"h.e.l.lo there, Graham!"
Turning around, he encountered the gaping mouth of a shining saxophone, behind which beamed the no less shining countenance of Barney McGinness.
Barney had been in the 105th Infantry Band, and he and Quin had returned from France on the same transport. They exchanged hearty greetings under their breath.
"Serving here to-night, are you?" asked Barney.
"Serving?" repeated Quin; then he laughed good-naturedly. "You got another guess coming your way, Barney."
"So it"s the parlor instid of the pantry, is it? I"d "a" seen it for meself if I had used me eyes instead of me mouth. You look grand enough to be doing a turn on the vawdyville."
Quin tried not to expand his chest in pride, for fear the movement would disturb those temperamental studs. He would fain have lingered indefinitely in the warmth of Barney"s admiring smile, but the signal for the first dance was already given, and he moved nervously out into the throng again.
Now that the moment had come for him to meet Eleanor--the moment he had longed for by day and dreamed of by night,--he found himself overcome with terrible diffidence. Suppose she did not want to see him again?
Suppose she should be angry at him for coming to her party? Suppose she should be too taken up with all these strange friends of hers to have time to dance with him?
After obstructing social traffic in the hall for several moments, he encountered Miss Enid. She was all a lavender flutter, with sleeves floating and scarf dangling, and she wore an air of subdued excitement that made her almost pretty.
"Why, Quinby!" she said, and her eyes swept him. "Have you spoken to mother yet?"
"No; where is she?"
"In the library. And sister will present you to the young ladies in the parlor."
She hesitated a moment, then she placed a timid hand on Quin"s arm.
"But before you go in would you mind doing something for me? Will you watch the front door and let me know as soon as Mr. Chester arrives?"
"Mr. Chester?"
"Yes. You see, it"s been a great many years since he came to the house, and I want to--to make sure that he is properly welcomed."
"I"ll wait for him," said Quin, glad of any excuse for not entering that crowded parlor.
Lovely young creatures in rainbow tints drifted down the stairs and disappeared beyond the portieres; supercilious young men, all in tail coats and most of them wearing white gloves, pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed him.
Quin was experiencing the wholly new sensation of timidity. In vain he sought rea.s.suring reflections from the long pier-gla.s.s, as he did guard duty in the front hall pending Mr. Chester"s arrival. He"d be all right, he a.s.sured himself, as soon as he got to know some of the people. Once he had spoken to Eleanor and been sure of her welcome, he didn"t care what happened. Meanwhile he worked with his shirt-stud and tried not to think about his tooth.
It was late when Mr. Chester arrived, and by the time he had been placed in Miss Enid"s care the receiving line in the parlor had dissolved and the dance was in full swing.
Quin made his way back to the library and presented his belated respects to Madam, who sat enthroned in state where she could command the field and direct the manoeuvers. She was resplendent in black velvet and old lace. A glittering comb topped her high white pompadour, and a dog-collar of diamonds encircled her wrinkled neck.
"Well, I am glad one man has the manners to come and speak to his hostess!" she said grimly, extending her hand to Quin. "The young lords of the present day seem to consider a lady"s house a public dance-hall.
Sit down and talk to me."
Quin didn"t wish to sit down. He wished very ardently to plunge into that dancing throng and find Eleanor. But the old lady"s vise-like grip closed on him, and he had to content himself with watching the couples circle past the door while he listened to a tirade against present-day customs.
"Why, this dancing is indecent!" stormed the old lady. "I never saw anything like it in my life! Look at that little Morris chit with her cheek plastered up to Johnnie Rawlins"! If somebody doesn"t speak to her, I will! I will not have such dancing in my house! And there"s Kitty Carey, the one with no back to her dress. What her mother is thinking of--Mercy! Look at the length of that skirt!"
It was not until Mr. and Mrs. Ranny arrived, and Madam had no time for any one else, that Quin was able to escape.
"Can you tell me where I can find Miss Eleanor?" he asked eagerly of Miss Isobel, whom he encountered in the back hall.
Miss Isobel, looking thoroughly uncomfortable in a high-necked, long-sleeved evening dress, sighed anxiously:
"I am looking for her myself. She has had all the windows opened, and mother gave express orders that they were to be kept closed. Would you mind putting this one down? It makes such a draught."
It was a high window and an obstinate one, and by the time it was down Quin"s cuffs were six inches beyond his coat sleeves and his vest was bulging.
"I don"t want that window down," said a spirited voice behind him. "I wish you had left it alone."
"Eleanor!" said Miss Isobel reprovingly. "He is doing it at my request.
It is our young friend Quinby Graham."
Quin wheeled about in dismay, and found himself face to face with a slender vision in shimmering blue and silver, a vision with flushed cheeks and angry eyes, who looked at him in blank amazement, then burst out laughing.
"Why, for mercy sakes! I never would have known you. You look so--so different in civilian clothes."
The words were what he had expected, but the intonation was not. It seemed to call for some sort of explanation.
"It"s my face," he blurted out apologetically, drawing attention to the fact that of all others he most wished to ignore. "Had an abscess in my tooth; it"s swelled my jaw up a bit."
Eleanor was not in the least concerned with his affliction. A civilian with the toothache could not expect the consideration of a hero with a shrapnel wound. Moreover, this was her first appearance in the role of hostess at a large party, and she fluttered about like a distracted humming-bird.
Miss Isobel laid a detaining hand on her bare shoulder.
"Did you know they were smoking in the dining-room, Nellie? Even some of the _girls_ are smoking. If mother finds it out I don"t know _what_ she will do!"
"Call out the fire department, probably," said Eleanor flippantly.
"But listen! She will speak to them--you know she will. Don"t you think you can stop them?"
"Of course I can"t!" declared Eleanor, her anger rekindling. "And we can"t dance with the windows down, either. Oh, dear, I wish we"d never _tried_ to give a party!"
"May I have the next dance, Miss Eleanor?" Quin ventured at this inopportune moment.
She turned upon him a perturbed face, "It"s taken," she said absently.
"They are all taken until after supper. I"ll give you one then." And with this casual promise she hurried away.
Quin wandered disconsolately into the hall again. Everybody seemed to know everybody else. Apparently he was the one outsider. At the soldier dances to which he was accustomed, he was used to boldly asking any girl on the floor to dance, sure of a welcoming smile. But here it was different. It seemed that a fellow must wait for an introduction which n.o.body took the trouble to give. He leaned against the door-jamb and indulged in bitter reflections. Much that bunch cared whether he had risked his life for his country or not! The girls had already forgotten which were the heroes and which were the slackers. He didn"t care! All he had come for, anyhow, was to see Eleanor Bartlett. Just wait until he got her all to himself in that dance after supper----
Finding the strain of being a spectator instead of a partic.i.p.ant no longer endurable, he wandered upstairs and bathed his face. The pain was getting worse and he had a horrible suspicion that the swelling was increasing. In the men"s dressing-room he found a game of c.r.a.ps in progress, and, upon being asked to join, was so grateful for being included in any group that he accepted gladly, and for half an hour forgot his woes while he won enough to repay Ca.s.s the sum he had advanced on the dress-shirt.
"Stud"s undone, old chap," said his opponent as he paid his debt.
"Thanks, so it is," said Quin nonchalantly.
As he went downstairs he encountered Miss Enid and Mr. Chester sitting under the palms on the landing in intimate tete-a-tete.