SENORITA ALISANDA
My wits would have been those of a dolt had I not foreseen the
possibility of the presence of Senorita Alisanda in the drawing-room.
The chance of so favorable a meeting set my nerves to tingling between
delighted anticipation and dread of disappointment.
Thanks to my ruddy coloring and a natural erectness of bearing, I
followed the others to the door with a fair show of confidence,
notwithstanding that I had to endure the contrast of so polished a
gentleman as Mr. Burr. As we advanced, he had promptly placed himself at
my side, in the rear of the others, his yielding of precedence being, as
I was not too dull to perceive, a most subtle attempt to flatter me.
That I was flattered was not strange, as may be testified to by those
who have come in personal contact with the man. Yet for all his winning
manner I gave little heed to his words, my thoughts being fixed on the
delicious possibility of an immediate meeting with my glorious lady of
the avenue.
Imagine the bitterness of my disappointment, upon entering the
drawing-room, to see no one in the remotest degree resembling the
senorita among the ladies who awaited our presence. While Senor Vallois
was being introduced I had a moment to glance about the room, with the
disheartening result that I nowhere saw the graceful figure which I had
hoped to discover screened by the shabby crimson damask of the
furniture.
The voice of Mr. Jefferson recalled me to the ladies, and I found myself
making a melancholy bow to Mrs. Randolph, his surviving daughter. She in
turn presented me to the other ladies,--of whose persons and appearance,
out of the medley of muslins and fans, bright eyes, bared busts, and
thinly veiled forms, I retain only the remembrance that one was Mrs.
Dearborn, another a Mrs. Smith, daughter of the renowned Senator Bayard
of Delaware, and a third Mrs. Madison. Of the fourth lady, whose name I
did not catch, I recall that she was an elderly dame of sedate manners,
but far other than sedate in her compliance with the extreme mode. Her
gray curls were all but dripping with pomade, and the gore in the left
side of her narrow skirt extended up above mid-thigh. Her jewelled
garter was the handsomest one visible, for which reason, I presume, it
was more openly displayed than those of the other ladies.
Mrs. Madison, petite and charming, notwithstanding her plainness of
feature and the fact that she was nearer forty than thirty, promptly
rallied me upon my look of depression. The Colonel and Mrs. Smith joined
forces with "Dolly," as the latter addressed her, so that I was
compelled to smile, if only to save myself from a general onslaught.
"That is better!" exclaimed Mrs. Madison. "He, a doctor! to think of
dining with so gloomy a countenance!"
"Above all, to think of any other than a smiling face in _your_
presence!" chimed in Mr. Burr. "I had not thought it possible of one who
has proved that he can be gallant even to horses."
At this there was a chorus of curious questions. I turned, seeking a way
of escape, and discovered that I was all but touching elbows with my
lady of the mire!
Presently I found myself bowing. Though still half bewildered, I
realized that I was being introduced to her as Miss Vallois, the niece
of Senor Vallois.
Colonel Burr, who had been introduced with the other gentlemen while I
stood in my daze, now sought to engage her attention. His eye for
feminine charm and beauty is as well known as is his success with the
ladies. With such a rival, my utter loss of composure doubtless would
have resulted quickly in the more serious loss of the lady's attention,
had she not at the last moment recognized me as the buckskin
_caballero_.
With a glance of frank pleasure which came near to finishing me on the
spot, she signed gracefully to her uncle: "_Santa Maria!_ It is he--the
_caballero_ who so kindly came to our assistance!"
"I have already expressed to the senor the full measure of our gratitude
for his service," replied Don Pedro, in a tone which recalled the girl
to her first manner of polite hauteur.
"Permit me to join my thanks to those of my kinsman," she said to me.
Nettled by the condescension of her tone and bearing, I shook off my
daze, and rejoined with more wit than courtesy, "Believe me, senorita,
no thanks are due me other than from your coach horses."
Another chorus of questions demanded the explanation, and Colonel Burr
responded by telling over Don Pedro's account in the form of a wittily
brilliant anecdote. I listened unheeding, for my gaze was fixed upon
Senorita Alisanda.
At my rude reply her eyes had flashed with a look before which my own
dropped,--though not to the floor. As she drew back a step in her
displeasure, my gaze dwelt adoringly upon the graces of her lissome
form. She was tall, yet not unduly slender, and the queenly dignity and
beauty of her presence were enhanced by the flowing lines of her dress.
Of the dress itself I can only say that it was of scarlet sarsenet,
covered in part by an overdrape of silver spangles on white _crepe_,
and, in compliance with the Empire mode, cut low enough in the waist to
expose her dazzling shoulders and bosom. Her arms, rounding up from the
small hands and slender wrists as if carved from new ivory, were bare to
the bows of black ribbon on her shoulders. Close about her perfect
throat, in place of the usual ruffs, was a double string of black
pearls. Notwithstanding the universal acceptance of the new fashions, I
had great pleasure in the fact that she had not sacrificed her beautiful
hair for a wig.
But, needless to say, I gave slight heed to her dress. My fascinated
eyes dropped their gaze to the little arched foot which peeped from
beneath the raised front of her dress, snugly cased in its
diamond-buckled slipper of scarlet satin. The foot drew back out of
view, and I looked up in time to catch a faint tinge of pink beneath the
clear ivory of my lady's cheeks. Her look was, if possible, more haughty
than before. Yet, emboldened by that faint blush and the intoxication of
her beauty, I met her gaze with such a glow in my steel-gray eyes that
this time it was hers that lowered.
A change in the light chatter of the company forced me to spare them a
glance. Senor Vallois and Mrs. Randolph were leading the way to the
dining-room, and the others were pairing off to follow, in a most
informal manner. I saw Colonel Burr turning toward us, which spurred me
to instant action.
"We go in now, senorita," I said, offering her my arm.
Mr. Burr flashed me a whimsical glance, between disappointment and
commendation, and turned to the nearest lady. At the same time the
senorita looked up. Seeing the others all in couples, she hesitated
only a moment before accepting my arm.
Of the dining-room I can state no more than that it was a very long
apartment, that the furniture was exceedingly plain, and that we sat at
an oval table, whose shape was supposed to bring all present face to
face.
Thanks to the close imitation of Parisian society at New Orleans, to
which I had enjoyed the _entree_, I managed to conduct my unwilling
partner to the table with a _haut ton_ that brought an uplift in the
brows of more than one of my fellow guests. My elation over this success
was short-lived. Colonel Burr adroitly placed himself on her other hand,
and for a time I saw no more of her scarlet lips and dusky eyes. Both
were given freely to the Colonel, whose reputation was only too well
known.
I might have sought to console myself with the rareness of the wines and
the epicurean delicacy of the food. The service was simple, yet refined,
the cooking such that I at once recognized the art of a Frenchman. Yet
even the Madeira failed to cheer me. I could only sit silent over my
plate and steal lackadaisical glances at the rounded shoulder which my
partner so cruelly turned upon me, and at the silky maze of sable hair
which crowned her shapely head.
Until now my feeling toward Colonel Burr had been uncertain, vaguely
doubtful, yet by no means hostile. It now hardened of a sudden into
deep-seated aversion. So little has reason to do with the affairs of
men--and women!
To show the depth of resentment into which my passion flung me, I need
only say that I conned over in my memory the fatal meeting between Mr.
Burr and Mr. Hamilton, and exulted that I might be able to avenge the
great Federalist and myself at the same time by challenging the Colonel
to a like encounter. For all his sinister reputation as a duellist, at
that moment I would gladly have met him with any weapons he might
choose.
Either because of my look, or, what was the more probable, because of
his well-known aversion to a divided conversation at table, Mr.
Jefferson broke in upon the Colonel's _tete-a-tete_ with so shrewd a
question regarding the Louisiana situation that Mr. Burr was required to
answer at some length.
This fresh turn of the conversation the President, with seeming
ingenuousness, deflected to me, so that, from being the one silent
member of the party, I found myself most unexpectedly the main speaker
and the centre of attention. By keeping well within the bounds of my
certain information, I was able to hold my own in the general discussion
which followed, and to reply to all questions with a fair degree of
fluency, although subjected by each of the gentlemen in turn to a
cross-examination as keen and pointed as it was lightly uttered.
"And your opinion of the Spanish boundaries?" asked Mr. Madison at last.
It was a question which I had expected from the first,--the question of
all questions among my fellow-denizens of Louisiana Territory.
"We have him there!" said Colonel Burr, as I paused over my reply.
Even the ladies bent forward to catch my words, and I was not surprised
to see that Senor Vallois betrayed still more interest than the other
gentlemen. For the first time my partner turned and fixed her eyes upon
me. I stated my opinion without further hesitancy.
"As to the West Florida boundary," I said, "there can be no doubt. Spain
is in the right."
"Your proof?" demanded Colonel Burr.
I cited such clauses bearing upon the point in the Spanish and French
treaties as were known, and other facts which I had heard mentioned by
Mr. Daniel Clark.
"A plausible statement," remarked General Dearborn. "But with regard to
the other Spanish line--the Texas boundary?"
"As to that, would not the opinions of Senor Vallois and Colonel Burr be
more authoritative?" I countered. "Colonel Burr at least should be
well-grounded as to the points in controversy, in view of his high
standing as a lawyer and the commonly accredited report in the West that
he is negotiating for permission to found a colony within the Spanish
territory."
"It is the first I have heard of the undertaking," remarked the
President, with evident surprise. "You did not mention it to me,
Colonel, at our meeting the other day."
"Had Your Excellency then considered it expedient to give me the
ministry for which I asked, I should have had no need to enter upon
speculative projects," returned Mr. Burr, exposing his humiliating
rebuff by Mr. Jefferson with a cynical frankness which it was plainly to
be seen disconcerted not only the President but his eminent secretaries
as well. Mr. Burr paused a moment to enjoy the confusion of his great
adversary, then continued: "The project of a colony is as yet indefinite
in my mind. I have considered the possibility of retrieving my fortunes
by the purchase of four or five hundred thousand acres in the midst of
the most fertile tract of Texas,--on the Washita River."
"Ah, Texas!" exclaimed Mrs. Madison, turning to Senor Vallois. "Is it
not the question of the Texas line which most threatens to terminate our
fair relations with your Government?"
"Such is the fact, senora," replied the don, with marked reserve.
Mrs. Randolph addressed my partner: "Your uncle takes you to Chihuahua
by way of Texas, I believe you said, Miss Vallois."
"No, madam. I fear I was not clear in my explanations. Senor Vallois had
intended to return that way before it was decided that I should
accompany him from England."
"We go by way of Vera Cruz," explained Senor Vallois.
"So long a voyage!" exclaimed Mrs. Smith. "I should have imagined the
passage from England would have wearied you of the water for a
lifetime."
"We came in one of your American packet ships, and were only
twenty-seven days in crossing," replied the senorita.
"Only twenty-seven days on the ocean!" I exclaimed--"twenty-seven days!"
"It is not an extraordinarily quick passage, with favorable weather and
our American-built ships," remarked Mr. Madison.
"Believe me, sir, it was not the shortness but the length of the voyage
which compelled my exclamation," I explained. "Miss Vallois will pardon
me if I express my admiration of her heroism. I once made a trip from
New York to Boston by schooner. I came back on a horse."
This statement was met with a gust of mirth, no doubt due more to the
wine which had gone before it than to its wit. Yet it served to throw
the conversation into a lighter vein, that ended in a run of repartee as
sparkling as the champagne with which it was accompanied. In this
contest of wit and airy nothings I soon found myself as far
out-distanced as the others were outstripped by Colonel Burr.
Again my partner gave me her shoulder, and my sole consolation for the
slight was that she joined but little in the contest, and met the
Colonel's gallantry with a reserve unmistakably evident in the poise of
her head and the coldness of her perfect profile. She could be haughty
with others no less than with myself.
Although she did not favor me with a single glance, the half-averted
view of her adorably curved cheek and an occasional glimpse of her
profile were far preferable to nothing. All too early, Mrs. Randolph
gave the signal for the ladies to withdraw.
In rising, whether by accident or design, the senorita turned toward me.
Her eyes were nearer on a level with my own than those of any other
young lady I had ever faced, and the erectness of her carriage, so
different from the drooping French pose, added to the effect of proud
height. She met me with a full open gaze, as devoid of allurement as it
was of repellence and hauteur. I seemed to be looking down into the
depths of fathomless wells, within which was nothing but velvety
darkness.
It was but a moment, and she had turned away with the others, leaving me
mystified. Nor could I puzzle out the meaning of the look during the two
hours I sat with the other gentlemen, matching them glass after glass,
and with them growing steadily more mirthful over the witticisms of
Colonel Burr, which were more notable for point than for decorum.
The fine and costly wines of our illustrious host stirred me to this
false mirth, behind which, as behind a mask, I found my inner self
constantly reverting to the thought of my lady's strange glance. But try
as I might, I could not so much as guess at its meaning. As I have said,
it had held nothing either of attraction or of repulsion; it had not
expressed even the barest curiosity--only that fathomless depth of
mystery.
All the more was I eager for the signal to rejoin the ladies in the
drawing-room. Another look, I thought, would give me the key to the
puzzle, a trace to point me along the way of her meaning.
At last Mr. Jefferson saw fit to lead us in to the ladies, a servant
following with the coffee. I pressed in close after Senor Vallois, and,
like him, looked about in vain for his niece. Mrs. Randolph hastened to
explain to him that Miss Vallois had only just withdrawn, on the plea of
a slight indisposition. The senor immediately excused himself, saluting
us all with punctilious bows and a sonorous "_Adios!_" and withdrew.
After his departure the ladies were pleased to bestow on me some little
attention, and in their seemingly artless manner drew from me much
regarding my family, my education, and my fortune,--or, as I should say,
my ambitions; for my fortune as yet lay mostly in the future. Presently,
to my surprise, I found myself invited to call at as many homes as there
were ladies present. This was an honor entirely unexpected by me, in
view of the fact that I could claim neither political prestige nor
distinguished birth. The disregard for the latter may have been due to
Mr. Jefferson's well-known Jacobin principles, the reflection of which
is clearly perceptible in the attitude of the greater number of his
intimates.
The gentlemen were almost equally cordial when the time came for me to
withdraw, General Dearborn alone maintaining a certain reserve, due, as
I surmised, to anticipations of a formal application for Government
favors.
At the last moment Colonel Burr remarked that he intended to stop over
another day before going on to Philadelphia, and gave me his address,
followed by a cordial invitation to call. I replied with an expression
of thanks for the honor and withdrew before he could pin me down to an
outright acceptance.