"It is. It"s fascinating."
"And so that is the reason why you are staying so long in smoky old London?"
"No, Adela, it isn"t. At least, that"s not the only reason."
The words were spoken slowly and were followed by a curiously conscious, almost, indeed, embarra.s.sed look from the girl"s violet eyes.
"No?"
After a long pause Beryl said:
"You know I have always looked upon you as a book of wisdom."
"It"s very difficult to be wise," said Lady Sellingworth, with a touch of bitterness. "And sometimes very dull."
"But you are wise, dearest. I feel it. You have known and done so much, and you have had brains to understand, to seek out the truth from experience. You have lived with understanding. You are not like the people who travel round the world and come back just the same as if they had been from Piccadilly Circus to Hampstead Heath and back. One _feels_ you have been round the world when one is with you."
"Does one?" said Lady Sellingworth, rather drily. "But I fancied nowadays the young thought all the wisdom lay with them."
"Well, I don"t. And, besides, I think you are marvellously discreet."
"Wise! Discreet! I begin to feel as if I ought to sit on the Bench!"
Again there was the touch of bitterness in the voice. A very faint smile hovered for an instant about Miss Van Tuyn"s lips.
"Judging the foolish women! Well, I think you are one of the few who would have a right to do that. You are so marvellously sensible."
"Anyhow, I have no wish to do it. But--you were going to tell me?"
"In confidence."
"Of course. The book of wisdom never opens its leaves to the mob."
"I want very much to know your opinion of young Alick Craven."
As she heard the word "young" Lady Sellingworth had great difficulty in keeping her face still. Her mouth wanted to writhe, to twist to the left. She had the same intense shooting feeling that had hurt her when Seymour Portman had called Alick Craven a boy.
"Of Mr. Craven!" she said, with sudden severe reserve. "Why? Why?"
Directly she had spoken she regretted the repet.i.tion. Her mind felt stiff, unyielding. And all her body felt stiff too.
"That"s what I want to tell you," said Miss Van Tuyn, speaking with some apparent embarra.s.sment.
And immediately Lady Sellingworth knew that she did not want to hear, that it would be dangerous, almost deadly, for her to hear. She longed to spread out her hands in the protesting gesture of one keeping something off, away from her, to say, "Don"t! Don"t! I won"t hear!" And she sat very still, and murmured a casual "Yes?"
And then Miss Van Tuyn shot her bolt very cleverly, her aim being careful and good, her hand steady as a rock, her eyes fixed undeviatingly on the object she meant to bring down. She consulted Lady Sellingworth about her great friendship with Craven, told Lady Sellingworth how for some time, "ever since the night we all went to the theatre," Craven had been seeking her out persistently, spoke of his visits, their dinners together, their games of golf at Beaconsfield, finally came to Sunday, "yesterday."
"In the morning the telephone rang and we had a little talk. A Daimler car was suggested and a run down to Rye. You know my American ideas, Adela. A long day alone in the country with a boy--"
"Mr. Craven is scarcely a boy, I think!"
"But we call them boys!"
"Oh, yes!"
"With a boy means nothing extraordinary to a girl with my ideas. But I think he took it rather differently. Anyhow, we spent the whole day out playing golf together, and in the evening, when twilight was coming on, we drove to Camber Sands. Do you know them?"
"No."
"They are vast and absolutely deserted. It was rather stormy, but we took a long walk on them, and then sat on a sand bank to watch the night coming on. I dare say it all sounds very ridiculous and sentimental to you! I am sure it must!"
"No, no. Besides, I know you Americans do all these things with no sentiment at all, merely _pour pa.s.ser le temps_."
"Yes, sometimes. But he isn"t an American."
Again she looked slightly embarra.s.sed and seemed to hesitate.
"You mean--you think that he--?"
"It was that evening . . . last night only, in fact--"
"Oh, yes, of course it was last night. To-day is Monday."
"That I began to realize that we were getting into a rather different relation to each other. When it began to get dark he wanted to hold my hand and--but I needn"t go into all that. It would only seem silly to you. You see, we are both young, though, of course, he is older than I. But he is very young, quite a boy in feeling and even in manner very often. I have seen him lately in all sorts of circ.u.mstances, so I know."
She stopped as if thinking. Lady Sellingworth sat very upright on her sofa, with her head held rather high, and her hands, in their long white gloves, quite still. And there was a moment of absolute silence in the drawing-room. At last Miss Van Tuyn spoke again.
"I feel since last night that things are different between Alick and me."
"Are you engaged to him--to Mr. Craven?"
"Oh, no. He hasn"t asked me to be. But I want to know what you think of him. It would help me. I like him very much. But you know far more about men than I do."
"I doubt it, Beryl. I see scarcely anyone now. You live in Paris surrounded by clever men and--"
"But you have had decades more of experience than I have. In fact, _you_ have been round the world and I have, so to speak, only crossed the Channel. Do help me, Adela. I am full of hesitation and doubt, and yet I am getting very fond of Alick. And I don"t want to hurt him. I think I hurt him a little yesterday, but--"
"Sir Seymour Portman!" said Murgatroyd"s heavy voice at the door.
And the old courtier entered almost eagerly, his dark eyes shining under the thatch of eyebrows and the white gleam of the "cauliflower."
And very soon Miss Van Tuyn went away, without the advice which she was so anxious to have. As she walked through Berkeley Square she felt more at ease than when she had come into it. But she was puzzled about something. And she said to herself:
"Can she have tried monkey glands too?"
CHAPTER V