The following week Ideala came to London, but not to us--she had
promised to stay with some other people first. She wrote three times to
Lorrimer while she was with them--first to thank him for his kindness,
to which he replied briefly, begging her to confide in him, and let him
help her.
In her second letter Ideala told him what had occurred. His reply was
business-like. He urged her to let him consult his legal friends about
her case; pointed out that she could not be expected to remain with her
husband now; and showed her that she would not have to suffer much from
all the publicity which was necessary to free her from him. She replied
that her first impulse had been to obtain legal redress, but that now
she could not make up her mind to face the publicity. She would see
him, however, when she returned, and consult him about it; and she
would also like to consult those books in the library. Her buoyant
spirit was already recovering under the influence of a new interest in
life.
Lorrimer's answer was formal, as his other notes had been. He begged
her to make any use of the library she pleased, only to let him know
when to expect her, that she might have no trouble with the officials;
and offered her any other help in his power.
In the meantime my sister Claudia had seen Ideala, and had been pleased
to find her, not looking well, certainly, but just as cheerful as
usual. "It is evident the place does not agree with her," Claudia said;
"but a few weeks with us will set her all right again."
They drove in the park together one afternoon, and talked, as usual, of
many things, the state of society being one of them. This was a subject
upon which my sister descanted frequently, and it was from her that
Ideala learnt all she knew of it.
"Can you wonder," Claudia said on this occasion, "that men are immoral
when ladies in society rather pride themselves than otherwise on
imitating the _demi-monde_?"
"Have you ever noticed," Ideala answered, indirectly, "how frequently a
word or phrase which you know quite well by sight, but have never
thought of and do not understand, is suddenly brought home to you as it
were? You come across it everywhere, and at last take the trouble to
find out what it means in self-defence. That expression--_demi-
monde_--has begun to haunt me since I came to town, and I feel I
shall be obliged to look it up at once to stop the nuisance. We went to
a theatre the other night, and when we were settled there I saw my
husband in the stalls with a lady in flame-coloured robes. I didn't
know he was in town. The rest of our party saw him, too, and the
gentlemen had a mysterious little consultation at the back of the box.
Then one of them left us, but returned almost immediately, and told us
the carriage had not gone, and hadn't we better try some other theatre
--the piece at that one was not so good as they had supposed. But I knew
they had taken a lot of trouble, entirely on my account, to get a box
there, as I had expressed a wish to see that particular piece, and I
said I had come to enjoy it, and meant to. I did enjoy it, too. It was
so absorbing that I forgot all about my husband, and don't know when he
left the theatre. I only know that he disappeared without coming near
us. When we got back, Lilian came to my room and told me they were all
saying downstairs that I had behaved splendidly, and I said I was
delighted to hear it, particularly as I did not know how, or when, or
where, I had come to deserve such praise. And then she asked me if I
knew who it was my husband was with. I said, no; some alderman's wife,
I supposed. 'Nothing half so good,' she answered. 'That woman is
notorious: she is one of the _demimonde!_' 'Well,' I said, 'I don't
suppose she is in society.' And then Lilian said, 'Good gracious,
Ideala! how can you be so tranquil? You _must_ care. I think you are
the most extraordinary person I ever met.' And I told her that the
only extraordinary thing about me just then was a great 'exposition of
sleep' that had come upon me. And then she left me; but she told me
afterwards that she thought I was acting, and came back later to see
if I really could sleep."
"And you did sleep, Ideala?"
"Like a top--why not? But now you are following suit with your ill-
conducted people, and your _demi-monde_. I want to know what you mean
by that phrase?"
Then Claudia explained it to her.
"But I thought all that had ended with the Roman Empire," Ideala
protested.
Claudia laughed, and then went on without pity, describing the class as
they sink lower and lower, and cruelly omitting no detail that might
complete the picture.
"But the men are as bad," said Ideala.
"Oh, as bad, yes!" was the answer.
Ideala was pale with disgust. "And we have to touch them!" she said.
Her ignorance of this phase of life had been so complete, and her faith
in those about her so perfect, that the shock of this dreadful
revelation was almost too much for her. At first, as the carriage drove
on through the crowded streets, she saw in every woman's face a
hopeless degradation, and in every man's eyes a loathsome sin; and she
exclaimed, as another woman had exclaimed on a similar occasion: "Oh,
Claudia! why did you tell me? It is too dreadful. I cannot bear to know
it."
"How a woman can be at once so clever and such a fool as you are,
Ideala, puzzles me," Claudia remonstrated, not unkindly.
She had warmed as she went on, and forgot in her indignation to take
advantage of this long-looked-for opportunity to speak to Ideala about
her own troubles; and afterwards, when she showed an inclination to
open the subject, Ideala put her off with a jest.
"'_Le mariage est beau pour les amants et utile pour les saints,_'"
she quoted, lightly. "Class me with the saints, and talk of something
interesting."
A few days later Claudia came to me in dismay.
"What do you think?" she said. "Ideala is not coming to us at all! She
says she must go back at once."
"Go back!" I exclaimed, "and why?"
"She is going to write something, for which she requires to read a
great deal, and she says she must go back to work."
"But that is nonsense," I protested. "She can work as much as she likes
here--I can even help her."
"I know that," Claudia answered; "but she spoke so positively I could
not insist. I suppose the truth is her husband has ordered her back,
and she is going to be a good, obedient child, as usual."
"Does she seem at all unhappy?"
"No, and that is the strange part of it. She has coolly broken I don't
know how many other engagements to return at once, and instead of
seeming disappointed, she simply 'glows and is glad.' She says nothing,
but I can see it. I don't know what on earth she is up to now." And
Claudia left the room, frowning and perplexed.
When I heard she was not unhappy, this sudden whim of Ideala's did not
disturb me much; indeed, I was rather glad to think she had found
something to be enthusiastic about. Her fits of enthusiasm were rarer
now, and I thought this symptom of one a good sign. It was odd, though,
that I had not seen her while she was in town. I was half inclined to
believe she had avoided me.