“all that there is of the most brilliant and least truthful in europe,” m. claude de chauxville had said to a lady earlier in the evening, apropos of the great gathering at the french embassy, and the mot had gone the round of the room.
in society a little mot will go a long way. m. le baron de chauxville was, moreover, a manufacturer of mots. by calling he was attachi to the french embassy in london; by profession he was an epigrammatist. that is to say, he was a sort of social revolver. he went off if one touched him conversationally, and like others among us, he frequently missed fire.
of course, he had but little real respect for the truth. if one wishes to be epigrammatic, one must relinquish the hope of being either agreeable or veracious. m. de chauxville did not really intend to convey the idea that any of the persons assembled in the great guest chambers of the french embassy that evening were anything but what they seemed.
he could not surely imagine that lady mealhead—the beautiful spouse of the seventh earl mealhead—was anything but what she seemed: namely, a great lady. of course, m. de chauxville knew that lady mealhead had once been the darling of the music-halls, and that a thousand hearts had vociferously gone out to her from sixpenny and even threepenny galleries when she answered to the name of tiny smalltoes. but then m. de chauxville knew as well as you and i—lady mealhead no doubt had told him—that she was the daughter of a clergyman, and had chosen the stage in preference to the school-room as a means of supporting her aged mother. whether m. de chauxville believed this or not, it is not for us to enquire. he certainly looked as if he believed it when lady mealhead told him—and his expressive gallic eyes waxed tender at the mention of her mother, the relict of the late clergyman, whose name had somehow been overlooked by crockford. a frenchman loves his mother—in the abstract.
nor could m. de chauxville take exception at young cyril squyrt, the poet. cyril looked like a poet. he wore his hair over his collar at the back, and below the collar-bone in front. and, moreover, he was a poet—one of those who write for ages yet unborn. besides, his poems could be bought (of the publisher only; the railway bookstall men did not understand them) beautifully bound; really beautifully bound in white kid, with green ribbon—a very thin volume and very thin poetry. meddlesome persons have been known to state that cyril squyrt’s father kept a prosperous hot-sausage-and-mashed-potato shop in leeds. but one must not always believe all that one hears.
it appears that beneath the turf, or on it, all men are equal, so no one could object to the presence of billy bale, the man, by gad! who could give you the straight tip on any race, and looked like it. we all know bale’s livery stable, the same being billy’s father; but no matter. billy wears the best cut riding-breeches in the park, and, let me tell you, there are many folk in society with a smaller recommendation than that.
now, it is not our business to go round the rooms of the french embassy picking holes in the earthly robes of society’s elect. suffice it to say that every one was there. miss kate whyte, of course, who had made a place in society and held it by the indecency of her language. lady mealhead said she couldn’t stand kitty whyte at any price. we are sorry to use such a word as indecency in connection with a young person of the gentler sex, but facts must sometimes be recognized. and it is a bare fact that society tolerated, nay, encouraged, kitty whyte, because society never knew, and always wanted to know, what she would say next. she sailed so near to the unsteady breeze of decorum that the safer-going craft hung breathlessly in her wake in the hope of an upset.
every one, in fact, was there. all those who have had greatness thrust upon them, and the others, those who thrust themselves upon the great—those, in a word, who reach such as are above them by doing that which should be beneath them. lord mealhead, by the way, was not there. he never is anywhere where the respectable writer and his high-born reader are to be found. it is discreet not to enquire where lord mealhead is, especially of lady mealhead, who has severed more completely her connection with the past. his lordship is, perchance, of a sentimental humor, and loves to wander in those pasteboard groves where first he met his tiny—and very natural, too.
there was music and the refreshments. it was, in fact, a reception. gaul’s most lively sons bowed before albion’s fairest daughters, and displayed that fund of verve and esprit which they rightly pride themselves upon possessing, and which, of course, leave mere englishmen so far behind in the paths of love and chivalry.
when not thus actively engaged they whispered together in corners and nudged each other, exchanging muttered comments, in which the word charmante came conveniently to the fore. thus, the lightsome son of republican gaul in society.
it is, however, high time to explain the reason of our own presence—of our own reception by france’s courteous representative. we are here to meet mrs. sydney bamborough, and, moreover, to confine our attention to the persons more or less implicated in the present history.
mrs. sydney bamborough was undoubtedly the belle of the evening. she had only to look in one of the many mirrors to make sure of that fact. and if she wanted further assurance a hundred men in the room would have been ready to swear to it. this lady had recently dawned on london society—a young widow. she rarely mentioned her husband; it was understood to be a painful subject. he had been attached to several embassies, she said; he had a brilliant career before him, and suddenly he had died abroad. and then she gave a little sigh and a bright smile, which, being interpreted, meant “let us change the subject.”
there was never any doubt about mrs. sydney bamborough. she was aristocratic to the tips of her dainty white fingers—composed, gentle, and quite sure of herself. quite the grand lady, as lady mealhead said. but mrs. sydney bamborough did not know lady mealhead, which may have accounted for the titled woman’s little sniff of interrogation. as a matter of fact, etta sydney bamborough came from excellent ancestry, and could claim an uncle here, a cousin there, and a number of distant relatives everywhere, should it be worth the while.
it was safe to presume that she was rich from the manner in which she dressed, the number of servants and horses she kept, the general air of wealth which pervaded her existence. that she was beautiful any one could see for himself—not in the shop-windows, among the presumably self-selected types of english beauty, but in the proper place—namely, in her own and other aristocratic drawing-rooms.
she was talking to a tall, fair frenchman—in perfect french—and was herself nearly as tall as he. bright brown hair waved prettily back from a white forehead, clever, dark gray eyes and a lovely complexion—one of those complexions which, from a purity of conscience or a steadiness of nerve, never change. cheeks of a faint pink, an expressive, mobile mouth, a neck of dazzling white. such was mrs. sydney bamborough, in the prime of her youth.
“and you maintain that it is five years since we met,” she was saying to the tall frenchman.
“have i not counted every day?” he replied.
“i do not know,” she answered, with a little laugh, that little laugh which tells wise men where flattery may be shot like so much conversational rubbish. some women are fathomless pits, the rubbish never seems to fill them. “i do not know, but i should not think so.”
“well, madam, it is so. witness these gray hairs. ah! those were happy days in st. petersburg.”
mrs. sydney bamborough smiled—a pleasant society smile, not too pronounced and just sufficient to suggest pearly teeth. at the mention of st. petersburg she glanced round to see that they were not overheard. she gave a little shiver.
“don’t speak of russia!” she pleaded. “i hate to hear it mentioned. i was so happy. it is painful to remember.”
even while she spoke the expression of her face changed to one of gay delight. she nodded and smiled toward a tall man who was evidently looking for her, and took no notice of the frenchman’s apologies.
“who is that?” asked the young man. “i see him everywhere lately.”
“a mere english gentleman, mr. paul howard alexis,” replied the lady.
the frenchman raised his eyebrows. he knew better. this was no plain english gentleman. he bowed and took his leave. m. de chauxville of the french embassy was watching every movement, every change of expression, from across the room.
in evening dress the man whom we last saw on the platform of the railway station at tver did not look so unmistakably english. it was more evident that he had inherited certain characteristics from his russian mother—notably, his great height, a physical advantage enjoyed by many aristocratic russian families. his hair was fair and inclined to curl, and there the foreign suggestion suddenly ceased. his face had the quiet concentration, the unobtrusive self-absorption which one sees more strongly marked in english faces than in any others. his manner of moving through the well-dressed crowd somewhat belied the tan of his skin. here was an out-of-door, athletic youth, who knew how to move in drawing-rooms—a big man who did not look much too large for his surroundings. it was evident that he did not know many people, and also that he was indifferent to his loss. he had come to see mrs. sydney bamborough, and that lady was not insensible to the fact.
to prove this she diverged from the path of veracity, as is the way of some women.
“i did not expect to see you here,” she said.
“you told me you were coming,” he answered simply. the inference would have been enough for some women, but not for etta sydney bamborough.
“well, is that a reason why you should attend a diplomatic soirie, and force yourself to bow and smirk to a number of white-handed little dandies whom you despise?”
“the best reason,” he answered quietly, with an honesty which somehow touched her as nothing else had touched this beautiful woman since she had become aware of her beauty.
“then you think it worth the bowing and the smirking?” she asked, looking past him with innocent eyes. she made an imperceptible little movement toward him as if she expected him to whisper. she was of that school. but he was not. his was not the sort of mind to conceive any thought that required whispering. some persons in fact went so far as to say that he was hopelessly dull, that he had no subtlety of thought, no brightness, no conversation. these persons were no doubt ladies upon whom he had failed to lavish the exceedingly small change of compliment.
“it is worth that and more,” he replied, with his ready smile. “after all, bowing and smirking come very easily. one soon gets accustomed to it.”
“one has to,” she replied with a little sigh. “especially if one is a woman, which little mishap comes to some of us, you know. i wonder if you could find me a chair.”
she was standing with her back to a small sofa capable of holding three, but calculated to accommodate two. she did not of course see it. in fact she looked everywhere but toward it, raising her perfectly gloved fingers tentatively for his arm.
“i am tired of standing,” she added.
he turned and indicated the sofa, toward which she immediately advanced. as she sat down he noted vaguely that she was exquisitely dressed, certainly one of the best dressed women in the room. her costume was daring without being startling, being merely black and white largely, boldly contrasted. he felt indefinitely proud of the dress. some instinct in the man’s simple, strong mind told him that it was good for women to be beautiful, but his ignorance of the sex being profound he had no desire to analyze the beauty. he had no mental reservation with regard to her. indeed it would have been hard to find fault with etta sydney bamborough, looking upon her merely as a beautiful woman, exquisitely dressed. in a cynical age this man was without cynicism. he did not dream of reflecting that the lovely hair owed half its beauty to the clever handling of a maid, that the perfect dress had been the all-absorbing topic of many of its wearer’s leisure hours. he was, in fact, young for his years, and what is youth but a happy ignorance? it is only when we know too much that gravity marks us for her own.
mrs. sydney bamborough looked up at him with a certain admiration. this man was like a mountain breeze to one who has breathed nothing but the faded air of drawing-rooms.
she drew in her train with a pretty curve of her gloved wrist.
“you look as if you did not know what it was to be tired; but perhaps you will sit down. i can make room.”
he accepted with alacrity.
“and now,” she said, “let me hear where you have been. i have only had time to shake hands with you the last twice that we have met! you said you had been away.”
“yes; i have been to russia.”
her face was steadily beautiful, composed and ready.
“ah! how interesting! i have been in petersburg. i love russia.” while she spoke she was actually looking across the room toward the tall frenchman, her late companion.
“do you?” answered paul eagerly. his face lighted up after the manner of those countenances that belong to men of one idea. “i am very much interested in russia.”
“do you know petersburg?” she asked rather hurriedly. “i mean—society there?”
“no. i know one or two people in moscow.”
she nodded, suppressing a quick little sigh which might have been one of relief had her face been less pleasant and smiling.
“who?” she asked indifferently. she was interested in the lace of her pocket-handkerchief, of which the scent faintly reached him. he was a simple person, and the faint odor gave him a distinct pleasure—a suggested intimacy.
he mentioned several well-known muscovite names, and she broke into a sudden laugh.
“how terrible they sound,” she said gayly, “even to me, and i have been to petersburg. but you speak russian, mr. alexis?”
“yes,” he answered. “and you?”
she shook her head and gave a little sigh.
“i? oh, no. i am not at all clever, i am afraid.”
