"The spectacle, or the opera?" he asked slowly, looking into blue eyes.
"It was the opera I meant. I suppose the spectacle is very grand; but,"
enthusiastically, "it was the music I was thinking of--how it grips one!
Tell me what you think of _The Barber_, Mr. Steele."
"I"m afraid my views wouldn"t be very interesting," he answered. "I know nothing whatever about music."
"Nothing?" Her eyes widened a little; in her accent was mild wonder.
He looked down at the shimmering white folds near his feet. "In earlier days my environment was not exactly a musical one."
"No? I suppose you were engaged in more practical concerns?"
He did not answer directly. "Perhaps you wouldn"t mind telling me something about Rossini"s music, Miss Wray?"
"I tell you?" Her light silvery laugh rang out. "And Captain Forsythe has only been telling me--all of us--that you were one of the best informed men he had ever met."
"You see how wrong he was!"
"Quite!" The blue eyes regarded him sidewise. He, the keen, strong man, so a.s.sured, so invincible in the court room, sat most humbly by her side, confessing his ignorance, want of knowledge about something every school-girl is mistress of! "Or, perhaps, it is because your world is so different from mine! Music, laughter, the traditions of Italian _bel canto_, you have no room for them, they are too light, too trifling. You are above them," poising her fair head a little higher.
"Perhaps they have been above me," he answered, his tone unconsciously taking an accent of gaiety from the lightness of hers.
The abrupt appearance of the musicians and the dissonances attendant on tuning, interrupted her response; Steele rose and was about to take his departure, when Sir Charles intervened.
"Why don"t you stay?" he asked, with true colonial heartiness. "Plenty of room! Unless you"ve a better place! Two vacant chairs!"
John Steele looked around; he saw three vacant chairs and took one, a little aside and slightly behind the young girl, while the governor"s wife, who had moved from the front at the conclusion of the previous act, now returned to her place, next her niece. During the act, some one came in and took a seat in the background; if Steele heard, he did not look around. His gaze remained fastened on the stage; between him and it--or them, art"s gaily attired illusions!--a tress of golden hair sometimes intervened, but he did not move. Through threads like woven flashes of light he regarded the scene of the poet"s fantasy. Did they make her a part of it,--did they seem to the man the fantasy"s intangible medium, its imagery? Threads of gold, threads of melody! He saw the former, heard the latter. They rose and fell wilfully, capriciously, with many an airy and fanciful turn. The man leaned his head on his hand; a clear strain died like a filament of purest metal gently broken. She breathed a little quicker; leaned farther forward; now her slender figure obtruded slightly between him and the performers.
He seemed content with a partial view of the stage, and so remained until the curtain went down. The girl turned; in her eyes was a question.
"Beautiful!" said the man, looking at her.
"Charming! What colorature! And the bravura!" Captain Forsythe applauded vigorously.
"You"ve never met Lord Ronsdale, I believe, Mr. Steele?" Sir Charles"
voice, close to his ear, inquired.
"Lord Ronsdale!" John Steele looked perfunctorily around toward the back of the box and saw there a face faintly illumined in the light from the stage: a cynical face, white, mask-like. Had his own features not been set from the partial glow that sifted upward, the sudden emotion that swept Steele"s countenance would have been observed. A sound escaped his lips; was drowned, however, in a renewed outbreak of applause. The diva came tripping out once more, the others, too--bowing, smiling--recipients of flowers. John Steele"s hand had gripped his knee tightly; he was no longer aware of the stage, the people, even Jocelyn Wray. The girl"s attention had again centered on the actors; she with the others had been oblivious to the glint of his eyes, the hard, set expression of his features.
"Old friend, don"t you know," went on the voice of Sir Charles when this second tumult of applause had subsided. "Had one rare adventure together. One of the kind that cements a man to you."
As he spoke, the light in the theater flared up; John Steele, no longer hesitating, uncertain, rose; his face had regained its composure. He regarded the slender, aristocratic figure of the n.o.bleman in the background; faultlessly dressed, Lord Ronsdale carried himself with his habitual languid air of a.s.surance. The two bowed; the stony glance of the lord met the impa.s.sive one of the man. Then a puzzled look came into the n.o.bleman"s eyes; he gazed at Steele more closely; his glance cleared.
"Thought for an instant I"d seen you somewhere before, b"Jove!" he drawled in his metallic tone. "But, of course, I haven"t. Never forget a face, don"t you know."
"I may not say so much, may not have the diplomat"s gift of always remembering people to the extent your lordship possesses it, but I am equally certain I have never before enjoyed the honor of being presented to your lordship!" said John Steele. The words were punctiliously spoken, his accents as cold as the other"s. An infinitesimal trace of constraint seemed to have crept into the box; Steele turned and holding out his hand, thanked Sir Charles and his wife for their courtesy.
Jocelyn Wray gazed around. "You are leaving before the last act?" she said with an accent of surprise.
He looked down at her. "Not through preference!"
"Ah!" she laughed. "Business before--music, of course!"
"Our day at home, Mr. Steele, is Thursday," put in the governor"s lady, majestically gracious.
"And you"ll meet a lot of learned people only too glad to talk about music," added the young girl in a light tone. "That is, if you were sincere in your request for knowledge, and care to profit by the opportunity?"
His face, which had been contained, impa.s.sive, now betrayed in the slightest degree an expression of irresolution. Her quick look caught it, became more whimsical; he seemed actually, for an instant, asking himself if he should come. She laughed ever so slightly; the experience was novel; who before had ever weighed the pros and cons when extended this privilege? Then, the next moment, the blue eyes lost some of their mirth; perhaps his manner made her feel the frank informality she had unconsciously been guilty of; she regarded him more coldly.
"Thank you," he said. "You are very good. I shall be most glad."
And bowing to her and to the others he once more turned; as he pa.s.sed Lord Ronadsle, the eyes of the two men again met; those of the n.o.bleman suddenly dilated and he started.
"B"Jove!" he exclaimed, his gaze following the retreating figure.
"What is it?" Sir Charles looked around. "Recall where you thought you saw him?"
Lord Ronsdale did not at once answer and Sir Charles repeated his question; the n.o.bleman mechanically raised his hand to his face. "Yes; a mere fugitive resemblance," he answered rather hurriedly. "Some one--you--you never met. Altogether quite a different sort of person, don"t you know!" regaining his drawl.
"Well," observed Sir Charles, "fugitive resemblances will happen!"
CHAPTER III
A LESSON IN BOTANY
John Steele was rather late in arriving at the house of Sir Charles Wray in Piccadilly the following Thursday. But nearly every one else was late, and, perhaps knowing the fashionable foible, he had purposely held back to avoid making himself conspicuous by being prompt. The house, his destination, was not unlike other dwellings on that historic thoroughfare; externally it was as monotonous as the average London mansion. The architect had disdained any attempt at ornamentation. As if fearful of being accused of emulating his brother-in-art across the channel, he had put up four walls and laid on a roof; he had given the front wall a slightly outward curve. In so doing, he did not reason why; he was merely following precedent that had created this incomprehensible convexity.
But within, the mansion made a dignified and at the same time a pleasant impression. John Steele, seated at the rear of a s.p.a.cious room, where he a few moments later found himself among a numerous company, looked around on the old solid furnishings, the heavy rich curtains and those other substantial appurtenances to a fine and stately town house. That funereal atmosphere common to many homes of an ancient period was, however, lacking. The observer felt as if some recent hand, the hand of youth, had been busy hereabouts indulging in light touches that relieved and gladdened the big room. Hues, soft and delicate, met the eye here and there; rugs of fine pattern favored the glance, while tapestries of French workmanship bade it wander amid scenes suggestive of Arcadia.
Many found these innovations to their liking; others frowned upon them; but everybody flocked to the house.
The program on the present occasion included a poet and a woman novelist. The former, a Preraphaelite, led his hearers through dim mazes, Hyrcanian wilds. The novelist on the other hand was direct; in following her there seemed no danger of losing the way. At the conclusion of the program proper, an admirer of the poet asked if their young hostess would not play a certain musical something, the theme of one of the bard"s effusions, and at once Jocelyn Wray complied. Lord Ronsdale stood sedulously near, turning the leaves; Steele watched the deft hand; it was slim, aristocratic and suggested possibilities in legerdemain.
"An attractive-looking pair!" whispered a woman near John Steele to another of her s.e.x, during a louder pa.s.sage in the number. "Are they--"
"I don"t know; my dear. Perhaps. She"s extremely well-off in this world"s goods, and he has large properties, but--a diminishing income."
She lowered her voice rather abruptly as the cadence came to a pause.
The music went on again to its appointed and spirited climax.
"Was formerly in the diplomatic service, I believe;"--the voice also went on--"has strong political aspirations, and, with a wealthy and clever wife--"
"A girl might do worse. He is both cold and capable--an ideal combination for a political career--might become prime minister--with the prestige of his family and hers to--"
John Steele stirred; the whispering ceased. My lord turned the last page; the girl rose and bent for an instant her fair head. And as Steele looked at her, again there came over him--this time, it may be, not without a certain bitterness!--an impression of life and its joys--spring-tide and sunshine, bright, remote!--so remote--for him--