouchki; "I have taken, perhaps, too much time to
-consider the flattering mission his Excellency would honour me with. My
-answer is, as it ever has been, and ever will be, that I am at the
-disposal of my gracious father the Tsar. My life is his, consequently
-what his Government elect for me to do, I can but consider as an
-Imperial command, and consecrate myself to its fulfilment. I am ready to
-leave Petersburg at a moment's notice."
-
-"It is well said, Vladimir," replied Patouchki, over whose composed
-features passed the faintest suspicion of relief. "My instructions are
-that you leave within the week; to-morrow your papers of detail will be
-given you. I need not remind so faithful a servant of the Tsar that
-secrecy, despatch, and caution should be your watchwords. Be discreet,
-Vladimir, and watchful. Remember how much depends upon our having this
-woman within our power; and remember, also, that in choosing you as
-their emissary, the secret committee have had particular regard to the
-exigencies of the case, and to the fact that you will have to deal with
-people of the upper classes, and through them work your way to the
-completion of the chain of evidence. Distrust every one, Vladimir; but,
-above all, distrust the ladies of the great world, they are our
-cleverest enemies, even as they are our best friends. Your letters of
-introduction and credit will be sent you in due course. And now,
-good-bye, Vladimir, for the present. You have carried good luck with you
-so far, may it not fail you now."
-
-A week later saw Count Vladimir Mellikoff on his way to Paris, _en
-route_ for the United States, and as he settled himself comfortably in
-the _salon coupé_ reserved for him in the _train de luxe_ going
-southward, it was with the memory of Olga's blue eyes looking kindly on
-him, and Olga's hand resting just a moment longer in his than was
-necessary for good-bye, and his heart was warm within him, and he smiled
-as he watched the outlines of magnificent Petersburg fading in the
-distance.
-
-His glance lingered longest on the glittering spire of Petropavlovsk, as
-it rose above the Neva, and when at last this was lost in the distance,
-he murmured, with a sigh upon his lips:
-
-"Fate is stronger than conscience. I go to make war upon a woman, with a
-woman's smile as my reward!"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-A COURT FAVOURITE.
-
-
-It was evening in the Winter Palace--evening of the day on which
-Vladimir Mellikoff had entered on the first stage of his new mission: to
-make war upon a woman.
-
-Within the Palace all was hushed and still; the servants passed to and
-fro with noiseless footsteps and that well-trained air of repose only
-attainable by long and constant effort. For once no official or social
-entertainment was on hand, and the Imperial Family were enjoying the
-novelty of a comparatively quiet evening--a novelty, whose rarity
-precluded any possibility of its charm waxing dim.
-
-The great State apartments, the Onyx Hall, and the _Salle des Palmiers_
-were empty, dark, and silent, hiding their wonderful treasures in the
-gloom and shadows: their priceless tables of malachite and lapis-lazuli;
-their jewel-encrusted frames to pictures rarer and more valuable than
-the gems that surrounded them. From out the dark corners started a
-thousand and one memories of bygone kings and dynasties--of that great
-and licentious Catherine II., to whose energy Petersburg owes so much,
-and the Winter Palace its existence; of Peter, also called the Great,
-who first raised his nation from out of its barbarism; of Napoleon, and
-his restless ambition; of Nicholas, who died broken-hearted when
-Sevastopol fell; of Alexander, the wise and beneficent, father of the
-Tsar who now occupies the Imperial throne, and who strove in vain to
-stem the current of mad republicanism that spread disaffection broadcast
-from the Baltic to the Caspian, and which gathering strength year by
-year and month by month, rolled on like some gigantic wave far out at
-sea, tossing high above the surrounding breakers, riding fearlessly to
-its doom, and breaking with devastating effect against the ill-protected
-breakwaters of monarchical institutions and traditions.
-
-When the Court was alone, so to speak, and free from the onerous duties
-of perfunctory ceremonial, the Tsarina--whose nature was as gentle and
-loving and peaceful as that of her sister, the beloved Princess of
-England's hopes--shunned the vast State chambers, and held her _petites
-réunions_ in a smaller suite of apartments, within which were gathered
-every luxury of modern civilisation, and where, when the heavy plush
-_portières_ were drawn, the great stoves emitting the heat of a furnace,
-and the logs piled high on the low fire-dogs, it was possible to forget
-the ice and snow without, even as in looking upon the various spoils and
-souvenirs of every clime and country, from the rich silks and perfumed
-woods of the Orient, to the more homely comforts of Great Britain, it
-was possible to forget that this was Petersburg, and become oblivious to
-those frowning walls and cruel dungeons, mocked by the names of the two
-Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul.
-
-Nevertheless, there they stood, grim, real, dauntless, and within them
-languished the poor "prisoners of hope," wrapped, at least let us pray,
-in that merciful and dreamless sleep, which the dark hours bring even to
-the most miserable.
-
-This favourite set of rooms of the Tsarina's opened one from another,
-each growing smaller until the last was reached, which was indeed a
-veritable nest of down for the fair Danish dove who had mated with the
-bold Russian eagle. Here the Empress received her most privileged
-guests, and permitted audiences that were of a peculiarly private or
-domestic order. Here, too, would come the Tsar, and throwing himself
-down into one of the low velvet ottomans, put from him his habitual air
-of reserve and anxiety, and enter with affectionate raillery into the
-spirit of the hour; or should such be his mood, at a sign all would
-withdraw, leaving him alone with the Empress, who at such times threw
-aside the conventionalities of a life hedged in by etiquette, and became
-only the loving, faithful wife, the intelligent companion, the cheerful
-counsellor and consoler.
-
-Much indeed might the walls of that blue chamber have revealed could
-they have spoken: secrets on which hung the fate of nations; decisions
-that were to make history; and confidences that wrung tears of blood
-from the stern Tsar, whose heart, like that of his father, loved his
-mighty empire, but who, unlike him, failed to inspire complete trust in
-his nation's heart.
-
-On these occasions, the larger room of all was given up to the use of
-the Court; and here gathered the different ladies and gentlemen attached
-to the _personnel_ of their Imperial Majesties; and here, too, were
-often admitted particular friends of the bedchamber ladies, the maids
-of honour, the equerries, and other official personages of the Court.
-The orders, however, for such entrance were somewhat difficult to
-obtain, and each person who entered was keenly watched by a member of
-the secret committee of the Chancellerie, whose function, unknown to any
-but himself, obtained for him the fullest opportunities of scrutiny.
-
-And in this incognito lay the power of the Chancellerie; for it might be
-the very individual to whom you spoke so confidingly; the friend, man or
-woman, on whose fidelity you relied implicitly, the young girl with the
-innocent face, the youth with the bold free carriage, the elderly
-courtier with venerable grey locks, or the _dame d'honneur_ of highest
-repute, who was the secret agent and in the secret pay of the
-Chancellerie, and who, at a given signal, would deliver you up to its
-iron laws, its fearless judgments, and cruel sentence.
-
-On this particular evening the outer _salon_ was well filled with
-guests, whose gay voices and subdued rippling laughter mingled with the
-strains of the Household band, and bespoke some hearts at least among
-the number as free from carking care. French was the language spoken,
-for Petersburg outvies even gay Lutetia itself in its undeviating
-worship of all things Parisian.
-
-Within an embrasure of one of the heavily-draped windows, the curtains
-of which had been pulled somewhat hastily apart, sat a youthful couple,
-who would in any assembly have stood boldly forth as being more
-beautiful and distinguished than is the usual type of humanity. Of
-these, one was a young man, the other a woman scarcely entering her
-second decade, but with so much of imperious grandeur and haughty pride
-of race about her that to call her by the less dignified title of girl
-or maiden would seem an impertinence.
-
-The young man was of more than ordinary proportions, tall and
-broad-shouldered, with a look of the innocence of childhood still
-clinging to the soft curves of his fair Northern face, that was revealed
-in his joyous azure-blue eyes, and reflected in the crisp golden curls
-which, despite the rigid cropping according to the last Paris mode, lay
-in tiny rings all over his round and well-shaped head. A close observer
-would perhaps have noted that his throat, though full and well
-developed, owned a straight and clean back line, denoting a lack of
-amative passion, and that the head and forehead were most developed
-where the phrenologists tell us to look for cruelty and perseverance.
-His hands were remarkably white, and kept in scrupulous order, even to
-the finely-rounded filbert nails that shone with the reflected sheen of
-a _polissoire_ and _poudre des ongles_. This was his only bit of
-cox-combry, however, and for the rest, it may be said, he had a hearty
-laugh, a merry jest, and a cheerful word for every one, and, while
-boasting more friends than any young patrician in Petersburg, yet
-admitted no one to a closer intimacy than that accorded by outward
-cordiality of manner.
-
-This was Ivor Tolskoi. We have seen him before, in the inner sanctum of
-the Chancellerie, when Vladimir Mellikoff accepted his mission; and Ivor
-cursed the fate that trembling in the balance, fell in the favour of the
-older and more experienced man, and thus shut him out from winning his
-first spurs in the service of his master.
-
-Ivor Tolskoi was, in many ways, an _enfant gâté_ of his world. He was an
-orphan, and very rich; a ward of the Tsar's, owning large estates in the
-wild Ural province, which he seldom visited, and serfs whose numbers he
-had never counted, who were free in name only, and whose sole use in the
-world was so to labour for him that his revenues year by year never
-failed, and never grew less. He owned no title, and he would have
-scorned the acceptance of any mere bauble of to-day's creation; he would
-have told you, with a toss of his golden head and a ringing laugh, that
-the Tolskois were lords of the soil and of human souls long centuries
-before Peter came to the Imperial throne, and raised his nation from out
-their barbaric indolence; and that while the imperious Tsar was learning
-ship-building at Deptford, his ancestor of that period was riding at
-large over his vast properties, hunting the wild boar and the wolf, the
-ermine and marten, across his own territory, whose boundaries not even
-he could define. It would ill become him, then, the last scion of his
-grand old race, to accept a tawdry title in place of his own simple
-name, Ivor Tolskoi, which each eldest son had born in succession for
-generation after generation, and before which the peasants upon his wide
-western property turned pale and trembled.
-
-His companion was his equal in feminine beauty, and there were many
-circumstances in the life of each strangely similar, which served to
-draw them closer together, and more intimately than is usually the case
-in a country and a Court where etiquette governs rather than affinity.
-
-The face of the young woman who leant back negligently against the pile
-of velvet cushions Ivor had placed for her, was strangely beautiful,
-with the weird, almost unholy beauty of an enchantress of old; such
-beauty as Faustine wore, or Cleopatra, or Messalina, which enslaves the
-senses at once, without leaving any loophole for calm reason. She too
-was tall and grand of build, though slight, as became her
-three-and-twenty years; her shoulders bore the curves of the Milo Venus;
-her neck and bosom fell in the round charming lines of maidenhood; her
-head rose proudly from the short classic pillar of her throat, and was
-carried with an almost royal grace; the sweep from chin to ear was
-perfect in its fine symmetry; the low arched forehead bespoke more than
-ordinary intelligence; beneath it her eyes, set wide apart and wearing a
-look of innocent fearlessness, were of the deepest shade of violet, to
-which the black lashes and pencilled brows gave the piquancy of
-unexpectedness, for her hair, which was rolled high in heavy masses and
-fastened with a jewelled arrow, was brown in colour, shot through with a
-thousand lights of golden auburn; her complexion was pale but warm, and
-the small perfectly modelled bow of her mouth was tinged with vivid
-crimson, adding the perfecting note to her ideal countenance.
-
-In manner she was cold, proud, repellent, though beneath the outward ice
-ran a fire of passion that once let loose would sweep away all barriers
-of conventionality, and stop at nothing to accomplish its desires.
-
-Like Ivor, she was an orphan, and like him untitled, but there ran
-within her veins a strain of the great Catherine's blood, transmuted to
-her from an ancestor who could boast of Imperial favours, and of this
-bar sinister in the past Olga--for she it was--was prouder than of any
-patent of a lesser nobility. It may be that, generations intervening
-notwithstanding, this last fair representative of her race possessed
-some traits and characteristics of her Imperial ancestress, for like
-her, she was both strong and weak, impetuous and calculating, passionate
-and mercenary, forgiving and tyrannical; and was indeed a pure specimen
-of the Russian type, in which are so strongly and so dispassionately
-blended the master passions of cruelty and remorse.
-
-Olga Naundorff had known no home save that of the Court, for though she
-inherited a fair property from her father, it was situated many long
-miles from Petersburg, on the southern frontier amidst the trackless
-wastes of the steppes, where for nine months continual snow reigned, and
-where the long dreariness of winter was fraught with the terror of
-isolation and dull monotony.
-
-Olga remembered but little of this far-away home, and shunned such
-memories whenever they came to her, with an instinctive shrinking from
-the unknown and undesirable.
-
-Her father, who had been a brave and gallant officer, who had served his
-country on many a battle-field, and loved his Tsar, the Alexander of
-good deeds, with a strong and fervent love, which nothing, not even the
-claims of his little daughter, could outweigh, and who was trusted and
-loved in return by his Emperor, brought the little motherless Olga, when
-but a child of ten, to Gatschina, presented her to the Tsar, demanding
-an asylum for the pretty child, whose mother was dead, and whose
-fearlessness and beauty made her the more open to an untoward fate.
-
-The great Alexander was pleased to gratify his faithful friend and
-servant, and was also captivated by the tiny maid's rare loveliness; and
-so it came about that General Naundorff's desire was granted, and his
-little Olga became the pet and plaything of the Imperial Court. There
-she grew from girlhood to maidenhood, and, as her beauty developed more
-and more, and her intelligence expanded, she became a special favourite
-with the Tsar, to whose private apartments she had free access, and from
-whom she gained by her pretty imperious pleading, many a coveted favour
-for some loyal subject of his Majesty.
-
-The news came of her father's death, but it made little difference to
-Olga; she had scarcely known him, she could not be expected to weep for
-one she did not love. Her first real sorrow fell upon her when by the
-hand of an assassin, the kind and gracious Alexander II. passed from
-life to death. Her grief was inconsolable then; she wept for days and
-nights, and mourned him with a deep abiding sorrow, that fostered and
-strengthened her hate and abhorrence of those who, while calling
-themselves Russians and patriots, planned secretly, and in the dark, for
-the overthrow of the Imperial throne.
-
-She was grown a woman then, and a rarely beautiful one, with her fair
-proud face with its touch of royal scorn, and her free, upright,
-graceful form. It was at this time that Vladimir Mellikoff first saw
-her, and claiming distant cousinship, proceeded straightway to fall in
-love with her and worship her; a worship she accepted as a right, but a
-love which she only tolerated with indifference.
-
-When the new Tsarina formed her personal Court, she named Olga as maid
-of honour, and when first the young girl entered on her duties, received
-her with such winning sweetness and graciousness, as to subdue utterly
-the proud heart, and cause it to transfer to the young and still lovely
-woman all its treasure of intense veneration, affection, and allegiance
-which it had held for the beloved Alexander.
-
-Count Mellikoff, meantime, succeeded but poorly in his suit; Olga was
-neither touched nor won by his persistency; she accepted his homage and
-his passionate devotion with her superb Imperial grace, but granted him
-nothing in return, save perhaps when she saw him wavering and uncertain,
-torn between his love and his self-respect, then she would bestow on him
-a smile of dazzling softness, or let her slim firm fingers rest a moment
-within his, or murmur some half inaudible word of praise or protest,
-when he would be again at her feet, her slave, her adorer, her
-passionate lover.
-
-He had spoken out his love at last, and urged his claims upon her so
-vehemently and with such emotional force, as to rouse her even from her
-habitual indifference, and to call forth that half promise, on account
-of which Vladimir had started on his new mission with such an exulting
-heart and such visions of glorified future bliss.
-
-There was one _habitué_ of the Court, however, whom Olga often favoured
-with her rare smiles, and in whose company she always appeared frankly
-content; this was Ivor Tolskoi, in whose fair good looks she took honest
-pride, and for whom she laid aside something of her haughty, imperious
-manner. Indeed, Ivor was so bright and joyous, such an incarnation of
-the brilliant sparkling cold sun of Petersburg, which exhilarates but
-does not warm, it was impossible not to like him, and not to melt under
-the cool fire of his blue eyes, and the fine if cruel smile of his lips;
-only Olga failed to see the coldness or the cruelty.
-
-She fancied she knew Ivor Tolskoi's life from Alpha to Omega, that there
-was not a page of his daily existence that was not open to her
-inspection, and yet she in reality knew nothing; not even his daily
-avocations, beyond the light ones imposed upon him by Court regulations,
-and never dreamed that he was one of the most vigilant and most active
-members in the secret service of the Chancellerie. Indeed, Ivor
-Tolskoi's boyish face and youthful laugh seemed incompatible with
-intrigue and surveillance; and Ivor knew this, and took good care to
-play both his rôles with diplomatic _finesse_ and success.
-
-"And so, Ivor," Olga was saying in her clear, cold voice, "you really
-believe that that wretched woman of the _bourgeoisie_ had a hand in the
-murder of poor Stevan Lallovich? Upon my word, to what heights will the
-_canaille_ next aspire, if even a Prince of Russia is not safe from the
-stab of a knife in the hand of a red republican? Do you think she
-murdered him, Ivor?"
-
-"Ah," replied Tolskoi, "you put a blunt question, Mdlle. Naundorff," for
-though Olga addressed him with the familiarity of a sister, Ivor never
-so far forgot himself as to reply in like manner. "How dare one express
-any opinion on any subject in these days of treachery, since the very
-walls have ears and the very doors speak? And even should you press me,
-mademoiselle, I could not answer; I never have any opinion on any
-subject more important than a ball cotillon; _c'est trop de peine_." And
-Ivor threw back his head and laughed, his full and hearty peal, at
-sound of which several of the other guests of the _salon_ stopped their
-idle occupations and laughed in sympathy. But Olga frowned and beat her
-pointed slipper impatiently against the foot-stool on which it rested.
-
-"Don't be silly, Ivor," she said; "and don't laugh so loud, you will
-have old Madame Bettcheriski down upon us for breach of etiquette. When
-will you cease to be such a boy?"
-
-"When I cease to sun myself in your smiles, mademoiselle," replied the
-young man, gallantly, and with a half-mocking bow. "When that unhappy
-day dawns for me I shall take leave of my youth for ever, and seeing it
-fall from me, grow as 'grave and reverend a signior' as Count Vladimir
-himself."
-
-To this allusion to her absent lover, Olga made no rejoinder save by a
-scarcely perceptible upward movement of her head. She waited a moment
-before she spoke again, and in the silence that fell between them,
-there floated across the room the conclusion of a sentence, spoken in a
-musical though rather high-pitched voice:
-
-"It is true, nevertheless. She may not care for him, but when he returns
-to Court our proud and haughty favourite will be prepared to bestow her
-hand upon him."
-
-Then the speaker's voice faded away into space, and Olga looking up
-found Ivor's eyes fixed upon her with a strange and unwonted fierceness
-in their blue depths. Her own fell beneath his glance, and she felt with
-annoyance the blood rise in her face, and spread its crimson over her
-pale cheeks.
-
-She was angry at this school-girl exhibition, and drew herself upright
-into a more dignified attitude, folding her hands on her knees, and
-looking up boldly into Ivor's face; as she did so the colour faded as
-quickly as it had come, leaving her paler than before. Tolskoi continued
-to gaze at her intently; he bent forward a little, bringing his golden
-head nearer her dark one, and said, in a voice quite different from his
-usual gay _insouciant_ tones:
-
-"It is my turn to ask a question. Is this true, mademoiselle?"
-
-"Is what true?" replied Olga, under her breath, half fascinated by the
-face and eyes looking down so close upon her; a face that bore the
-familiar lineaments of Ivor, but with an expression she had never seen
-there before, and which made this very familiarity seem strange and
-repellent.
-
-"Is it true," repeated Ivor, in the same low voice, "that when Count
-Vladimir Mellikoff returns--if he returns--Mademoiselle Naundorff will
-bestow upon him the honour of her hand? Is it true? For that is the
-reading between the lines, is it not? Our Court recognises but one proud
-favourite, mademoiselle, and who should know her name so well as you? At
-present she lacks but one courtier in her train, Count Vladimir. You see
-the riddle is not difficult of solution; but is it true--Olga?"
-
-It was the first time he had ever called her by her name, and
-Mademoiselle Naundorff winced perceptibly as she heard it fall from his
-lips, in the low suppressed tones of his voice. She started, and threw
-back her head with her favourite gesture, as if she would throw off the
-burden of the hour, and free herself from its restrictions.
-
-"Have you a right to ask, Ivor?" she answered, coldly. "How can you be
-so foolish as to heed a bit of incomplete gossip, blown to us from the
-lips of Countess Vera, light as feather-down, and without beginning or
-end, as are most of the Countess's scandals?"
-
-"You may laugh at me if it pleases you," replied the young man,
-brusquely; "but I will have my answer. Is it true?"
-
-"_Will_ have--and to me!" cried out Mademoiselle Naundorff, hasty anger
-in her voice, then laughing a little. "You deserve to be punished for
-your temerity. What--since you will have it so, Ivor--what if to oblige
-you I admit that perhaps when Count Mellikoff returns, if I see my way
-to it, and am not too _bornée_ or fatigued, I may--what is the happy
-phrase?--bestow my hand upon him. There, you have your answer, sir."
-
-She leant back again against the cushions, and scrutinised him through
-her half-closed eyelids. Ivor's face was white with passion; his blue
-eyes seemed made of steel, so hard and brilliant was their lustre. He
-did not move from his position, or take his gaze from her face, and when
-he spoke it was with no outburst of anger or eloquence, but in the same
-repressed low voice.
-
-"Then I warn you, Olga, let him take heed, for you shall never give to
-him what I know you would refuse to me. Should he dare to boast of you
-as won by him, I will make him eat his own words, even though it be with
-a knife of steel."
-
-Olga shuddered involuntarily, but controlling herself quickly, said
-quietly, with a little laugh: "You speak at random, my poor Ivor; what
-wish of yours have I disregarded, or what request left unfulfilled? Is
-there anything more I can do for you?"
-
-But Tolskoi was not to be put off with light words or meaningless
-phrases; his face did not relax, nor a softer expression come to his
-eyes, at her bantering words, though he spoke somewhat less harshly.
-
-"Yes, you can give me one thing more; you can give me your promise never
-to marry Vladimir Mellikoff without my consent. Will you promise me
-this, Olga?"
-
-Mdlle. Naundorff was now, however, thoroughly roused; she sprang to her
-feet and drew up her tall figure to its full height, while the proud
-lines of her face became prouder and more imperious, and her voice
-vibrated with suppressed anger, though her tones fell calm and cold.
-
-"Certainly not, Monsieur Tolskoi; you presume too far on good
-fellowship. I make no promise to you, or any one, that shall control my
-free actions; what you ask is preposterous, Ivor, preposterous."
-
-"Then I will kill him," said Tolskoi, quite calmly, and without any
-extraordinary vehemence in his voice or manner; "I will kill him."
-
-And as Olga drew back, startled at his unexpected reply, he bent forward
-and caught her hand in his.
-
-"Remember what I say, Olga; if he presumes to think that he has won you,
-or dares to say so, or if I learn in any way that you are his promised
-wife, I will kill him. He shall not possess what I would give my life to
-gain, and what you know would be refused me."
-
-Then he dropped her hand, and before Olga could recover from her
-surprise, had passed down the long _salon_, and through the open
-_portières_ into the great corridor that led to the palace court-yard.
-
-Olga remained for some moments dazed and astonished, trying in vain to
-reconcile the Ivor of the past with the Ivor of the moment, wondering
-vaguely at his strange words and altered aspect. She had known for some
-months that he made no secret of his devotion to her, but he had always
-urged his admiration upon her in such a happy half-bantering fashion,
-she only regarded it as a boy's ardour, nor took him more seriously than
-his youthful face and careless manner demanded.
-
-He had, indeed, once hinted at a deeper feeling, but she had laughed and
-told him not to burn his fingers with fire, and he, after a moment's
-annoyance, had laughed with her, and returned to his old openly
-expressed adoration.
-
-But now, within this last half-hour, she had seen below the surface of
-that gay exterior, and she drew back half alarmed, half fascinated at
-what she beheld there. And although she had had her eyes opened to the
-other side of Ivor's nature, she had ruled and controlled men too long,
-seen them become her willing and abject slaves at a mere smile or word
-too often, to give much weight to Tolskoi's threat; it amused her
-rather than terrified her.
-
-"Poor Ivor," she mused; "how very melodramatic, and how youthful! I must
-get you into better training, Ivor, or we shall have you really
-committing some foolish escapade, and mixing my name up in it, in a way
-I should not care for."
-
-Then she turned from the window, and as she did so came her summons to
-the Empress, and hastening to obey the command she forgot Ivor entirely,
-or remembered him only to say half vexedly: "After all he told me
-nothing about Count Stevan's murder. Oh, tiresome Ivor!" And thus she
-dismissed him, and all other annoying subjects, with but scant
-courtesy.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-A WOMAN SCORNED.
-
-
-When Count Vladimir Mellikoff drew back the _portières_ that shrouded
-the doors of the large drawing-room at the Folly, he came face to face
-with Miss Rosalie James, and for a full moment these two gazed at each
-other in a silence that might have been born either of unexpectedness,
-or preconcerted arrangement.
-
-Count Mellikoff never allowed ordinary emotions to be visible in his
-face; he had that absolute control of feature and muscle which only long
-training and an inflexible will can effect. It is seldom one comes
-across such a countenance, over which no appreciable change ever
-passes, and upon which the passions leave no reflex, not even the
-slightest shadow, such as troubles a pool when a cloud passes overhead,
-that is gone even as one watches its approach. Such a countenance
-betokens one of two temperaments: a nature too weak and vacuous to feel
-or comprehend any master passion, and which from very inanition becomes
-irresponsive, or one so strong and so intense as to fear its own
-capabilities, and therefore strives to conceal all outward expression,
-lest its lightest emotion might exhibit something more than the usual
-conventionalities.
-
-Of the latter type was Vladimir Mellikoff. From his boyhood he had
-taught himself the value of repression, and in it had found his greatest
-power. He had learned to so utterly subdue all outward expression of the
-passion that at the moment might be consuming him, as to remain
-absolutely passive under the most trying circumstances, and so to
-control his every feature, that not one muscle, not so much as the
-trembling of his lips or the lifting of his eyebrows, ever betrayed him,
-when it was his will that they should not.
-
-And yet, perhaps, the greatest charm that he possessed was the sudden
-and unexpected brilliancy or softness which he at times allowed his
-countenance to assume; then all the harsh, decisive lines faded from
-about his mouth and eyes, the stern rigidity of chin and brow relaxed,
-the gravity of the dark eyes, in their deep settings, grew tender, and
-the expression of melancholy harshness melted beneath the sweetness of
-his smile.
-
-Olga Naundorff, who knew him so well, had seen this change in him more
-often than any one, yet even to her it was always new and startling, and
-filled her with a certain feeling of amazement, not unmixed with pity.
-For to Olga, the beautiful, as to her Imperial ancestress, men and men's
-passions were but playthings of the hour, and should, like all
-mechanical toys, be perfectly regulated by ingenious clockwork,
-warranted never to get out of order, and never to carry their cleverness
-beyond certain boundaries. If any one of her puppets over-stepped these,
-and showed signs of unconventional or barbaric passion, she lifted her
-dark brows in astonishment, raised her proud head a trifle more
-haughtily, and with superb disdain reduced the poor bungler to his
-proper state of imbecility, and then passed him by ever after with an
-intensity of quiet scorn, that killed by slow but sure degrees.
-
-To her mind all passion was vulgar, and to be vulgar was to write one's
-self down a fool; fools had no place in her world. They might be of use
-in some other part of the globe, that was not her affair; to her they
-were bores, and bores, as we all know, are obnoxious pests; away with
-them, let them be anathema. Life is too short to expend any portion of
-it on emotions that ruin the digestion and spoil the most perfect
-complexion.
-
-For one entire moment Miss James and Count Vladimir looked full in one
-another's faces, and in that moment each pair of dark eyes read
-something in the other that caused them both to sink simultaneously,
-while over the girl's cheeks a faint dull red rose and faded.
-
-The half smile, mocking yet satisfied, that had come to Count
-Mellikoff's lips as he picked up the bit of lace and muslin from beside
-Patricia's chair, still lingered, and now it deepened somewhat, as with
-a bow he stepped back, holding aside the heavy draperies, and by an
-almost imperceptible gesture commanded Miss James to enter. She obeyed
-him, and as the thick plush curtains fell behind her with a dull rustle,
-they seemed to her excited fancy to shut her out for ever from the
-gaiety and freedom of the life she had quitted only a moment ago, even
-as they shut her within the deserted drawing-room, with Vladimir
-Mellikoff as her only companion.
-
-She laughed nervously and put her hand up to her throat as she did so,
-trying in vain to shake off the absurd superstitious feeling that was
-creeping over her, and that seemed to enfold all her senses and render
-her acquiescent and obedient to the will of this tall dark man, who
-stood before her, and whose distinguished face, with its burning eyes
-and compressed lips, fascinated her, as the serpent fascinates the dove.
-She could even think of this simile, and in her heart laugh at it, but
-she could not shake off, or overcome the fact of his mesmeric influence
-upon her.
-
-Count Mellikoff drew a low _causeuse_ towards her, and with grave
-politeness begged her to be seated. She sank down upon it with passive
-obedience, and folding her hands on her knees looked up at him; she held
-a _marquise_ fan of ostrich plumes, these trembled somewhat; it was the
-only sign of emotion that escaped her.
-
-Vladimir turned from her and walked the length of the drawing-room,
-standing for a moment at the entrance to the conservatory, where lived
-the golden-hued Maréchal Niel roses; their pungent yet faint perfume
-permeating the atmosphere, while their heavy heads drooped with the
-burden of their own loveliness, half hidden in the tender green of their
-leaves.
-
-As he walked away from her, Rosalie roused herself from the strange
-lethargy that had subdued her; she threw back her head, her breath came
-quickly, a flush crept up and stained the olive pallor of her cheeks;
-she opened her hands, throwing them out with an impatient gesture, and
-the _marquise_ fan fell noiselessly at her feet, the waving feathers
-making a light breeze as they fluttered down that touched her face and
-lifted the laces of her low corsage.
-
-The over-strained tension of her nerves gave way; she could have cried
-for very relief and joy as she felt the spell of his presence failing at
-the return of her powerful will. She watched him eagerly and saw him
-enter the rose house; as his dark figure vanished in the interior gloom
-she jumped up quickly, threw up her arms, and drew a long deep breath;
-took a step or two forward, and noticing the fallen fan stooped to pick
-it up, then turned to leave the room by a side entrance. As she did so
-Vladimir Mellikoff stood before her, holding a golden-hued rose between
-his fingers.
-
-She started back, she was almost terrified by his sudden reappearance;
-she had not heard his approach, his footsteps were noiseless on the
-heavy carpet; she imagined him safe in the alleys of the conservatory,
-and her escape from him but the effort of a moment. She had but stooped
-to recover her fan, and lo, there he stood, tall and commanding and
-smiling, before her. She gazed at him questioningly, and again, as her
-glance met his inscrutable dark eyes, she recalled the old fable of the
-serpent and the dove. She sank down upon the _causeuse_ trembling.
-
-"Mademoiselle," Count Vladimir's courteous, cool tones were saying,
-"will you honour me by the acceptance of this rose? The royal flower,
-_par excellence_, over all other flowers, as one of your own English
-writers, John Ruskin, says. If I may be permitted to suggest so bold an
-idea, it will enhance, and be enhanced, by a place in your corsage."
-
-He held out the flower, smiling as he did so, and she took it
-mechanically, and fastened it amidst the black laces that draped her
-shoulders and bosom; it dropped its golden head lovingly upon them,
-while its perfume rose and fell with the pulsations of her heart.
-
-Vladimir drew a chair opposite to her and sat down, leaning forward with
-his elbows on his knees, and his keen eyes noting each fluctuating
-expression of her face, each flutter of the laces above her unquiet
-breast, each nervous movement of her hands in their long, loose Suède
-coverings. He had a dangerous game to play, and upon his success or
-defeat depended his winning or losing Olga. As her name crossed his
-mind, though not spoken by his lips, he was shaken by a sudden passion
-of love and desire; he recalled her proud, pale beauty, the blue of her
-eyes, "blue as the violets of his own Novgorod," the golden sheen of her
-hair, her lissom figure, and her cold haughty smile.
-
-He _would_ win her, or he would die; and what mattered any other woman's
-life if he could but appear worthy in her eyes? What had the chief said?
-"You must use a woman's weapons--_finesse_, deceit, distrust--when you
-make war upon a woman." Well, and so he would; it should go hard with
-him if he could not fit himself out in a woman's armour, and not reveal
-where the breast-plate failed to meet, or the helmet bound his forehead
-too tightly. One must put up with such little inconveniences when one
-adapts oneself to the warfare of the weaker sex.
-
-"Above all, distrust the women of the great world, they are our
-cleverest enemies;" that had been another of Patouchki's axioms; and he
-did distrust this pale, dark-eyed, slight American girl with every fibre
-of his mind, and read her through and through; her shallow cleverness,
-her dwarfed ambitions, her stunted love, that was not so much love as a
-mixture of baffled pride and jealousy, and desire of conquest. She could
-be useful to him; he had decided that within the dinner-hour, when he
-caught her suspicious glances, cast first at Philip Tremain, as he sat
-on Mrs. Newbold's left, and then at Miss Hildreth, who, radiant and
-handsome, was eating olives, and mystifying George Newbold, on whose
-right hand she was placed. He had read Miss James's secret then and
-there, and resolved that it should be useful to him, and that she should
-be the tool in his master-hand wherewith to work.
-
-Rosalie in due course had been presented to him, and she had not failed
-to notice and feel flattered by his attentions to her. She was smarting
-under Mr. Tremain's too apparent indifference, and Patricia's too
-evident power. She longed to strike both the one and the other, to tear
-off the masks from their serenely smiling faces, and hold them up to the
-scorn and derision of their world.
-
-"I hate them both," she murmured between her teeth. "I hate him because
-he loves her still, and I hate her because she is so beautiful and so
-victorious. I know there is some secret well hidden behind that lovely
-face, and oh, what would I not give to find it out and reveal it!"
-
-It was at this moment that George Newbold's lazy voice interrupted her
-thoughts, and looking up she saw him leaning towards her with the
-distinguished appearing foreigner beside him. Mr. Newbold mumbled out
-two names and left them, and Rosalie glancing up again met the Count's
-steady dark eyes fixed upon her, and knew with sudden certainty that he
-had read her face only too well; how much more that lay beneath the
-surface of her outward seeming not even she could tell!
-
-They stood quite silent for several moments, and during that time she
-felt imperceptibly at first, and then more and more certainly, his
-influence and power growing upon her; she acknowledged the intensity of
-his glance without daring to meet it, and could have cried for rage at
-her own inability to throw off the fascination he exercised over her.
-When he spoke it was upon a commonplace topic, and she drew a sigh of
-relief when, after a brief conversation, he bowed and left her, even
-though conscious of a vague regret that he should go from her.
-
-During the evening she had many times felt his eyes seek her out and
-rest for a moment on her face, and at each such occurrence the blood had
-rushed to her cheeks, and she had trembled, though not with cold. He had
-stood a long time talking with Mr. Tremain, and she had watched them
-with a half-formed anticipation of some coming and unexpected
-catastrophe, and then, when she turned and sought to leave the room, she
-heard a quiet voice say, "Permit me," the door was opened for her, and
-as she expressed her thanks Count Vladimir bowed, and returned to his
-place beside Philip. And now they were once more together and alone, and
-she was again conscious of an ever-increasing apprehension; the
-prescience of some coming evil in which they were both to bear a part,
-and yet which she was powerless to avert.
-
-"Mademoiselle," said Count Vladimir, bending a little more forward and
-looking up at her from under his dark brows, "I am about to do something
-which under ordinary circumstances and with an ordinary audience would
-be considered not only indiscreet but unconventional. If I misjudge my
-opportunity and my audience and offend you by putting you outside the
-pale of weak worshippers of conventional cult, pray say so at once, and
-I will humbly beg your pardon and withdraw."
-
-For answer she drew her fingers once or twice across the feathers of her
-fan, and let her eyes travel slowly up from that pretty toy to his face,
-taking in as they did so the smallest detail of his appearance, from the
-thin long-fingered hands, that hung down so quietly between his knees,
-the dead gold of the one ring he wore with its blazing ruby, to the tiny
-red rosette of an officer of the Legion of Honour that decorated his
-correct evening costume. As she raised her eyes still higher they met
-his, and for an infinitesimal space of time held hers captive; then she
-dropped them again, and sinking back against the cushions of her chair,
-raised the feather fan until it rested against her lips. Her voice was
-quiet when she replied, though a fine ear might have caught a suspicion
-of fear in it:
-
-"You flatter me, Count Mellikoff; to be considered above one's world in
-virtue or in vice is always a distinction, if not always an honour.
-Pray in what indiscretion can I be of help to you?"
-
-"I will tell you frankly, mademoiselle, that I am visiting this country
-for two purposes and in two characters. It has struck me that as one
-part of my work is that of reparation, a woman of my own world, of quick
-perceptions, nice judgment, and unerring instinct might, and could,
-materially assist me in my self-imposed task. I know the generosity of
-women, and I know how quick they are to respond to any tale of wrong or
-outrage; perhaps it is the very conventionalities of their lives which
-hedge them in, from birth to marriage, that increases their spontaneous
-desire to see wrongs righted, and the criminal brought to justice. I do
-not know, that is a question of analysis into which I cannot enter; I
-may have my theories, but need not bore you with them. The result of the
-present system is made plain to me by the women of my own country,
-where no rule or restriction is ever relaxed on any pretence, and where
-the world and the world's dogmas are worshipped with a blind and
-absolute faith. And yet, mademoiselle, even there I have known the
-fairest and highest born women, when occasion required, shake off the
-chains of custom and stand forth boldly in defence of right and
-justice."
-
-"That, Count Mellikoff, it seems to me any woman would do, no matter
-what her nationality, if the object of her enthusiasm was worthy in her
-eyes. It is not to an American girl that you should plead for liberty of
-thought and action, since we have grown up upon the very soil that once
-was baptized in blood, shed by our forefathers to gain this very freedom
-of opinion."
-
-"It is a grand country," replied Vladimir, slowly, and without banter or
-sarcasm in his tone, "I admire it already, though as yet but a stranger,
-and it is for that very reason that I shrink from one part of my task.
-Mademoiselle, when one has been courteously received, and hospitably
-entertained, one hesitates to strike a blow at those who have so trusted
-one. The Arabs read us a lesson in moral ethics, which we children of a
-latter-day civilisation would do well to follow. He who breaks bread
-with the child of the desert is ever after protected by him and his
-tribe. Not so with us, treachery is our watchword, ingratitude our pass
-key."
-
-He spoke somewhat bitterly, though without changing his position or
-expression, and Miss James, as she looked searchingly at him, could
-discover no corresponding reflexion of words in face or eyes.
-
-"Has your experience been of such a character?" she asked, a little
-abruptly.
-
-"Both my experience and actions will bear me out in my asseverations,"
-he replied; and then in rather a lighter tone he continued: "It is
-rather the fault of our nineteenth century progress, mademoiselle, that
-we have neither time nor inclination for the old-fashioned courtesies
-and amenities of our grandsires' days; we make boast of our honesty and
-truth, it is true, and we are brutal often in enforcing these virtues;
-we cry out against and disclaim the gentler methods, and say with
-satisfied arrogance that fine phrases have no truth, polite aphorisms no
-depth; well, perhaps we are right, but for my part I prefer a
-well-turned and politely-worded lie, knowing it to be such, than the
-brute force of to-day's truthfulness. Honesty and honour have such
-elastic definitions, it is difficult to know where the one degenerates
-into mendacity, or the other becomes contention.
-
-"Let us, however, leave useless analysis, mademoiselle, and with your
-permission, I will become personal. I am selfish in doing so, because I
-desire to interest you in myself and my work."
-
-He drew back a little as he spoke, and lifted his arms from his knees,
-bringing his face more on a level with hers. Rosalie watched him with
-the same indefinable interest and fascination that had first subdued
-her. She did not speak, but her eyes sought his and rested there, and
-the heavy golden flower upon her bosom rose and sank hurriedly.
-
-"Have I your permission, mademoiselle?" he asked.
-
-She bowed her head, making an affirmative gesture with her hand; the
-feather fan lay still upon her lap.
-
-"You have heard," he began, "that I am here in two characters. I come in
-the ordinary way to visit a great country, for which my own land has
-always entertained a friendly feeling; I come to inspect her
-institutions, her educational universities, her great cities, her fine
-rivers; I come to admire and to learn, and to carry back with me
-pleasant recollections of a too-hospitable and charming people. That is
-I, in my proper aspect, without disguise or concealment; but that is
-not my first object, or my real errand. Mademoiselle, I come to seek, to
-trace, to find--a woman. One who has flown to your country for
-protection, to escape the penalty of crime; who is a fugitive from
-justice, and who thinks, poor fool! thus to avoid the power and the
-vengeance of Russia. Mademoiselle, it is in this work I ask your
-assistance."
-
-As he spoke, Miss James had risen to her feet, and now stood before him,
-her face blanched and haggard, her eyes glowing dark and angry, her
-breath coming quick and short; her arms hung straight down by her sides,
-the loose gloves falling about the thin wrists and leaving bare the
-slender arms; the feather fan lay unheeded at her feet.
-
-"Why do you ask _me_, Count Mellikoff?" she cried, in a strained, harsh
-voice, her eyes never leaving his face. "Why do you ask me to help you
-to track a woman, to hunt a fugitive, a poor, wretched, heart-broken
-fugitive, no doubt flying for her life from your cruel country and its
-cruel laws? What do you see in me that makes you think I will lend
-myself to your mad schemes? What am I that you should so count upon my
-co-operation?"
-
-She stopped, and Vladimir, who had also risen and stood facing her, cool
-and unmoved, bent down and, lifting up the _marquise_ fan, handed it to
-her with a bow before he replied. When he spoke his voice was keen and
-sharp, his words cutting and cruel.
-
-"What do I see in you, mademoiselle? Nay, let me rather answer your
-question by a line from an English poet:
-
-    '_I see--a woman scorned----_'
-
-How does the couplet end?"
-
-But Miss James made him no reply, her hands closed vehemently on the fan
-she held; under their pressure the frail pearl sticks snapped in two and
-fell apart. She looked at him fixedly; the crimson blood had rushed in
-a torrent to her face, and the red stain lingered there. Suddenly she
-faltered, trembled, swayed a little, and sinking down upon the low
-_causeuse_, covered her face with her hands and burst into long-drawn
-sobs and tears.
-
-It was late that night before Miss James sought her own room; as she
-passed out of the drawing-room Count Vladimir held back the heavy
-_portières_ with respectful attention, bending his head in salutation as
-she went by him.
-
-Behind her, on the velvet carpet, lay the strewn petals of a golden-hued
-rose, about whose torn beauty a subtle fragrance still lingered, and the
-broken pearl sticks of a _marquise_ feather fan.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-A PINK BILLET-DOUX.
-
-
-Mr. Tremain had allowed George Newbold to take him away from Count
-Mellikoff without any great regret on his part. He acknowledged himself
-interested in the man and in his conversation, and at first as he
-listened had almost persuaded himself that his instinctive prejudice
-against him was ill-founded and narrow.
-
-But as the Count continued in a perfectly passionless voice and with
-what seemed to Philip a grim satisfaction, his circumstantial
-revelations regarding Russia's power, and Russia's definition as to what
-constituted fatherly protection, he felt all his original doubts
-reawaken; and then he had caught that momentary, searching,
-comprehensive malevolent expression which crept over Vladimir's face,
-though but for a brief second, and this had strengthened him in his
-dislike and suspicion.
-
-Therefore he was glad of any excuse to leave him and return to the more
-commonplace, if frivolous, topics of the ladies.
-
-In the silence and security of his own room he had promised himself a
-somewhat more satisfactory interview with Mdlle. Lamien than had been
-his portion since the accident, and with this object in view had shaken
-himself out of his half-mesmeric condition, and deserted the hermitage
-of his cynical reflections.
-
-But this was destined to be an evening of disappointments, beginning
-with Patricia's frigid reception of him, and culminating in the
-non-appearance of Mdlle. Lamien, either at dinner or afterwards in the
-drawing-room. He had watched in vain for the tall dark figure, with the
-falling laces half concealing the pale face and white hair, to come
-gliding in unnoticed, and take the accustomed place within the arched
-chimney-recess, the slender hands, clasped loosely together, resting on
-the black dress, the passionless repose of attitude marking a mind far
-away from the gay surroundings of the Folly.
-
-He grew impatient at her absence, for Philip was of that temperament
-which, finding most things--men, women, and opportunity--come at his
-bidding, resented the smallest deviation from this rule, and chafed
-inwardly at so flagrant a dereliction to his will. He desired to see
-Mdlle. Lamien in Patricia's presence, and with the cool analysis of
-criticism, contrast her feature by feature, attribute by attribute, with
-that brilliant woman of the world. It had never entered into his
-reasoning that Mdlle. Lamien might frustrate his plans by the simple
-device of remaining invisible. He had perhaps imagined her presence
-compulsory, and since he had decided that she was to be the object of
-his evening's pleasure or amusement, he felt doubly defrauded by her
-absence.
-
-Had Mdlle. Lamien desired to feed the flame of the something more than
-interest already lighted in Mr. Tremain's mind concerning her, she could
-not have chosen a surer method. He was piqued and chagrined at her
-evident indifference. It was many years since any advances on his part
-had been met by steady rebuff. He had sustained his character of
-conquering hero by the very rarity of his attentions, and it gave his
-sensibilities something of a moral shock to find himself distanced by
-this cold indifferent woman, whose very position made his interest in
-her the more anomalous.
-
-It was ten years ago that Patricia had flouted and dismissed him. Was he
-to experience like treatment at Mdlle. Lamien's hands? For though Mr.
-Tremain had so far scarcely admitted the nature of the interest that
-Mimi's governess inspired in him, he was yet candid enough to give it a
-somewhat warmer title than mere curiosity in the study of a new
-character.
-
-Patricia had distinctly repulsed him, though he had met her with the old
-love ready to reawaken at the first sign of desire on her part. Very
-well then, let Patricia see that he too was heart-whole and as
-indifferent to her as she to him. And then Mdlle. Lamien had failed to
-work up to his cue, and Philip felt his sharpest weapon was thus taken
-from him, while Patricia triumphed in her insolence and beauty.
-
-The theatricals were to take place in the _bijou_ gem of a theatre which
-George Newbold had had put up to please Esther, in the first year of
-their marriage. It was a perfect model in miniature of _La Scala_, at
-Milan, hung throughout with the softest shade of rose silk, a daring
-innovation of Esther's, which rather outvied the classic columns and
-severe arches, but which added a charming air of comfort and luxury,
-and was as Dick Darling said, "quite far and away the most fetching
-thing for the complexion."
-
-The stage was fitted completely with all possible and impossible
-"properties," and opened at the back into the other end of the
-rose-house, the opposite door of which led into the drawing-room. It was
-indeed a royal playhouse, and acting upon its boards became a luxurious
-fine art.
-
-When Mr. Tremain entered the auditorium, he found the first two rows of
-stalls half filled by the house guests; Patricia had betaken herself and
-her train of admirers to one of the boxes, where she sat radiant and
-lovely, the soft rose colouring of the hangings casting a delicious tint
-upon her fair face and upon the shimmering surface of her dress. Philip
-was at once conscious of her presence, but passed her by apparently
-unnoticed, and made his way to the front row, where sat Esther Newbold
-and Dick Darling, with an empty _fauteuil_ beside the former.
-
-Into this Mr. Tremain slipped carelessly, and with the familiarity of
-good-fellowship, lifted the great bouquet of roses and hyacinths that
-lay unheeded on Esther's lap. Dick Darling leant over and nodded her
-brown head at him, while Mrs. Newbold gave him one of her sweet smiles,
-but laid her fingers on her lips in token of silence, for _Box and Cox_
-held the stage, and Miss James was entering into the spirit of Mrs.
-Bouncer with a _verve_ and sprightliness, seemingly incompatible with
-her usual irresponsive superciliousness.
-
-The absurd farce played itself out amidst the chilling reproofs of Mr.
-Robinson, and the plaudits of the spectators, until at last the curtain
-dropped upon the final scene. Philip turned then to Mrs. Newbold, and
-restoring her flowers to her, said:
-
-"_A propos_ of nothing, Esther, whose exquisite taste is one supposed
-to praise in the arrangement of your posy?"
-
-"Ah," said Mrs. Newbold, smiling again, and touching the great
-jacqueminots caressingly with her fingers, "I am very proud of my
-bouquet, and I will give you three guesses, Philip, at the donor's
-name."
-
-"Yes," broke in Dick Darling, quickly, "and I'll bet you three to five
-you don't guess it!"
-
-"Those are very certain odds, Miss Dick," replied Mr. Tremain, laughing,
-"considering that never in the course of my long and varied experience
-have I been known to elucidate the simplest rebus. Even 'when is a door
-not a door?' is beyond my mental powers; how then can I be expected to
-divine who is the latest slave to Mrs. Newbold's charms? I must say
-however, I consider George a very amiable young man."
-
-"So do I," laughed Esther. "Now could a wife say more? But your three
-guesses, Mr. Tremain."
-
-"Miss Darling must put up the stakes first," answered Philip, "I am not
-going to bring my powerful legal mind to bear on this problem without
-first seeing the stakes. Now then, Miss Dick, out with them."
-
-"Oh, but I have positively nothing," cried Dick Darling, her face
-flushed and eager. "What could I possibly have worth Mr. Tremain's
-'cheese'?"
-
-"My dear Dick!" exclaimed Esther, "you really must get out a dictionary
-of your own terms; your expressions, I am sure, are nowhere to be found
-in Lindley Murray."
-
-"Poor old duffer!" replied the incorrigible Dick, "I hope not indeed. I
-guess some of them would make his hair curl, even in the cold cold
-grave."
-
-Philip laughed, and Esther tried to look scandalised, but failed
-utterly; and then Mr. Tremain said, bending slightly forward:
-
-"You might put up that tantalising little note, Miss Dick, that is half
-stowed away in your laces. I am perfectly sure it contains 'some
-scandal of Queen Elizabeth,' which would amply repay me for my unwonted
-efforts, if I win it. Its very colour betrays it; whoever heard of a
-pink _billet-doux_ that was not redolent of intrigue? The more bashful
-the colour, the more gigantic the scandal."
-
-"What, this?" replied Dick, taking out a small square envelope,
-rose-tinted and crested. "Oh, no, this would not be worth your powder;
-it's only a note from Mdlle. Lamien, and doesn't contain a cent's worth
-of intrigue, Mr. Tremain."
-
-"Then its looks belie it," said Philip, "for it fills me with
-apprehension. Let me look at it, Miss Dick, perhaps its tangible
-presence may allay my terrors."
-
-But Dick only shook her head, and held the little note still further
-away.
-
-"No, no," she cried, "it's not for you, Mr. Tremain, and I'm not going
-to give you even so much as a 'glim' at it." Saying this, she put it
-back in her dress, and smiled at Philip provokingly.
-
-"I will put up this," she exclaimed, holding out her arm, on which a
-ruby and diamond butterfly sparkled in a bangle setting; "and I am sure
-it's simply angelic of me, for this is my one and only piece of bang-up
-jewellery; all real and no imitation, worth double the money. Now, Mr.
-Tremain, three guesses out of five; and oh, ye gods, protect my
-cherished bauble!"
-
-She swung the pretty ornament between her finger and thumb, and the
-light from the wax-candles in the girandoles caught at it eagerly, as it
-shot forth rays tipped with rainbow gleams.
-
-Mr. Tremain sat back with a mock air and sigh of fatigue, and the two
-women watched him interestedly; Esther with a little smile of amusement
-on her softly-tinted face, and Dick with a frown of anxiety knitting her
-forehead.
-
-"Let me consider," said Philip, reflectively, putting the tips of his
-fingers together somewhat awkwardly on account of his sling, and
-contemplating them attentively, "only three random shots at three-score
-recognised admirers! Long odds in your favour, Miss Dick. Now had I but
-the language of flowers at my tongue's end, I might be able to make such
-conjunctions with the unwritten but supposable affinities, as to read at
-once the hidden meaning in the subtle juxtaposition of jacque roses and
-hyacinths. Question: Did the donor know any more about their meanings
-than I do?"
-
-"I can supply you with posy lore, Mr. Tremain," broke in Mrs. Newbold,
-"if that will be of any assistance. Know then that the red red rose
-expresses love, the hyacinth sport or play."
-
-"Ah, the one is contradictory of the other," replied Philip. "Your
-nameless admirer, Esther, could scarcely be guilty of so bold a play
-upon definitions as to make game of his love by his flowers. Rather let
-us suppose him ignorant of any deeper knowledge than their price."
-
-"I think that an equally impertinent suggestion," answered Mrs. Newbold.
-"A man should never count the cost where a woman is concerned."
-
-"Granted, my dear Esther; in theory you are absolutely right, in
-practice you are lamentably wrong. But I see wrath mantling on Miss
-Dick's brow, and scorn flashing from her eyes at our persiflage; let me
-appease her and make a desperate plunge into the depths of incertitude.
-And first of all, to be courteous and French, I throw away deliberately
-one chance in suggesting that it may have been _M. le mari_ who sent the
-flowers? Ah, no, believe me, I did not need your silent denial, Esther,
-to be assured of my mistake; that would be far too commonplace and
-_bourgeois_ a reading for our ethics of this nineteenth century. The
-lover sinks such attentions in the husband, and is better employed in
-sending flowers to some other man's wife, rather than to his own."
-
-"How very cynical you can be, Philip," exclaimed Mrs. Newbold, turning
-her blue eyes full upon him. "I am sure George often gives me flowers;
-why, these very buds I am wearing are his gift," and she touched some
-half-open blossoms that formed her _bouquet de corsage_.
-
-"That was very gallant of George," replied Mr. Tremain, gravely,
-"especially as he had the arduous task of gathering them from his own
-rosery, and the virtuous satisfaction of knowing that they cost him far
-more than the roses of your posy cost the other fellow. Well, let me try
-again. Was it Freddy Slade? I have noticed that innocent youth casting
-furtive glances in your direction, Mrs. Esther, too often of late. It is
-possible that his ardour may have over-stepped his prudence and his
-income, and your jacques been the result."
-
-"Wrong again, Mr. Tremain," cried Dick Darling; "oh, I do hope, with all
-my soul, you may miss each time."
-
-"Considering that I have but one chance more, that is rather ungenerous,
-Miss Dick. I should not have believed so rancorous a spirit dwelt within
-your breast. To wish to further humiliate a two-thirds vanquished foe!"
-
-"But I don't want to lose my bangle, you see," said Dick, naïvely, at
-which remark both Mr. Tremain and Esther laughed, and the former
-continued:
-
-"Well, here goes my last and only try for your pretty bauble, Miss Dick.
-Was it Sir Piers Tracey? To be sure it is not quite in his line, and I
-never saw an Englishman yet who appreciated an American woman's love of
-flowers, still it might have been Sir Piers, and in that case George
-could not even try to appear jealous."
-
-"Poor dear Sir Piers!" laughed Esther, "the idea of his sending any one
-flowers! He's old enough to be one's grandfather!"
-
-"I don't know that that makes him ineligible," answered Mr. Tremain, "I
-dare say 'old Q.' and Beau Brummel showered roses upon the youthful
-Esthers of their decrepitude; it isn't age, my dear Mrs. Esther, that
-counts in such things, it's temperament."
-
-"Well, in any case I am glad you have not won my bangle," cried Dick
-Darling, as she slipped it over her dimpled wrist. "I always make it a
-point to pay up my debts of honour on the spot, I can't bear a
-'Welcher,' so you would have been obliged to take my ruby fly, had you
-been successful, Mr. Tremain, and that would have been death to me,
-simply death."
-
-"With such an alternative, Miss Dick," replied Philip, with increased
-gravity, and bowing across Esther, "I am devoutly thankful to have lost,
-for to have been the indirect cause of your untimely decease, would
-have branded me for ever in my own eyes!"
-
-Then Mrs. Newbold said time was up, and she must go; the _Ladies'
-Battle_ would be called in five minutes, and she was wanted behind the
-scenes; was Mr. Tremain going through with his rôle?
-
-But Philip begged off on account of his still lame wrist which he wore
-bandaged and in a sling; it would be quite effort enough to act when the
-real representation took place, Mr. Robinson could read his lines and he
-would imbibe valuable hints from his superior method. Was Mdlle. Lamien
-to take the Countess d'Autreval's part?
-
-"No," replied Esther, fingering her roses a trifle nervously, and
-looking at him from under her eyelids, "Miss Hildreth has elected to act
-her own rôle at the rehearsal, consequently Mdlle. Lamien's services
-will not be required. Ah, Patricia has already left her box, I must go,"
-she added, hastily; and with a hurried gesture she walked towards a
-side exit, her pale pink draperies sweeping after her, and making a
-little _frou-frou_ with their silks and laces.
-
-Mr. Tremain reseated himself, changing his _fauteuil_ for the one Esther
-had vacated next to Miss Darling. He leant back negligently and turning
-his face towards that young lady said carelessly:
-
-"Since we neither of us appear on the boards, Miss Dick, let us console
-one another off them. By the way, where is Miss James? I did not see her
-come into the theatre after her very capital bit of acting."
-
-"Oh, I don't know," answered Miss Darling, with a shrug of her
-shoulders. "I suppose she is improving her mind somewhere, at the
-expense of some one. To speak frankly, Mr. Tremain, Rosalie and I are
-bad friends just now, and I give her as wide a berth as possible."
-
-"Oh, indeed," answered Philip, rather bored, and not at all
-understanding that he was the cause of this bad friendship, since Dick,
-reading Rosalie's schemes and wishes, had denounced them hotly; and Miss
-James, with the remembrance of Perkins's slighting remarks still fresh,
-had replied with equal vigour; and so the breach widened between them
-day by day.
-
-Dick sat silent for several moments, the colour coming and going in her
-cheeks; she was a very chivalrous little girl, and her whole heart had
-gone out in unreasoning admiration to Patricia, when first she saw her;
-her beauty, her brilliancy, her sparkling vivacity making an absolute
-captive of the maiden, who, as she looked at her, felt all her own
-shortcomings rise up and confront her in formidable array.
-
-She had heard the story of Philip's and Patricia's engagement, and its
-unhappy termination, and she had secretly admired him, in her own mind,
-for a long time, and had felt Patricia's reception of him as a personal
-injury, which she longed to put right by a few judicious words. She felt
-sure they would be judicious because they would be honest. Now if he
-would only name Patricia, only ask some question, no matter how trivial,
-that she might introduce this one absorbing subject.
-
-But Mr. Tremain, with that perverted obstinacy so often displayed, which
-consists in saying the wrong thing at the right moment, when he did
-speak, propounded a question so diametrically opposite to Dick Darling's
-thoughts that that young lady was actually taken aback, and stared at
-him blankly for a full second without answering. And yet Philip had only
-inquired if Miss Dick could say why Mdlle. Lamien had not appeared that
-evening? It was a simple enough question, but Miss Darling seemed
-incapable of replying to it, so he spoke again.
-
-"My dear Miss Dick, what have I said? You look as though you had either
-not heard, or not understood me. Pray let me repeat myself. Can you tell
-me why Mdlle. Lamien has absented herself all this evening?"
-
-Miss Darling by this time had come back from her vain imaginings, and
-answered him readily enough.
-
-"Oh, I beg your pardon; I guess I must have been 'in Japan' when you
-first spoke. Why hasn't Mdlle. Lamien come down this evening? For a very
-simple reason: she has gone away."
-
-"Gone away!" echoed Philip. "But I saw her late this afternoon in the
-corridor." He did not add, and _heard_ her; since, if Esther Newbold
-spoke truly, it was she who had startled him by her sad, monotonous
-song, and her voice that had an echo of Patty's in its notes.
-
-"Oh, no doubt," replied Miss Darling, "she only went away while we were
-at dinner; I heard the wheels of the dog-cart just as we had eaten our
-way up to the _suprême de volaille_."
-
-"Is she to be gone long?" asked Philip, conscious and yet astonished at
-the feeling of loss this news created in him.
-
-"I really don't know," replied Dick, looking a little surprised. "She
-left this note for me," taking out the pink envelope from its
-hiding-place and showing it to him. He bent forward eagerly to scan it
-as it lay on her outstretched palm, the superscription hidden, the
-reverse side lying uppermost. On this he saw impressed a tiny coronet
-and a twisted cypher, "_A. de L._"
-
-"It only tells me about some fancy work she undertook for me," continued
-Dick, drawing back her hand with the note, "and thanks me rather over
-much for my 'unvarying kindness.' She might stow that," she concluded,
-with a grimace.
-
-But Mr. Tremain had eyes and thoughts only for the little note, and its
-dainty, aristocratic heraldry.
-
-"Is she a titled _émigrée_ in disguise?" he asked, pointing to the
-monogram and coronet; then, with an effort, as he became aware of Miss
-Darling's surprised looks, and speaking more lightly: "This grows
-exciting, Miss Dick; who knows?--we may have the elements of a three
-volume novel ready to our hands, yet lose them all by blundering. What
-do you know about Mdlle. Lamien?"
-
-"Only what Esther has told us all, which you heard, I think. As to her
-being titled, if you think this indicates it," pointing to the
-embellishments on the pink note, "why you know, they go for nothing. It
-may be only a blind, or it may be that Mdlle. Lamien prefers to write on
-other people's note-paper. I don't think it's very conclusive evidence
-one way or the other."
-
-And Miss Darling got up with almost an impatient air.
-
-"I am going to change my seat," she said, "I want to go further back,
-where I can better see and admire Miss Hildreth. But before I go, Mr.
-Tremain, I will tell you who sent Esther the roses, it was Mdlle.
-Lamien; a sentimental and too extravagant outburst of gush on her part,
-wasn't it?"
-
-Too surprised to reply, Mr. Tremain made way for Miss Darling,
-escorting her to a back row, where George Newbold received her with
-_empressement_, and Jack Howard with unqualified relief.
-
-"Give you my word," he whispered in her ear, "I have been bored to
-death, Miss Dick; so glad to have you back again!"
-
-But Miss Darling proved very poor company, and Jack Howard for once
-voted her tiresome.
-
-"Stupid blind mole!" declared Dick to herself, as Philip made his bow
-and left her. "Can't he see how lovely Patricia has grown, that he must
-run after that pale Russian woman? Oh, what idiots men are!" and Miss
-Darling consoled herself by reducing poor Jack to the verge of despair
-by her sharp retorts and acrid replies.
-
-Quite late in the evening, after the rehearsal was over, and the little
-theatre empty, Count Vladimir opened the double doors and stepped within
-Melpomene's deserted temple. The lights had not yet been put out, and
-the stage scenery stood unchanged from the last act; an air of late
-occupancy, and a memory of brilliant accessories, of fair women in their
-sheen of jewels and gleam of satins still lingered, to which the empty
-seats and deserted stage pointed the moral of all transitory glory.
-
-Vladimir stood for a moment contemplating the scene, a fine smile
-curving his lips, the light of recent conquest lingering in his eyes.
-
-"I am too late," he murmured; "the drama is played out seemingly, the
-actors fled. Ah, well, I can afford to wait."
-
-Then he went forward a few steps, and as he did so his quick eye
-evidently detected something unexpected, for he made his way definitely
-towards the back row of stalls, stooping when he came to the last but
-one, and lifted from the carpet a folded square of paper. He held it up
-to the light; it was an envelope, pink in hue, and embellished on the
-smooth satin surface by a tiny coronet and a twisted cypher. It was
-Dick Darling's rose-coloured _billet-doux_.
-
-Vladimir Mellikoff made no movement of surprise or triumph, but as he
-took out his black note-book and laid the envelope safely within its
-pages, the smile deepened on his lips and in his eyes. He turned and
-walked swiftly away, letting the double doors close noiselessly behind
-him.
-
-The little theatre was once more deserted; the wax-lights flickered in
-the still air; the rose silk draperies stirred slightly as a passing
-breath of soft spring wind floated in from the rose house, bringing a
-wave of perfume from the golden blossoms over which it had lingered in
-its passage. The mimic comedy was played out, the actors had abandoned
-their rôles; only real life and its human tragedy remained uncompleted,
-across which none but the Divine hand dare write the word _finis_.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-IN THE HAZEL COPSE.
-
-
-Mr. Tremain, after leaving Miss Darling in the safe custody of George
-Newbold, walked hastily out of the theatre by a side entrance, and
-making his way along a narrow and dimly lighted corridor, came to a
-small door opening on to an outside terrace which ran beneath the
-library windows, and from which a flight of steps led to the large
-flower garden--Esther Newbold's particular hobby.
-
-He stepped out on to the terrace, shutting the door behind him, and
-drawing a deep breath of relief at being once more alone. It was a
-charming night; the cool fresh west wind swept by him in fitful gusts,
-touched with a warmer breath of the south, and laden with all the
-mystery of the thousands of miles it had travelled ere it reached this
-fair spot of God's creation. It could not linger to unfold its burden of
-knowledge; it could but flutter its dark soft wings and pass on in the
-orbit of its destiny, leaving its mystery unsolved, its secrets
-unrevealed, and murmuring ever as it went, sweeping up amidst the tall,
-waving trees, or bending low to caress the sleeping flowers, telling its
-message always and ever--its message of the passing of Time, of the
-coming of Eternity.
-
-             "The stars heard it, and the sea,
-    And the answering aisles of the dim woods."
-
-Only man, whose ears are not as yet finely enough attuned to the music
-of the spheres, heard no hidden meaning in its gentle voice, no
-celestial trumpet-call in its rude blasts.
-
-Why should Nature reveal her most priceless secrets to man, since as
-yet, his highest attainment is a disbelief in all things beyond his
-finite wisdom, and a cavilling at what he calls the useless machinery of
-organic life? Nature is as shy as she is beautiful; generous when
-trusted, but niggardly when discredited. How shall the wilfully blind
-expect to see into her mysteries, or the wilfully deaf hear the lilt of
-her charming?
-
-Below the terrace lay the garden beds, wrapt about in a dreamy haze, out
-of which the crescent moon, set high in the intense blue of the heavens,
-evoked spectral gleams of gold and silver as it fell athwart the yellow
-daffodils, hanging their heavy heads down to their shrouding green
-sheath-like leaves; or where the sweet narcissus raised its white disk,
-distilling its rich perfume far into the night, and recalling the
-beautiful Boeotian youth, whose tragic fate seemed written on each
-silver petal.
-
-    "Narcissi, fairest of them all,
-    Who gaze on their eyes in the stream's recess,
-    Till they die of their own dear loveliness."
-
-Here, too, blossomed the luscious double violet, hidden beneath its
-close growing leaves, mingling its dainty perfume with the more pungent
-exhalations of the tiny musk plant and lily-of-the-valley, while the
-pale blue-eyed forget-me-not was lost in the shadows, as were the star
-of Bethlehem, and the delicate classic cups of the crocus, only their
-bolder yellow rims catching, now and then, a fleeting moonbeam.
-
-A grove of sycamore trees threw up their graceful branches against the
-luminous darkness, while the chestnuts swayed their half-opened downy
-pink and white buds, and the maples fluttered their long, tendril-like
-pods, cased in verdant green, and as rhythmical as lightly strung
-Eastern prayer-beads. The faint early verdure of the lilac was just
-discernible, and in one of the dark oak-trees a little mother bird,
-wakened by the brilliant moonlight, crooned out a plaintive note to her
-mate, who answered her by the soft fluttering of his brown wings.
-
-And then all was still, but not silent; for the great wonderful night is
-filled with the sweet harmonies of the invisible world, whose cadences
-are too faint and tender to be heard among the clarion chords of the
-day, but which possess an infinitude of euphony that seems borrowed from
-the heavenly choirs of the New Jerusalem.
-
-Mr. Tremain coming suddenly--from the artificiality of the miniature La
-Scala, with its rose-coloured hangings, its wax tapers, its atmosphere
-laden with the manufactured perfumes of chypre, jockey-club, duchesse;
-and its stage, on which the mimic actors travestied the passions of real
-life; its audience, made up of fair women, whose costly robes were more
-priceless in their eyes than the ruder virtues of truth and honour; of
-men, whose natural abilities were buried beneath a fashionable languor,
-and whose moral nature was stunted and undeveloped by the blighting
-curse of their century, love of gold and desire of its possession--into
-the immensity and candour of the night--felt as if dealt a blow, and
-stopped involuntarily, swayed by some unknown emotion that strove
-against the one influence and yearned towards the other.
-
-He stepped down from the terrace, and wandered aimlessly along the broad
-garden paths, his hands clasped loosely behind him, his bare head bent
-forward, the April wind stirring the short brown locks that fell over
-his forehead. Now and then he stooped down and looked carefully at some
-half-hidden blossom, drawing back the leaves with heedful fingers, and
-smiling at his own childishness as he passed on, not rifling even one
-bud from the parent stem.
-
-The garden paths were all broad and straight, and Philip walked on,
-unheeding his steps and unmindful of his course. He was very deep in
-thought, so deep that presently he forgot to notice the flowers on
-either side, passing on without halting at any favoured one. Dick
-Darling's bald news--that Mdlle. Lamien had left the Folly--and her
-apparent ignorance as to her return, had opened Philip's eyes with a
-start, and revealed to him the distance he had already travelled in the
-primrose path of dalliance and uncertainty.
-
-He acknowledged to himself, with a twinge of mortification, that her
-leaving the house in such a manner, and without any word to him as to
-her intention, was a wound to his self-love and self-esteem. Though,
-indeed, why Mdlle. Lamien should have confided her plans to him was an
-open question. He had met her but once face to face since the accident,
-and that opportunity had resolved itself into the unsatisfactory
-interview in the corridor, when she had scorned his hand, and swept by
-him down the stairs without a word.
-
-Poor Philip! it was rather rough treatment, as he said to himself, to
-have his hand refused twice in the same evening by two different women!
-A smile of self-scorn and amusement came to his lips as he recalled the
-incident; fate was not usually so unkind, he was not accustomed to such
-churlish treatment at her hands, and the very novelty set him
-speculating as to the motives that incited two such opposite natures to
-a similarity of action.
-
-Self analysis is a very deceitful occupation, and Mr. Tremain, who had
-set about an interior examination as to his own feelings and intentions
-regarding Mdlle. Lamien, was soon wandering far afield in the realms of
-speculation regarding the ulterior motives of these two women, comparing
-their various attributes, contrasting their characteristics, finding
-subtle likenesses between them, and antagonistic points of approachment.
-Then he recalled the little pink note, and the bouquet of jacque roses,
-and Dick Darling's sarcastic criticism upon them. Why should Mdlle.
-Lamien use coroneted note-paper if it was not her own? And why should
-Mimi's governess waste her scanty substance upon hot-house flowers for
-Esther Newbold, who certainly could better afford the luxury than her
-paid dependent? And did not Mdlle. Lamien know the meaning hidden in the
-blossoms? Had she some reason for selecting red roses and white
-hyacinths, or was it only a coincidence, an accident?
-
-"Were I a little more of a fatalist," thought Philip, "I should answer
-my own question by reminding myself that nothing is accident in life. In
-their cult, _kismet_ overrules and becomes destiny."
-
-Meantime, taking no heed to his steps, Mr. Tremain was surprised into
-consciousness by a sharp blow in the face, which recalled him to a
-survey of his surroundings. He found he had wandered far beyond the
-garden precincts, down a gentle declivity ending in a lightly-wooded
-copse, to which a low-hanging hazel-tree branch barred his entrance.
-Putting this aside, he entered the small enclosure; it was not more than
-an acre in extent, the trees with which it was planted being still
-young, and standing rather wide apart. The ground beneath was of
-yielding though uneven turf, and quite at the far end of the tiny wood a
-rustic bench was placed near a small fountain with a marble basin, into
-which the water, trickling from a vase held in the marble boy
-Narcissus's uplifted hands, made a pleasant murmur in the stillness of
-the night.
-
-A gleam of white drapery falling across the bench warned Philip that he
-was trespassing upon a rendezvous, that had all the recognised
-characteristics of an assignation. He had gone too far, however, to
-retreat, since his presence must have been already announced by the
-harsh crackling of the offending hazel-bough, some of the twigs having
-broken in his hand as he pushed it back.
-
-The white figure neither moved nor showed any knowledge of his approach,
-but remained absolutely motionless, the head and shoulders in deep
-shadow, only the gloved hands and the sweeping draperies catching
-reflections from the fitful moonlight. If it was an assignation, the
-lady apparently was the only one faithful to the tryst, for there was no
-manly form beside her, nor manly accents raised in pleading or caress;
-indeed, voices of any _timbre_ there were not. A silence, deep and
-profound, held the little wood as in a spell, and the white-robed figure
-with the folded hands might have been the enchanted Princess, and Philip
-the Prince who was to wake her with a kiss, whose very sweetness would
-open the door once again to the outside world of romance, and passion,
-and disappointment.
-
-Poor Princess! let her dream on a little longer, wrapped in her
-unconscious, visionless slumber; the malignant fairy's curse of a
-hundred years ago is fast wearing itself away, and with love's awakening
-who can banish the twin sisters of jealousy and suspicion? Does not the
-fairest rose of all the garden fair bear within its flushing bosom the
-canker worm of deceit and decay?
-
-Treading noiselessly upon the short turf, Mr. Tremain came close upon
-the fair intriguer before she heard his footsteps, or was aware of his
-presence. The moon, which had been slightly obscured by the passing of
-some hazy clouds, now broke forth and shone down full upon the slight
-upright figure that had arisen hastily, and taken a forward step or two,
-as Philip's approach became known. The silver rays touched with seeming
-tenderness the dark hair rolled high upon the little head, and fell
-across the white neck, half concealed by a fleecy drapery, gathered
-together carelessly, and held by one slender hand in a long loose glove;
-they struck cool and sharp on the sweeping lines of the dress,
-accentuating each fold of the silken texture, and threw into bold relief
-the soft pallor of the delicately-rounded face, lingering longest where
-the dark brows made a mystery of the eyes, and kissing the curved lips
-that now were set and defiant; illuminating and defining each gracious
-curve and outline of the graceful form, with the same ethereal
-brilliancy that transformed the trickling fountain into an elixir of
-life, and awakened the boy-god Narcissus into perennial youthfulness.
-
-Mr. Tremain stopped spell-bound; and for a moment's space, in the hush
-that fell between them, each could hear the quick-drawn breath of the
-other, while the tinkling drops from Narcissus's vase became a Niagara
-in sound and volume. Then the spell was broken, as both, with
-involuntary impulse, spoke the other's name.
-
-"Patricia!"
-
-"Philip!"
-
-The woman was the first to recover her composure; with a nervous laugh,
-that rang a little untrue, and in a slightly strained voice, she broke
-the embarrassment of the moment.
-
-"So you, too, have caught the fever of unrest, Mr. Tremain, and become
-moon-struck under the influence of Luna's fool's month. For myself, I
-have always asserted that the blood of the wandering tribes flows in my
-veins, the night-time and the dark hours have always been my favourite
-times for----"
-
-"A rendezvous," struck in Philip, sharply. "I have not forgotten any of
-your pet peculiarities, you see. Perhaps I intrude, however; the hour
-and scene demand a Romeo for your Juliet, and I can scarcely hope to
-fill the part to your liking."
-
-She started as though he had struck her, but made answer calmly enough:
-
-"You are too modest, Mr. Tremain, by far; it is a new development in
-your character, pardon me if it strikes me as somewhat ludicrous." And
-she laughed lightly and coldly, though with a ring of bitterness below
-the mocking notes.
-
-But Philip was not angered by her words or her laughter; he scarcely
-heard the latter, so eagerly were his eyes devouring each feature and
-line of the once dearly worshipped face and form.
-
-Surely the cheeks were a trifle more wan and hollow than in the old
-days, despite the delicate rouge tinting that lay upon them; and the
-eyes were deeper set, the shadows beneath them darker, their expression
-more weary and unsatisfied than when last he had looked into their
-violet depths; and had not the perfect modelling of her figure grown
-somewhat thinner and more shrunken?
-
-He, who remembered her in the full glory and pride of her youthful
-beauty, and who had loved her in it, noted now with keenest vision each
-change that time had wrought upon it. And as he gazed the old old
-passion leapt into life again; his heart grew tender and longing, his
-love of ten years ago awoke from its long slumber, and clamoured for its
-resurrection. And yet, mingling with this tumult of emotion,
-overweighing it, and pressing it back, was a strange, intangible,
-inexplicable power that evolved itself out of a future of unknown
-presentiment, even as it seemed but the forecast of a dread calamity.
-
-But Philip was not one to be swayed by unseen influences; he shook off
-the impression of supernatural agencies and resolved to snatch at this
-one hour, which chance had thrown in his way, and wring from it whatever
-of joy or sweetness could be gathered from the withered blossoms and
-crushed buds of the past.
-
-He stood face to face with Patricia once more; might not he, remembering
-Esther Newbold's pleadings, even now after ten long years of separation,
-gather sufficient fruit from off the golden trees of past youth and
-love, to make happy and contented the downward years of life? Could a
-man stand thus, looking into the eyes of the woman of his life-long
-devotion, and remain indifferent? Would not any sop from out that gilded
-past, if thrown to him by her hand, prove of sufficient value to be
-worth his glad acceptance?
-
-All this time his eyes had never left her face, and she grew restive
-under the intensity of his scrutiny, flushing and paling, while the
-hand that held the fleecy drapery about her throat and neck trembled.
-
-"Patty," he said at last, in a voice set in a lower key than usual.
-"Patty, it is ten long years since we stood thus, alone together. Do you
-remember the last time we met and--parted?"
-
-She did not answer him at first, but moved away from him some paces, and
-halted beside the fountain; the marble rim that surrounded the basin was
-broad and high, she seated herself upon it, and turning her face looked
-upward at Philip, who had followed her.
-
-Not more cold, or hard, or irresponsive was the face of the boy
-Narcissus behind her, than was the fair impassive beauty of her face.
-The springing jet of water had ceased to flow, and only a few drops fell
-now and then from the upheld vase; they seemed like echoes from the past
-years falling slowly, slowly, one by one.
-
-When she spoke her voice was calm and composed, though Philip,
-accustomed to its fuller cadences, caught here and there a flat note in
-its ebb and flow.
-
-"I find you are as inconsequent and as tactless as ever, Philip," she
-said; and though she dropped her previous formality of address, his name
-gained nothing in her using of it. "You were always a sad bungler; fancy
-reminding a woman of her existence ten years ago! And then expecting her
-to remember her words and actions at that time! My dear Philip you are
-speaking of ancient history; why not tell me at once that Queen Anne is
-dead, and expect me to be astonished? A woman remembers nothing of her
-past, save her conquests and her gowns. The one tells upon her vanity,
-the other tells upon her purse."
-
-She laughed again, lightly; and drawing off her glove dipped one hand in
-the dark water, stirring its surface into a hundred rippling smiles, and
-scattering the drops in a shower of prismatic spherules.
-
-"I know it is the fashion of your world, Patricia," Philip replied,
-quietly, "to scoff at all things; so narrow are the limits of this
-nineteenth-century philosophy that what we cannot understand we
-disbelieve, what we do not wish to recall we deny, and what we are
-forced to accept we despise. It is a cruel creed even for men, on the
-lips of a woman it becomes detestable. You may scoff as you please,
-Patricia, you cannot change or alter the old laws of God; as long as man
-is man and woman, woman, memory and remorse must have a place within
-their consciousness; and no matter how hard or callous you may have
-grown, or how learned in the world's theology, you cannot entirely
-quench the attributes bestowed upon you, when you became not only a
-beautiful creation, but a woman of soul and reason. The last ten years
-cannot be a blank to you, any more than our last meeting and parting can
-be."
-
-Miss Hildreth laughed again, and wiping her slender finger-tips upon a
-tiny square of lace and muslin, from whose folds an odour of violets
-stole forth, she answered in an even lighter tone:
-
-"My dear Philip, let me recommend to you a certain essay on the 'Art of
-Forgetting,' if you have not already read it. It is written by a modern
-philosopher, it is true, but nevertheless, he sounds the heights and
-depths of our social system, and evolves a theory therefrom for which he
-should receive an universal peerage, bestowed upon him by his indebted
-fellow-sufferers. In the art of forgetting lies one's only chance of
-freedom from remorse for the past, and the inconveniences of the future.
-Believe me, if we can only master thoroughly this hitherto neglected
-art, we need have no further fears either for our digestions or
-complexions. It was, I think, old Sir Piers who said that all one's
-nightmares, physical or moral, arose from one of two causes, an unruly
-liver, or a too vivid memory; let us give the old man the credit of the
-aphorism, in any case."
-
-"Since you are so willingly blind, Patricia," cried Philip, roused from
-his apparent calm by the cool impertinence of her replies, "it seems a
-pity to force you to recall a past that dates back ten years. And yet I
-fear I must do so, for there are certain things that had better be
-explained between us now. Who knows but twice ten years may come and go
-before we meet again?"
-
-He paused for a moment, but she made him no reply; her face and slim
-graceful figure were thrown into high relief against the dark
-hazel-trees, her silks and laces lay about her feet in careless
-profusion across the short green turf, her hands were folded in the lace
-scarf that wrapped her neck in its fleecy folds. Afar off in the
-darkness of the drooping branches, an owl hooted, and a bird or two
-answered in sleepy half-notes.
-
-"It is not so very long ago," Philip continued, "since a letter came to
-me from you."
-
-She shivered a little and drew her laces about her more closely.
-
-"In that letter, Patricia, you had forgotten nothing; not one detail of
-the dream we dreamed together ten years ago. You wrote from your heart
-then; your heart that will sometimes make its cry heard, despite the
-crust of worldly artifice and selfishness you have built up upon it, and
-you appealed to me to recall the old days, 'to fold back the cere-cloth
-from the face of our dead past,' and see if something of beauty and
-sentiment did not still cling to its memory."
-
-She put up one hand to her face and passed it hurriedly across her
-trembling lips; she did not speak, but her eyes grew large and dark in
-their entreaty. Mr. Tremain continued, unheeding either her eyes or
-gesture.
-
-"I am not going to quote further from that letter, Patricia, and I will
-only tax your patience a very little longer, while I describe to you two
-visions conjured up by your appeal. I saw once more you, in your first
-fresh loveliness and beauty, radiant with youth, transformed by love;
-and I saw myself, as yet a raw, unfinished, unformed specimen of
-manhood; the Creighton of a suburban society, it is true, but
-nevertheless the veriest tyro in the affectations and niceties of town
-etiquette. You came within my circle, and you charmed me by the sweet
-graciousness of your beauty, the blue fire of your eyes, the frank
-candour of your witcheries. And you--you were content to let me play
-Strephon to your Chloe. And so that vision faded; and when next I saw
-you in fancy, you came towards me, from out a world of light beyond,
-from whence came also the echo of gay laughter and light jest; the silks
-and laces of your dress fell about you jealously, I remember their
-colour and their sheen, as you crept up to me, trembling. There was no
-glad exclamation on your lips, no joy in your eyes, no hand held out in
-welcome; hesitating and uncertain you stood before me, looking at me
-from under your downcast lids, and drawing one hand slowly over the
-other. And I, loving and eager, I, a very fool in love, never dreamed
-the reason of your changed demeanour; no, not until hours afterwards,
-when the night and the falling rain had cooled my passion. You were
-ashamed of me, Patty, ashamed of your rustic lover, who came into your
-presence with a heart on fire, but wearing an ill-fitting coat, and with
-manners more pronounced and enthusiastic than those of your little court
-in the room beyond."
-
-He stopped and walked away from her a few paces. The woman thus left
-alone seated on the marble fountain rim, never moved or spoke; only a
-low cry burst from her lips, smothered as soon as born, otherwise she
-remained as still and silent as the Boeotian marble god behind her,
-whose prototype had lived out all the passion and the pain of loving so
-many centuries ago.
-
-The moon above drifted from cloud to cloud, flinging its silver fire
-down recklessly upon the sheltered nook, and upon the fair woman
-miserable in the midst of her loveliness. Mr. Tremain turned and came
-back, he drew close to her and stood silent for some moments; the pity
-that filled his soul, revealed in his eyes down bent upon her. After a
-time he spoke, and his voice had regained its usual level tones.
-
-"That was all, Patty, a very commonplace ending. You were ashamed of me;
-ashamed of my outward appearance, which lacked the correct finish of a
-Bond Street tailor; ashamed of my eagerness and my passion, and my open
-adoration; ashamed of my poverty, and afraid of it. Poor pretty Patty!
-poor little butterfly of fashion! What should it know of the coarser
-insects of creation, whose existence was as necessary perhaps, but less
-ornamental, than its own? Why should it break its pretty painted wings
-in trying to soar above the sunshine of the hour? You rejected me,
-Patricia, that was the end of our last interview; you rejected me and
-scorned me, and cast me from you when tired of your toy, and when you
-had wounded me beyond healing, and flouted my love and constancy. You
-asked me to kiss you for good-bye; I think that was the bitterest moment
-of all my life, Patty, it was such wanton cruelty, such selfish
-triumphing. And I went from you with all the love and hope and trust and
-belief of youth crushed out of my heart by your two soft little hands.
-Who could have thought they had the strength to deal one such a coward's
-blow?"
-
-Again he stopped, but still she remained still and silent, the whiteness
-of her face growing strange and unfamiliar in the fitful moonbeams.
-
-"That was our last meeting and parting, Patricia, and it happened ten
-years ago. And you would have me believe that you have so mastered the
-art of forgetting as to make of it all only a blank chaos!"
-
-He came nearer to her, and moving with careful hand the folds of her
-dress sat down beside her on the broad marble brim. Seated thus, side by
-side, his eyes were on a level with hers, and he read within their
-depths so great a misery as to call forth a fuller pity in his own.
-
-"Patty," he said, very quietly, "Patty, my answer to your letter was
-cold and hard, unworthy of me. Will you forget it, my dear, and let me
-give you my true answer now, with your head upon my heart, and my lips
-on yours, as in the old days, Patty? The old beautiful days when the
-world and our love was young. Patty, my little wayward Patty, come back
-to my love and to me."
-
-He held out his arms and would have drawn her to him, so sure was he of
-her answer. But she, springing up, stood tall and dignified before him,
-her bosom, from which the lace wrap had fallen, heaving with her
-hurriedly drawn breath, the whiteness of her uncovered neck and arms
-gleaming like alabaster, as she stood silhouetted against the sombre
-boughs of the hazel-trees behind her. Her eyes flashed with their old
-fire, she raised one hand in her old favourite imperious gesture, and
-when she spoke the tones of her voice had grown round and full and
-musical.
-
-"No, Philip," she cried, "you come too late. What! you think you have
-but to throw the handkerchief and I will run gladly to pick it up? You
-are willing to accept me now, because for some concealed reason of your
-own, I appear more desirable in your eyes, better worth the having, and
-so you read me a long monologue on your constancy and love, and my
-faithlessness and cruelty. But you forget to put in the finer shading to
-the picture, Philip; you forget the part _you_ played in our drama _à
-deux_; you forget how eagerly you snatched at the freedom I offered;
-you forget your harsh words, your rough manners, your imperious demands,
-your impatient flying to conclusions. You wilfully misunderstood me
-then, Philip, you wilfully misread a girl's most natural shrinking from
-the unknown and the untried, and put it down to heartless coquetry and
-deceit. Was it for me to set you right? Was I to plead my own cause? No,
-Philip, you have scorned me twice; once when you refused my kiss, ten
-years ago, and again when you refused my offer in my letter. I will not
-accept now a love born out of pity, an interest created by desire. I
-will have all or nothing; pity shall have nothing to say or plead on my
-behalf."
-
-She threw out her hands passionately.
-
-"Take back your offer, Philip; make it to some less jealous, less wise
-woman. I will have none of it. I have seen many strange things in my
-wanderings of ten years, gained many bitter experiences, mingled with
-many strange people, touched close on terrible tragedies; but one thing
-I have never lost throughout all--my pride and my freedom. Go, Philip,
-you have your answer in my farewell words of ten years ago. I have no
-room to remember. I have mastered the art of forgetfulness and
-oblivion."
-
-With one quick movement she stooped, drew the long folds of her shining
-draperies about her, gathering her laces in one hand, and swept by him
-swiftly; the moonlight clinging to her as she moved, surrounded her as
-with a halo, and lighted up the fine scorn that curved her lips and
-glowed in her deep eyes.
-
-In another moment the elastic swaying hazel-boughs parted to receive
-her, and then springing back, hid the slight graceful figure from
-Philip's sight.
-
-And still the drops falling from the vase, held high in the hands of the
-boy-god Narcissus, counted out the moments, and the moonbeams fell
-straight and long, in narrow shafts, across the spot where Patricia had
-leant her fair form, stirring to sudden life with her jewelled fingers
-the water's placid dark surface.
-
-Now she was gone, and the radiance departed with her.
-
-END OF VOL. I.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
-
-
-
-
-
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