AN AFTERNOON'S SHOPPING
Deane found a singular interest, an interest which amounted almost to
fascination, in watching the demeanor and general deportment of his
companion. Her adaptability was little short of marvellous. She smiled
at the right moment at the obsequious _maitre d'hotel_, and exhibited
just the proper amount of interest in the luncheon which Deane ordered.
The restaurant was somewhat crowded, but there was no one who attracted
more notice than Deane and the girl who sat opposite him,--slim, and
elegantly dressed,--looking around her with a certain partly veiled
interest, which was all the time in piquant contrast to the languor of
her eyes and manner. She was by no means a silent companion, although
her conversation consisted for the most part of questions. She had an
unerring gift for discovering the most noteworthy of the little crowd by
whom they were surrounded, and she was continually asking questions
about them, with a persistence which clearly indicated an interest
scarcely suggested by her general deportment.
"I wonder," Deane said, toward the end of their meal, "whether social
preeminence is amongst your carefully veiled ambitions."
"I am not at all sure," she answered. "Of course, one develops according
to circumstances. In the office of Messrs. Rubicon & Moore I naturally
cared nothing for the world which I could only read about in the columns
of _Modern Society_. As one comes into touch with things, one
appreciates. It is always interesting to know people."
"I am afraid," Deane said, with covert satire, "that my friends are
scarcely what you would call fashionable."
"Your friends?" she remarked, looking up at him. "But that doesn't
matter, does it? I shall make my own friends later on."
Deane looked across the table. She was patting the head of her little
spaniel, and watching, with a self-possession which amounted almost to
insolence, the exodus of a party from the neighboring table.
"Young lady," he said, "what sort of a life did you lead before you went
to Messrs. Rubicon & Moore's? I always understood that your people were
very poor, and only respectably connected."
"You understood the truth," she answered, with composure.
"Will you tell me, then," he asked, "how you learned to wear your
clothes?--how you picked up all the little tricks of social life?"
The very faintest of smiles parted her lips, a smile that wrinkled at
the corners of her eyes, and suddenly altered her appearance so that
Deane was forced to recognize the charm which even to himself he had
denied.
"My dear Mr. Deane," she said, "it is the natural heritage of a woman to
assimilate quickly, especially," she added, after a moment's pause,
"amongst surroundings for which she has had a great desire. Many a time
when I was typing price-lists in that wretched little office, in a black
alpaca gown, with my hat hanging up opposite me,--a black straw with
faded flowers, which had cost me three or four shillings, with darned
stockings and patched boots,--many a time I have left off typing for a
few minutes, and thought and wondered what this must be like. I suppose
I have what you would call a natural aptitude for it. It is because I
have thought of it, pondered over it, desired it."
Deane looked at her wonderingly. "Well," he said, "let me congratulate
you. You play the game to perfection. If I were in a position to make
terms--"
"You are not," she interrupted shortly. "Please to pay the bill. I am
going to take you shopping."
They left the brougham at the corner of Bond Street. Winifred had
signified her desire to walk for a little time. Deane found himself
becoming thoroughly interested--not, as he told himself, in his
companion herself, but in his study of her. The women they passed she
subjected, nearly every one of them, to a close and comprehensive
scrutiny. At the men she scarcely glanced. She found, perhaps, her
greatest interest in the shop windows. She led him across the road to
the establishment of a great jeweller.
"You have not given me an engagement ring," she said, a little abruptly.
"We will go in and choose one."
He followed her obediently into the shop, and stood by her side while
she described minutely the sort of ring she required. Her manner
inspired instant respect. She knew exactly what she wanted, and what she
wanted was the rarest and most beautiful stones, set in the newest
fashion. She showed very little enthusiasm--hesitated, even--over the
ring which was produced at last, after a little hesitation, and shown
almost with reverence. It had been made for a queen, but something had
gone wrong--a matter of politics--and they had not dared to part with
it. Even Deane stared when the man at his elbow whispered the price, but
Winifred never moved a muscle.
"I think it will do," she said, turning to him. "It is very nearly what
I wanted. And I want a few pins--emeralds and diamonds I prefer."
The shopman was already producing a tray from the window. She spoke of
pearls, and examined those that were shown her with the air of a
connoisseur.
"I shall want a rope of pearls very soon," she told the man, "but not
just yet. Perhaps you will let Mr. Deane know when you have enough of
the ones the color and size I like."
"It will give us very great pleasure, madam, to collect them," the man
said, bowing.
Deane produced his cheque-book--fortunately, he was well known--and
wrote a cheque for over two thousand pounds in exchange for the receipt
which the man handed to him. Winifred calmly withdrew her glove and
slipped on the ring. The other things she asked them to send. When she
left the shop, it seemed to Deane that there was a little more color in
her cheeks and a deeper light in her eyes.
"Jewelry interests you?" he remarked, as they stood for a moment on the
pavement.
"Yes!" she answered. "Of course it does. Everything of this sort
interests me. Haven't I longed all my days to feel the touch of pearls
upon my bare neck, to have something like this upon my finger that I
could look at and worship, not only for itself but for the things it
represents? Come and buy me some flowers. My sitting-room is a
wilderness. Afterwards, I am going into the milliner's beyond."
Deane followed her obediently into the florist's opposite. She chose a
great bowl of pink roses and some white lilac.
"How many of the roses, madam?" the shopman asked her.
She looked at him with faintly upraised eyebrows. "Oh! send them as they
are," she answered carelessly.
"There are four dozen, madam," the man remarked, bowing.
She nodded indifferently. The fact that they were a shilling each did
not appear to interest her.
"Is that all the lilacs you have?" she asked, as they were leaving the
shop.
"All we have at present, madam," the man answered.
"Please get some more," she said, "if you can. These hotel
sitting-rooms," she added, turning to Deane, "seem to have a sort of
odor of their own. One can only get rid of it by having flowers
everywhere. Now I am going in here," she said, stopping at a tiny
milliner's. "You must wait for me--I know you are dying to smoke a
cigarette--but you had better give me your pocket-book."
"I am afraid," Deane answered imperturbably, "that its contents will be
of little use to you, for I have only twenty pounds with me. If you will
take these"--he handed her the notes--"I will take a taximeter and cash
a cheque. I shall only be a few minutes."
She nodded, and disappeared into the shop. When she came out again Deane
had returned from his little expedition, and was talking to some men
whom he knew. They glanced at Winifred a little curiously as they raised
their hats and passed on.
"We can perhaps continue our shopping," Deane said, "more comfortably
now."
She ignored the faint note of satire in his tone. "One needs so many
things," she murmured. "The woman inside is just making out my bill. I
think I shall want another thirty pounds."
"I am afraid," he said, "that you have not been able to find what you
wanted. The amount seems trivial."
"Well," she said, "there was a lace dressing-gown about which I could
not quite make up my mind. Perhaps, after all, I had better have it."
She turned back into the shop, and he followed her. The lace
dressing-gown was still lying upon a chair, and in a few moments Deane
found it being held up before him by a vivacious little Frenchwoman, who
was endeavoring to convince him that in it Madame would look a dream. It
was very filmy, very dainty, wonderfully expensive. Deane heard the
price without moving a muscle.
"I think you had better have it," he said. "I am sure," he went on,
looking into her eyes, "that you will look charming in it."
For the first time he seemed to score. She bent over some lace
handkerchiefs, as though anxious to avoid his gaze. "Very well," she
said, "I think that will be all now. Please pay, and let us go."
Once more they were in the streets.
"I want a dressing-bag," she said, a little abruptly.
"By all means," he answered. "We had better go back to the jeweller's.
Do you prefer mother-of-pearl fittings, or gold?"
"I am not sure," she answered. "I should like to look at some."
They were twenty minutes or so making a selection. Deane wrote another
cheque, and stuffed another receipt into his pocket. He had made a few
suggestions himself, which had increased the cost considerably.
"Where to now?" he asked.
"I want some gloves," she said. "Perhaps you would rather go back to
your office now. I must not take up your whole afternoon."
"I am entirely at your service," he assured her. "Believe me, I find
shopping quite an interesting novelty."
"You mean," she said, "that you like to watch the effect upon me. You
think I don't understand. It is quite easy. Tell me how I seem to you?"
"You seem very much to the manner born," he answered, "but you seem
also, if I may say so, as though you were getting rid of the pent-up
desires of years. For instance," he added, as they strolled along the
south side of the street, "there is a certain almost fierceness--I won't
say barbarism--in the way you absorb the things you desire. I am not
complaining," he added quickly. "As a matter of fact, I am rather
inclined to welcome any note of humanity. So long as we are engaged," he
added, looking at her sideways, "one would just as soon feel that one
were engaged to a living person as an automaton."
She kept her eyes averted, but he saw the faint spot of color burning in
her cheeks.
"This is where I think I shall get the gloves I want," she said.
"I will come in with you, if I may," he answered.
Her purchases here showed a little more restraint. Nevertheless,
everything she chose was the best of its sort. When she came out, her
appetite seemed somehow whetted. She walked along the street almost
listlessly.
"Do you know that it is nearly half-past four?" he said. "You had better
let me give you some tea."
She nodded indifferently. "Thank you. That would be very nice."
"Will you come to my rooms," he asked, "or shall we go into the Carlton
and hear the music?"
She looked at him quickly, and then back into a shop window. "To the
Carlton, if you please," she said coldly.
They walked to the corner of the street and stood waiting while the
brougham came round to them. She turned toward a florist's and looked
into the window.
"You would like some more flowers?" he asked.
She led him into the shop without a word. There was a cluster of red
roses over which she bent and selected one. "I should like this,
please," she said.
"One only, madam?" the shopman asked.
"One only," she answered composedly. "I will pin it in here if you will
cut the stalk a little," she added, removing a brooch from the bosom of
her gown. "Will you pay for this, please?" she added, turning to Deane.
He was taken aback for a moment. "You are sure that there is nothing
else?" he asked.
"Nothing," she answered.
They left the shop and he handed her into the brougham. Deane was
suddenly conscious that his pulse was beating a little faster, even
though her fingers had lain in his absolutely unresponsive. He was
wondering what sort of a whim it was which had led her to desire that
one flower.