"That fawn-skin-dappled hair of hers,
And the blue eye
Dear and dewy,
And that infantine fresh air of hers."
_A Pretty Woman._
It was no fancy. There he stood, trim and fresh as ever, a small bunch
of Neapolitan violets in his button-hole, his hands behind him, and
wearing his usual expression of alert interest in what was passing
around him. He was looking remarkably well, and a good deal tanned, so
that the clearness of his blue-grey eyes showed more strongly than
usual. His face was turned fully towards Wynifred, but he was not
looking at her, but beyond, away down the room.
That trifling fact saved her self-respect. Had his eyes been upon her,
he must have seen something--some sudden flash of uncontrollable
feeling, which would have told him what she would almost have died to
prevent his knowing. But in the few moments given to her she was able
partially to rally, to tear her eyes from his face, to turn to her
partner, even to smile at what he was saying, and to make a reply which,
if neither long nor brilliant, was at least not wide of the mark. Those
two minutes seemed really two hours to her. First the sudden shock, then
the recovery, so slow as it had seemed, the turning of her head an inch
to the left, the set smile, the brief answer, and then they were in the
doorway ... were, passing him by.... No human power could have made her
lift her eyes to his as she passed; yet she saw him without
looking--knew how close he was, felt her gown brush his foot, and heard
his voice an instant later ejaculate,
"Miss Allonby!"
It had come. As she paused, turned her head, raised her gaze to his, she
was more thankful than ever that she had even so brief a preparation;
for the expression of Mr. Cranmer's face could not exactly be considered
flattering. It was made up of several ingredients, but embarrassment was
predominant. There was a slight added color in his cheeks--a hesitation
in his manner. He was off guard, and could not immediately collect
himself.
A secret fury of indignation at her own folly helped to make Wynifred's
smile most coldly sweet. As she held out her hand she slightly arched
her eyebrows as though he were the last person she had expected to meet;
as indeed he had been, not three minutes ago. He greeted her with some
confusion, his eyes roamed over her dress, and never in all her life had
she been so devoutly thankful that she was in this respect for once past
criticism.
Nothing gives a greater confidence than the consciousness of looking
one's best. As the girl stood before Claud, she felt that to-night the
advantage was hers. He had not thought it worth while to call in
Mansfield Road; he should see that the Allonby family was by no means
dependent on his chance favors.
The usual tepid and stereotyped formalities were gone through.
"How do you do, Miss Allonby? It is an unexpected pleasure to meet you
here."
"Really! I think it is I who ought to be surprised. I am always at Mrs.
Miles' parties, and I never met you before."
"No--it is my first visit. I hope you are all well? Is either of your
sisters here?"
"Yes, both; and my brother too. Are you alone?"
"Oh, dear, no: Mab is here somewhere, and Miss Brabourne----"
Here Dick Arden became restive.
"Miss Wynifred!" he murmured, reproachfully, making an onward step.
Wyn inclined her head with another small and civil smile, and made as
though she would have passed on.
"Miss Allonby--stay! Won't you give me a waltz?" cried Claud, hastily.
"I have none till quite the end of the programme, and I am afraid you
will have gone home by then," replied Wyn, airily, over her shoulder.
Claud went forward, determinedly.
"If you will give me one, I will stay for it," he said, with some
energy.
"Well, you shall have number nineteen; but mind you don't trouble to
wait if it is not quite convenient."
"Somebody else will be only too happy to step into your shoes, if you
are not forthcoming," laughed Dick Arden. "Miss Wynifred--I hope that is
not my promised dance you are giving away!"
They were gone--the slim, white-robed girl and her partner had vanished
among the parti-colored couples who paraded the room. Claud's' glance
followed them with a fatal fascination. He saw them pass through a
sidedoor into a shadowy conservatory, and then, with a start, roused
himself to the consideration of what had passed. He had met Wynifred
Allonby again. How very nice she looked in white. How nice she looked
altogether. Was there not something different about her since the
summer--an altered look in her face? Her eyes! He never noticed, at Edge
Combe, what pretty eyes she had; but now----. He moved restlessly down
towards the band. Why did they not strike up? This was only number four
on the programme, and he had to exist, somehow, till the bitter end. He
might as well dance, it would perhaps pass the time rather more quickly.
Actuated by this idea, he started in pursuit of Elsa.
Meanwhile, scarcely had Wynifred gained the shelter of the ante-room,
when she turned to her partner abruptly.
"We must hunt up Osmond before we do anything else," she cried,
peremptorily. "I want to speak to him at once."
Mr. Arden knew her too well to attempt to gainsay her. They hurried
through the rooms till they reached the tearoom, where Mrs. Frederick
Orton was seated in state while Osmond waited upon her.
"Osmond, my dear boy," said Wyn, eagerly, going up to him, "I must just
say five words to you. Come here--bend down your head--listen! Elsa
Brabourne is here to-night. Yes," as he started violently, "she is, I
know, for I have just seen Mr. Cranmer, and he told me. I thought I
would warn you. Oh, my dear, don't be rash, I implore you! Think of her
changed position, since we last saw her--think what a great heiress she
is! She has the world at her feet. Don't look like that, dear, I don't
want to hurt you--only to warn you. Be on your guard! Don't let her
trample on you!"
"Trample on me! She! You don't know her--you could never appreciate--you
always misjudged her!" said the young man, resentfully, under his
breath. "A more innocent, simple-minded creature I never saw than she!
They cannot have spoilt her--yet!"
He was quivering with eagerness.
"Thanks for coming to tell me," he said, hurriedly. "I will go and find
her. Never fear for me. I'm not a fool."
"But, oh, my poor boy, I am not so sure of that," sighed the sister,
secretly, as she left the room again with her partner.
As she passed back through the drawing-room where the hostess was
receiving her guests, her attention was attracted by the figure of a
girl who was standing with her back to them, talking to Arthur Miles.
Dick Arden turned suddenly to her.
"Who is that?" he asked breathlessly.
Only the back, straight and slender, was visible, its white silk bodice
leaving bare a neck that would not have degraded the Venus de Medici. A
small head, crowned with masses of rippled golden hair, was bent
slightly to one side, showing a spray of lillies and a flash of
diamonds. An enormous fan of snowy ostrich feathers formed a background
to this faultless head.
Dick and Wyn were both artists. Simultaneously they moved forward, to
catch a full view of the face belonging to a back which promised so
rarely.
As they came towards her, the beauty turned in their direction, and a
sigh of admiring wonder heaved Mr. Arden's breast as he gazed. It was
Elsa.
Wyn knew her in the same instant that she recognized her astonishing
beauty.
This was something far more wonderful than mere good looks. Regular
features, a clear white skin, large eyes, good teeth, abundant hair--no
doubt these are important factors in the structure of a woman, but Elsa
possessed something far more subtle, more dangerous then any of these.
The trouble, the horror through which she had passed had left something
behind--an indefinable but real influence--a dash of sadness--a shadow,
a suggestiveness, which gave to mouth and eyes a pathos calculated to
drive the soberest of men out of his senses. Had she been brought up
like other girls, among companions of her own age--gone to juvenile
parties, stayed at fashionable watering places, attended a select
boarding-school, she would, of course, have grown up handsome; nature
had amply provided for that, but her beauty would have been robbed of
what was its chief charm. As it was, she was not only lovely, but
unique; and her superb physical health added a crowning touch to her
dissimilarity from the pretty, delicate, more or less jaded and
over-educated London girls who surrounded her.
As her eyes met Wyn's, she started, and came forward, with that
bewitching shyness which was one of her great points.
"Oh, Wyn! Lady Mabel, here is Miss Allonby!"
Lady Mabel Wynch-Frere turned quickly.
"Why--so it is! I am charmed to meet you," she cried, with much
_empressement_. "Of course, if I had only thought, Woodstead is your
part of the world, is it not? What a charming part it seems! This house
is lovely. I am so glad we came. Mr. Miles is painting Elsa's picture,
you know. I think it will be a great success. And how is your work
getting on?"
"Pretty well, thank you."
"I thought it must be! I have been, like everyone else, reading 'Cicely
Montfort.' Is it true that it is to be dramatised?"
"I believe so."
"How proud you must be! it is so grand to feel that one has really done
some good work, and swelled the list of useful women. You must come and
see us as soon as you possibly can. Elsa is making a long stay with me.
She is only just come back to England, you know. She has been cruising
in the Mediterranean with two of her aunts, in Mr. Percivale's yacht;
and my brother has been with them for about six weeks--ever since he
returned from Scotland; he is here to-night, have you seen him?"
"Yes, just to speak to. He said you and Miss Brabourne were here,"
returned Wyn feeling greatly mollified to hear that, by all accounts,
Claud had not been in London since they parted in the summer.
"It has done the child so much good," said Lady Mabel, dropping her
voice. "She is fast recovering, but she was desperately ill after--after
that sad affair, you know. I daresay you wonder to see her at a ball so
soon; but they dare not let her mope. The doctors said she must at all
risks be kept happy and amused. The yachting was the saving of her, I do
believe. It was Mr. Percivale's suggestion."
"Is he here to-night?" Wyn could not resist asking.
"Yes, somewhere. I do not see him just now, Mrs. Miles carried him off.
Ah! here he comes, with that girl in the primrose gown; is it not one of
your sisters?"
"Yes,--Hilda," answered Wyn, with much interest. "Is that Mr. Percivale?
What a fine head!"
"Is it not?" said Lady Mabel, with enthusiasm. "You are an artist, you
can appreciate it. Some people say he has red hair, and that his style
is so _outre_; for my part, I do like a man who dares to be unlike other
men! He has a distinct style of his own, and he knows it. He declines to
clip and trim himself down to the level of everybody else! but there is
nothing obtrusive about him."
This was true. As Percivale advanced, Wyn was constrained to admit that
a more distinguished gentleman she had never beheld. His face fascinated
her. It expressed so clearly the simple nobility of his soul. He came up
to where Lady Mabel was standing, Hilda Allonby on his arm, and then a
number of introductions took place.
Suddenly, with impetuous footstep, a gentleman approached the group.
Elsa turned her face, and one of her slow, beautiful smiles dawned over
eyes and mouth as, with perfect self-possession, she stretched out her
hand in greeting.
It was Osmond; he was white as death, and so excited as to be unable to
speak connectedly. He took the little white-gloved hand in his, and
seemed at once to become oblivious of his surroundings. Wyn was obliged
to remind him of his manners.
"Osmond, here is Lady Mabel."
Mr. Percivale, at the sound of the name, turned round suddenly, and for
several seconds the two men remained looking one another in the face.
They presented the somewhat unusual spectacle of a pair of rivals, both
of whom were quite determined to fight fair. But Percivale's
tranquillity was in strong contrast to Osmond's flushed and manifest
disorder. To Wyn there was something cruel about it--the rich
yacht-owner, the poor, struggling artist. It could never be an even
contest.
"We ought to be acquainted, Mr. Allonby," said Percivale, after a
moment.
"Indeed? I have not the honor----" began Osmond, struggling for an
indifferent manner.
"My name is Percivale," said the owner of the _Swan_. "Perhaps you may
have heard it."
Osmond bowed. In the presence of Elsa, it was not possible to allude to
the events which had brought the yacht to Edge Combe.
"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Percivale," he managed to say, with some
stiffness. "Miss Brabourne, may I hope for the honor of a dance?"
Again the girl smiled at him, accompanying the smile with a look half
mischievous, half pleading, and wholly inviting, as if deprecating the
formality of his address.
"Yes, of course you may," she said, shyly. "Will you have this one?"
"Will I! May I?"
The rapturous monosyllables were all that he could command. Next instant
he felt the light touch of that white glove on his coat-sleeve--he was
walking away with her, out of reach of all observing eyes; he was
floating in a Paradise of sudden, wild happiness. Of what was to come he
recked nothing. The present was enough for him.
"Elsa!" he gasped, as soon as he could speak, "I thought you had
forgotten me!"
"But I have not, you see."
"But you have not! I might have known it. Where shall we go--what shall
we do? Do not let us dance, let us sit down somewhere; I have a thousand
things that I must say."
But this suggestion was most displeasing to Miss Brabourne.
"Oh, but, please, you must dance," said she, in disappointed tones. "I
want to practise, as I shall have to dance so much, and it is such a
good opportunity for you to teach me!"
"To teach you! I expect I shall be the learner," cried Osmond; but in
this he was mistaken.
His divinity could not waltz at all. He instructed her for some time, a
conviction darkly growing in his mind that she never would be able to
master this subtle art. But what of that? Could he regret it, when she
calmly said,
"I should like to dance with you a great many times, please, if you
don't mind. I feel as if I needed a great deal of teaching."