"And so learn to be suspicious of everybody," said Irene.
"No; only to read indices that to many others are unintelligible."
"I must learn to read them also."
"It would be well if your s.e.x and place in the world gave the right opportunity," replied Hartley.
"Truly said. And that touches the main question. Women, immured as they now are, and never suffered to go out into the world unless guarded by husband, brother or discreet managing friend, will continue as weak and undiscriminating as the great ma.s.s of them now are. But, so far as I am concerned, this system is destined to change. I must be permitted a larger liberty, and opportunities for independent observation. I wish to read character for myself, and make up my own mind in regard to the people I meet."
"I am only sorry," rejoined her husband, "that your first effort at reading character and making up independent opinions in regard to men and principles had not found scope in another direction. I am afraid that, in trying to get close enough to the people you meet at Mrs. Talbot"s for accurate observation, you will draw so near to dangerous fires as to scorch your garments."
"Complimentary to Mrs. Talbot!"
"The remark simply gives you my estimate of some of her favored visitors."
"And complimentary to your wife," added Irene.
"My wife," said Hartley, in a serious voice, "is, like myself, young and inexperienced, and should be particularly cautious in regard to all new acquaintances--men or women--particularly if they be some years her senior, and particularly if they show any marked desire to cultivate her acquaintance. People with a large worldly experience, like most of those we have met at Mrs. Talbot"s, take you and I at disadvantage. They read us through at a single sitting, while it may take us months, even years, to penetrate the disguises they know so well how to a.s.sume."
"Nearly all of which, touching the pleasant people we meet at Mrs.
Talbot"s, is a.s.sumed," replied Irene, not at all moved by her husband"s earnestness.
"You may learn to your sorrow, when the knowledge comes too late,"
he responded, "that even more than I have a.s.sumed is true."
"I am not in fear of the sorrow," was answered lightly.
As Irene, against all argument, persuasion and remonstrance on the part of her husband, persisted in her determination to go to Mrs.
Talbot"s, he engaged a carriage to take her there and to call for her at eleven o"clock.
"Come away alone," he said, with impressive earnestness, as he parted from her. "Don"t let any courteous offer induce you to accept an attendant when you return home."
CHAPTER XIV.
A STARTLING EXPERIENCE.
_MRS. EMERSON_ did not feel altogether comfortable in mind as she rode away from her door alone. She was going unattended by her husband, and against his warmly-spoken remonstrance, to pa.s.s an evening with people of whom she knew but little, and against whom he had strong prejudices.
"It were better to have remained at home," she said to herself more than once before her arrival at Mrs. Talbot"s. The marked attentions she received, as well from Mrs. Talbot as from several of her guests, soon brought her spirits up to the old elevation. Among those who seemed most attracted by her was Major Willard, to whom reference has already been made.
"Where is your husband?" was almost his first inquiry on meeting her. "I do not see him in the room."
"He had to meet a gentleman on business over in Brooklyn this evening," replied Irene.
"Ah, business!" said the major, with a shrug, a movement of the eyebrows and a motion in the corners of his mouth which were not intelligible signs to Mrs. Emerson. That they meant something more than he was prepared to utter in words, she was satisfied, but whether of favorable or unfavorable import touching her absent husband, she could not tell. The impression on her mind was not agreeable, and she could not help remembering what Hartley had said about the major.
"I notice," remarked the latter, "that we have several ladies here who come usually without their husbands. Gentlemen are not always attracted by the feast of reason and the flow of soul. They require something more substantial. Oysters and terrapin are nearer to their fancy."
"Not more to my husband"s fancy," replied Mrs. Emerson, in a tone of vindication, as well as rebuke at such freedom of speech.
"Beg your pardon a thousand times, madam!" returned Major Willard, "if I have even seemed to speak lightly of one who holds the honored position of your husband. Nothing could have been farther from my thought. I was only trifling."
Mrs. Emerson smiled her forgiveness, and the major became more polite and attentive than before. But his attentions were not wholly agreeable. Something in the expression of his eyes as he looked at her produced an unpleasant repulsion. She was constantly remembering some of the cautions spoken by Hartley in reference to this man, and she wished scores of times that he would turn his attentions to some one else. But the major seemed to have no eyes for any other lady in the room.
In spite of the innate repulsion to which we have referred, Mrs.
Emerson was flattered by the polished major"s devotion of himself almost wholly to her during the evening, and she could do no less in return than make herself as agreeable as possible.
At eleven o"clock she had notice that her carriage was at the door.
The major was by, and heard the communication. So, when she came down from the dressing-room, he was waiting for her in the hall, ready cloaked and gloved.
"No, Major Willard, I thank you," she said, on his making a movement to accompany her. She spoke very positively.
"I cannot see you go home unattended." And the major bowed with graceful politeness.
"Oh no," said Mrs. Talbot. "You must not leave my house alone.
Major, I shall expect you to attend my young friend."
It was in vain that Mrs. Emerson objected and remonstrated, the gallant major would listen to nothing; and so, perforce, she had to yield. After handing her into the carriage, he spoke a word or two in an undertone to the driver, and then entering, took his place by her side.
Mrs. Emerson felt strangely uncomfortable and embarra.s.sed, and shrunk as far from her companion as the narrow s.p.a.ce they occupied would permit; while he, it seemed to her, approached as she receded.
There was a different tone in his voice when he spoke as the carriage moved away from any she had noticed heretofore. He drew his face near to hers in speaking, but the rattling of the wheels made hearing difficult. He had, during the evening, referred to a star actress then occupying public attention, of whom some scandalous things had been said, and declared his belief in her innocence. To Mrs. Emerson"s surprise--almost disgust--his first remark after they were seated in the carriage was about this actress. Irene did not respond to his remark.
"Did you ever meet her in private circles?" he next inquired.
"No, sir," she answered, coldly.
"I have had that pleasure," said Major Willard.
There was no responsive word.
"She is a most fascinating woman," continued the major. "That Juno-like beauty which so distinguishes her on the stage scarcely shows itself in the drawing-room. On the stage she is queenly--in private, soft, voluptuous and winning as a houri. I don"t wonder that she has crowds of admirers."
The major"s face was close to that of his companion, who felt a wild sense of repugnance, so strong as to be almost suffocating. The carriage bounded as the wheels struck an inequality in the street, throwing them together with a slight concussion. The major laid his hand upon that of Mrs. Emerson, as if to support her. But she instantly withdrew the hand he had presumed to touch. He attempted the same familiarity again, but she placed both hands beyond the possibility of accidental or designed contact with his, and shrank still closer into the corner of the carriage, while her heart fluttered and a tremor ran through her frame.
Major Willard spoke again of the actress, but Mrs. Emerson made no reply.
"Where are we going?" she asked, after the lapse of some ten minutes, glancing from the window and seeing, instead of the tall rows of stately houses which lined the streets along the whole distance between Mrs. Talbot"s residence and her own house, mean-looking tenements.
"The driver knows his route, I presume," was answered.
"This is not the way, I am sure," said Mrs. Emerson, a slight quiver of alarm in her voice.
"Our drivers know the shortest cuts," replied the major, "and these do not always lead through the most attractive quarters of the town."