Kate thought she had never imagined anything so stately, so beautiful,
so gay, so like a place for princes and princesses to meet, as the suite
of rooms in the Palazzo occupied by the English Embassy, where the ball
was held. The vista which stretched before her, one room within another,
the lines of light infinitely reflected by the great mirrors--the lofty
splendid rooms, rich in gold and velvet; the jewels of the ladies, the
glow of uniforms and decorations; the beautiful dresses--all moved her
to interest and delight. Delight was the first feeling; and then there
came the strangest sensation of insignificance, which was not pleasant
to Kate. For three years she had lived in little cottage rooms, in
limited space, with very simple surroundings. But the first glance at
this new scene brought suddenly before the girl’s eyes her native
dwelling-place, her own home, which, of course, was but an English
country-house, yet was more akin to the size and splendour of the
Palazzo than to the apartments on the Lung-Arno, or the little Cottage
on the Undercliff. Kate found herself, in spite of herself, making
calculations how the rooms at Langton-Courtenay would look in
comparison; and from that she went on to consider whether any one here
knew of Langton-Courtenay, or was aware that she herself was anything
but Mrs. Anderson’s niece. She was ashamed of herself for the thought,
and yet it went quick as lightning through her excited mind.
Lady Granton smiled graciously upon them, and even shook hands with the
lady whom she knew as Mrs. Vice-Consul, with more cordiality than usual,
with a gratitude which would have given Mrs. Anderson little
satisfaction had she known it, to the woman who had already amused her
so much; but then the group passed on like the other groups, a mother
and two unusually pretty daughters, as people thought, but strangers,
nobodies, looking a little _gauche_, and out of place, in the fine
rooms, where they were known to no one. Ombra knew what the feeling was
of old, and was not affronted by it; but Kate had never been deprived of
a certain shadow of distinction among her peers. The people at Shanklin
had, to their own consciousness, treated her just as they would have
done any niece of Mrs. Anderson’s; but, unconsciously to themselves, the
fact that she was Miss Courtenay, of Langton-Courtenay, had produced a
certain effect upon them. No doubt Kate’s active and lively character
had a great deal to do with it, but the fact of her heiress-ship, her
future elevation, had much to do with it also. A certain pre-eminence
had been tacitly allowed to her; a certain freedom of opinion, and even
of movement, had been permitted, and felt to be natural. She was the
natural leader in half the pastimes going, referred to and consulted by
her companions. This had been her lot for these three years past. She
never had a chance of learning that lesson of personal insignificance
which is supposed to be so salutary. All at once, in a moment, she
learned it now. Nobody looked up to her, nobody considered her, nobody
knew or cared who she was. For the first half-hour Kate was astonished,
in spite of all her philosophy, and then she tried to persuade herself
that she was amused. But the greatest effort could not persuade her that
she liked it. It made her tingle all over with the most curious mixture
of pain, and irritation, and nervous excitement. The dancing was going
on merrily, and there was a hum of talking and soft laughter all around;
people passing and repassing, greeting each other, shaking hands,
introducing to each other their common friends. But the three ladies who
knew nobody stood by themselves, and felt anything but happy.
‘If this is what you call a ball, I should much rather have been at
home,’ said Kate, with indignation.
‘It is not cheerful, is it?’ said Ombra. ‘But we must put up with it
till we see somebody we know. I wish only we could find a seat for
mamma.’
‘Oh! never mind me, my dear,’ said Mrs. Anderson. ‘I can stand very
well, and it is amusing to watch the people. Lady Barker will come to us
as soon as she sees us.’
‘Lady Barker! As if any one cared for her!’ said Kate; but even Kate,
though she could have cried for mortification, kept looking out very
sharply for Lady Barker. She was not a great lady, nor of any
importance, so far as she herself was concerned, but she held the keys
of the dance, of pleasure, and amusement, and success, for that night,
at least, for both Ombra and Kate. The two stood and looked on while the
pairs of dancers streamed past them, with the strangest feelings--or at
least Kate’s feelings were very strange. Ombra had been prepared for it,
and took it more calmly. She pointed out the pretty faces, the pretty
dresses to her cousin, by way of amusing her.
‘What do you think of this toilette?’ she said. ‘Look, Kate, what a
splendid dark girl, and how well that maize becomes her! I think she is
a Roman princess. Look at her diamonds. Don’t you like to see diamonds,
Kate?’
‘Yes,’ said Kate, with a laugh at herself, ‘they are very pretty; but I
thought we came to dance, not to look at the people. Let us have a
dance, you and I together, Ombra--why shouldn’t we? If men won’t ask us,
we can’t help that--but I must dance.’
‘Oh! hush, my darling,’ said Mrs. Anderson, alarmed. ‘You must not
really think of anything so extraordinary. Two girls together! It was
all very well at Shanklin. Try to amuse yourself for a little, looking
at the people. There are some of the great Italian nobility here. You
can recognise them by their jewels. That is one, for instance, that lady
in velvet----’
‘It is very interesting, no doubt,’ cried Kate, ‘and if they were in a
picture, or on a stage, I should like to look at them; but it is very
queer to come to a ball only to see the people. Why, we might be their
maids, standing in a corner to see the ladies pass. Is it right for the
lady of the house to ask us, and then leave us like this? Do you call
that hospitality? If this was Langton-Courtenay,’ said Kate, bringing
her own dignity forward unconsciously, for the first time for years,
‘and it was I who was giving this ball, I should be ashamed of myself.
Am I speaking loud? I am sure I did not mean it; but I should be
ashamed----’
‘Oh! hush, dear, hush!’ cried Mrs. Anderson. ‘Lady Barker will be coming
presently.’
‘But it was Lady Granton who invited us, auntie. It is her business to
see----’
‘Hush, my dearest child! How could she, with all these people to attend
to? When you are mistress of Langton-Courtenay, and give balls yourself,
you will find out how difficult it is----’
‘Langton-Courtenay?’ said some one near. The three ladies
instantaneously roused up out of their languor at the sound. Whose voice
was it? It came through the throng, as if some one half buried in the
crowd had caught up the name, and flung it on to some one else. Mrs.
Anderson looked in one direction, Kate, all glowing and smiling, in
another, while the dull red flush of old, the sign of surprised
excitement and passion, came back suddenly to Ombra’s face. Though they
had not been aware of it, the little group had already been the object
of considerable observation; for the girls were exceptionally pretty, in
their different styles, and they were quite new, unknown, and piquant in
their obvious strangeness. Even Kate’s indignation had been noted by a
quick-witted English lady, with an eyeglass, who was surrounded by a
little court. This lady was slightly beyond the age for dancing, or, if
not really so, had been wise enough to meet her fate half-way, and to
retire gracefully from youth, before youth abandoned her. She had taken
up her place, resisting all solicitations.
‘Don’t ask me--my dancing-days are over. Ask that pretty girl yonder,
who is longing to begin,’ she had said, with a smile, to one of her
attendants half an hour before.
‘_Je ne demande pas mieux_, if indeed you are determined,’ said he. ‘But
who is she? I don’t know them.’
‘Nobody seems to know them,’ said Lady Caryisfort; and so the
observation began.
Lady Caryisfort was very popular. She was a widow, well off, childless,
good-looking, and determined, people said, never to marry again. She was
the most independent of women, openly declaring, on all hands, that she
wanted no assistance to get through life, but was quite able to take
care of herself. And the consequence was that everybody about was most
anxious to assist in taking care of her. All sorts of people took all
sorts of trouble to help her in doing what she never hesitated to say
she could do quite well without them. She was something of a
philosopher, and a good deal of a cynic, as such people often are.
‘You would not be so good to me if I had any need of you,’ she said,
habitually; and this was understood to be ‘Lady Caryisfort’s way.’
‘Nobody knows them,’ she added, looking at the party through her
eyeglass. ‘Poor souls, I daresay they thought it was very fine and
delightful to come to Lady Granton’s ball. And if they had scores of
friends already, scores more would turn up on all sides. But because
they know nobody, nobody will take the trouble to know them. The younger
one is perfectly radiant. That is what I call the perfection of bloom.
Look at her--she is a real rosebud! Now, what _fainéants_ you all are!’
‘Why are we _fainéants_?’ said one of the court.
‘Well,’ said Lady Caryisfort, who professed to be a man-hater, within
certain limits, ‘I am aware that the nicest girl in the world, if she
were not pretty, might stand there all the night, and nobody but a woman
would ever think of trying to get any amusement for her. But there is
what you are capable of admiring--there is beauty, absolute beauty; none
of your washy imitations, but real, undeniable loveliness. And there you
stand and gape, and among a hundred of you she does not find one
partner. Oh! what it is to be a man! Why, my pet retriever, who is fond
of pretty people, would have found her out by this, and made friends
with her, and here are half a dozen of you fluttering about me!’
There was a general laugh, as at a very good joke; and some one ventured
to suggest that the flutterers round Lady Caryisfort could give a very
good reason----
‘Yes,’ said that lady, fanning herself tranquilly, ‘because I don’t want
you. In society that is the best of reasons; and that pretty creature
there does want you, therefore she is left to herself. She is getting
indignant. Why, she grows prettier and prettier. I wonder those glances
don’t set fire to something! Delicious! She wants her sister to dance
with her. What a charming girl! And the sister is pretty, too, but knows
better. And mamma--oh! how horrified mamma is! This is best of all!’
Thus Lady Caryisfort smiled and applauded, and her attendants laughed
and listened. But, curiously enough, though she was so interested in
Kate, and so indignant at the neglect to which she was subjected, it did
not occur to her to take the young stranger under her protection, as she
might so easily have done. It was her way to look on--to interfere was
quite a different matter.
‘Now this is getting quite dramatic,’ she cried; ‘they have seen some
one they know--where is he?--or even where is she?--for any one they
know would be a godsend to them. How do you do, Mr. Eldridge? How late
you are! But please don’t stand between me and my young lady. I am
excited about her; they have not found him yet--and how eager she looks!
Mr. Eldridge--why, good heavens! where has he gone?’
‘Who was it that said Langton-Courtenay?’ cried Kate; ‘it must be some
one who knows the name, and I am sure I know the voice. Did you hear it,
auntie? Langton-Courtenay!--I wonder who it could be?’
A whole minute elapsed before anything more followed. Mrs. Anderson
looked one way, and Kate another. Ombra did not move. If the lively
observer, who had taken so much interest in the strangers, could have
seen the downcast face which Kate’s bright countenance threw into the
shade, her drama would instantly have increased in interest. Ombra stood
without moving a hair’s-breadth--without raising her eyes--without so
much as breathing, one would have said. Under her eyes that line of hot
colour had flushed in a moment, giving to her face the look of something
suppressed and concealed. The others wondered who it was, but Ombra knew
by instinct who had come to disturb their quiet once more. She
recognised the voice, though neither of her companions did; and if there
had not been any evidence so clear as that voice--had it been a mere
shadow, an echo--she would have known. It was she who distinguished in
the ever-moving, ever-rustling throng, the one particular movement which
indicated that some one was making his way towards them. She knew
he--they--were there, without raising her eyes, before Kate’s cry of
joyful surprise informed her.
‘Oh, the Berties!--I beg your pardon--Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Eldridge. Oh,
fancy!--that you should be here!’
Ombra neither fell nor fainted, nor did she even speak. The room swam
round and round, and then came back to its place; and she looked up, and
smiled, and put out her hand.
The two pretty strangers stood in the corner no longer; they stood up in
the next dance, Kate in such a glow of delight and radiance that the
whole ball-room thrilled with admiration. There had been a little
hesitation as to which of the two should be her partner--a pause during
which the two young men consulted each other by a look; but she had
herself so clearly indicated which Bertie she preferred, that the matter
was speedily decided. ‘I wanted to have you,’ she said frankly to Bertie
Hardwick, as he led her off, ‘because I want to hear all about home.
Tell me about home. I have not thought of Langton for two years at
least, and my mind is full of it to-night--I am sure I don’t know why. I
keep thinking, if I ever give a ball at Langton, how much better I will
manage it. Fancy!’ cried Kale, flushing with indignation, ‘we have been
here an hour, and no one has asked us to dance, neither Ombra nor me.’
‘That must have been because nobody knew you,’ said Bertie Hardwick.
‘And whose fault was that? Fancy asking two girls to a dance, and then
never taking the trouble to look whether they had partners or not! If I
ever give a ball, I shall behave differently, you may be sure.’
‘I hope you will give a great many balls, and that I shall be there to
see.’
‘Of course,’ said Kate, calmly; ‘but if you ever see me neglecting my
duty like Lady Granton, don’t forget to remind me of to-night.’
Lady Granton’s sister was standing next to her, and, of course, heard
what she said.