That night there was a concert at Millo. It was the fifth week of Lent:
nothing was possible but a musical party. There were famous musicians
and equally famous singers; the gardens were illumined, and the whole
arrangements had that charm and novelty which Madame de Vannes knew so
well how to give to all she did. But the evening was chiefly noticeable
for the first appearance in the world, since her husband's death, of
the Princess Napraxine. She came late, as she always came everywhere;
she still wore black; there was no relief to it anywhere, except
that given by the dazzling whiteness of her great pearls and of her
beautiful skin. The contour of her throat and bosom, the exceeding
beauty of her arms, had never been seen in such marked perfection as in
that contrast with the sombre robe she wore, sleeveless, and fastened
on each shoulder only with a clasp of pearls. One unanimous chorus of
admiration ran from mouth to mouth as she entered.
The tragedy of her husband's death had left no trace on her. Her smile
had its old ironical insouciance, her lips their rich warm rose-colour,
her eyes their lustrous languor; abstinence from all the fatigues of
society, and the fresh air of the country life in which she had passed
the tedious months of her seclusion, had given her all the vivifying
forces of health without destroying that look of fragility and languor
which were her most potent charms.
'Poor Napraxine!' thought Melville as he looked at her; but he was the
only one there who remembered the dead man.
Neither Othmar nor his wife was present there that night.
Both feared, with a fear which lay mute at the heart of each, to see
again for the first time before the eyes of the world the woman whose
memory ruled his life.