The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Miss Kate Darcy, and
Doctor Fox. They were a very handsome couple, at least so thought Major
Kildare, for turning to Mrs Laure he said:
"I believe all you have said of your friend is true, and without the
slightest exaggeration."
As the guests continued to arrive, Dainty appeared radiantly happy. At
a request for some music, Miss Darcy moved toward the piano.
"What shall I sing for you?"
"Make your own selection and that will be your best," said Dainty, as
she reclined in the depths of a chair, prepared to be captivated. Herr
Schwatka took a seat at her side. Kate touched the keys caressingly for
some minutes, striking a few chords here and there, with a little
running accompaniment between, which expressed her indecision of
selection, until finally striking a decided chord, she began, in a
perfectly modulated voice, to sing that recitative and aria by Handel,
commencing "Lascia ch'io pianga," incomparable for opportunity of
expression, and for revealing the artistic sense of the singer. Sinking
from the triumphant strains into a soft pleading accent, she sang the
three stanzas with a pathos that moved her auditors to the depths of
their natures.
As she arose from the piano, there was a murmur of regret.
"Don't rise, Miss Darcy," said Dainty, pleadingly. "Just think how
hungry appreciative South Africans are for good music. We have never
heard such singing here before. Please give us another selection."
Kate never indulged in affectations of reluctance, so resuming her seat,
she sang a plaintive old negro melody from the plantations of American
slavery, the only original music, some one has said, of which Americans
can boast.
Kate's face was singularly attractive. Her eyes, inherited from an
Irish mother, were dark blue shaded by black eyelashes. One might
criticise her features, for they were not perfect, and might examine her
dimpled face and say it was not pretty, yet it was so expressive, that a
stranger on being introduced to her, when she was in a happy mood, would
be fascinated, and think her altogether charming.
Major Kildare was attracted to Kate and completely captivated, when he
learned in the course of conversation that they had mutual friends in
his far away home, in merrie England. But he was not privileged to
monopolise Miss Darcy, for others pressed around her, and Doctor Fox
stood ever in the background, perhaps discussing some mining operation
in the intricacies of which he was well versed, but never far from the
sound of her voice. Having speculated in the gold and silver mines of
California and Colorado, and being possessed of that sixth sense with
which Americans are accredited, and which being evolved becomes, in a
few, the gift of invention, Doctor Fox had won, by his knowledge of
mining and his improvements in mining machinery, the favourable opinions
of the officers of the Diamond Mining Company in which he was a heavy
stockholder.
"Herr Schwatka," said Donald, "have you been down in the mine by the new
shaft? It is now completed, and the cage is in perfect operation."
"I went down yesterday," replied Schwatka, "and I found it a wonder of
mining enterprise. The ladies should visit it. Would you not like to
go, Mrs Laure, and you, Miss Darcy?"
"We would be delighted; I will answer for both," said Kate, smilingly.
This evening was the beginning of a new era in the lives of these two
women, who had felt singularly drawn to each other. Dainty realised
that she gathered forces new to her from Kate, while the latter was
fascinated by this beautiful wildling, who knew nothing of the great
world, which the other had but recently left behind her.
As Major Kildare left the house that evening with Herr Schwatka, he
enthusiastically remarked:
"By Jove! that Miss Darcy is a fine woman!"
Herr Schwatka took a pull at his cigar, and dreamily watched the rings
in the bright moonlight as they slowly curled up into the still air. At
last he said:
"She is, indeed, but I feel a little afraid of those fair
`_Americaines_!' I can't keep pace with them. I met one in Vienna
during the Exposition, and she was a revelation. Such a sight-seer!
Her mother was with her, but she could do very well without her. If she
wanted to go out of an evening, and her mother was tired from her day's
peregrinations, that girl would say: `Go to bed, mamma; we are going to
the opera?' or whatever it might be. And off we would go, without
protest from the submissive mamma. It was some while before I could
comprehend her; her ways were so different from those of my own
countrywomen. One evening while we were driving to a fete, emboldened
by her unreserved manner, I attempted a little lover-like caress. You
should have seen the American then! She sat as straight as a needle,
and was equally sharp. `You and I are friends, aren't we?' she asked.
"`Doubtless,' I replied.
"`Well,' said she, `if you wish us to continue as such, don't attempt to
ditto that. I have come to see Europe, and I haven't much time to
spare. If we commence to make love, I won't see anything but you, and
as there is not the slightest possibility of your being the whole of
Europe to me, if you will just be my comrade, I shall like it better.'
"I shall never forget the satisfied expression that stole over her face,
as she folded her hands, and looked straight ahead with a gleam in her
eyes, and then turned the conversation in the easiest manner imaginable.
It amused me immensely, but I didn't repeat the little indiscretion,
and the few weeks she remained in Vienna were among the most delightful
ones of my life. We were comrades, and I never understood till then how
a woman could be perfectly free in her manners, yet perfectly true to
her womanhood."
"By Jove! Schwatka, it isn't often that you find your match," said the
major, laughing heartily, as they entered the "Queen's" Hotel.
That night the picture that only faded from the consciousness of Herr
Schwatka, to reappear in his dreams, was that of a graceful woman--the
wife of Donald Laure.