The Tenor threw back his golden head. "Oh, Boy!" he expostulated, "don"t make me laugh again to-night, don"t, please!"
The Boy was very busy for the next ten minutes, arranging the table, and quite in his element; cooing as he proceeded, and giving little muttered reasons to himself, in his soft contralto voice, for everything he did.
That voice of his was wonderfully flexible; he could make it harsh, grating, gruffly mannish, and caressing as a woman"s, at will, but the tone that seemed natural to it was the deep, mellow contralto into which he always relapsed when not thinking of himself. The Tenor thought it hardly rough enough for a boy of his age, but it was in harmony with his fragile form, and delicate, effeminate features.
"Whom the G.o.ds love die young," flashed through his mind as he watched him now, coming and going; and he sighed, it seemed so likely; and felt already that he should miss the Boy; and wondered, with retrospective self-pity, how he had managed to live at all with no such interest.
"A golden-headed, gray-eyed, white-toothed, fine-skinned son of the morning must be a sybarite," the Boy observed, entering the room at that moment; "so I bring flowers, and also salad, just cut and crisp."
"May I ask how you knew there was salad in my garden?"
"Well, you may _ask_," the Boy responded cheerfully; "but--let me see, though--perhaps I had better tell you. I found that out the last time I was here. Perhaps you don"t know that I came? I wanted to discover the resources of the place, so I took advantage of your temporary absence on business one day, and inspected it."
"Where was I?" the Tenor asked.
"You were busy at the fire insurance office opposite."
"Do you mean the cathedral? Boy, I will not let you mock."
The Boy grinned. "It was the only time I could be at all sure of you," he pursued. "You were going to sing a solo. I saw it advertised in the paper, and laid my plans accordingly. But I _was_ in a fright! I thought you might just happen to feel bad and be obliged to come out, and catch me. I felt that strongly when I was picking your flowers in the greenhouse."
He left the room before the Tenor recovered, and returned with a tray on which was the result of his enterprise.
"If you don"t like eggs and potatoes fried as I fry them, you"ll never like anything again in this world," he a.s.serted confidently, helping the Tenor as he spoke. "The thing is to have the dripping boiling to begin with, you know," he continued--"(I"ll only give you two eggs at a time)--then plunge them in, and as they brown take them off one by one and put them on a hot dish--I"m speaking of the potatoes now; but don"t cover them up, it makes them flabby, and the great thing is to keep them crisp."
"They really are good," said the Tenor. But he had overestimated his capacity, and could only dispose of three of the eggs.
The Boy was disgusted. However, he said it did not matter, since he was there to sacrifice himself in the interests of science, and preserve the balance of nature by eating the rest himself, a feat he accomplished easily.
"Now this is what I call good entertainment for man and beast," he observed.
"May I ask which is the beast?" the Tenor ventured.
"Why, I am, of course," said the Boy. "Did you ever know a boy who wasn"t half a beast?"
"Yes. It is all a matter of early a.s.sociation and surroundings."
"Well, if you knew the kind of moral atmosphere I have to breathe at home, you would know also how little you ought to expect of me. But what shall we drink?"
"There is some beer, I believe," the Tenor said dubiously.
"Burgundy is more in my line."
"Burgundy! A boy like you shouldn"t know the difference.
"A _boy_ like me wouldn"t, probably."
The Tenor smiled. "And what do you call yourself, pray? A man?" he asked.
"No; a bright particular spirit."
It was not inappropriate, the Tenor thought, and he got up. "It does not often happen so," he said; "but now I think of it I believe I have some Burgundy in the house. The dean sent me a dozen the last time I was out of sorts, and there is some left."
"I know," said the Boy. "It is in the cupboard under the stairs on the left hand side."
When the Tenor came back with the Burgundy the Boy settled himself in an easy-chair with a gla.s.s on the table beside him, and it was evident that his mood had changed. He was thoughtful for a little, sitting with solemn eyes, looking out at the cathedral opposite.
There was only one rose-shaded lamp left alight in the long low room, and the dimness within made it possible to see out into the clear night and distinguish objects easily.
"When I look out at that great pile and realize its antiquity, I suffer,"
the Boy said at last, "Do you know what it is, the awful oppression of the ages?"
The Tenor did not answer for a moment, then he said:
"I never see you at church."
"I should think not," the Boy replied, still speaking seriously. "You never see anyone but Angelica."
The Tenor flushed.
"Why do you never speak to that sweet young lady?" the Boy asked tentatively, after a little pause.
"I! How could I?"
"I fancy you ought to," the Boy went on, endeavouring to "draw" the Tenor.
"You can"t expect her to make up to you, you know."
"Oh, Boy! how can you be so young!" the Tenor exclaimed, with a gesture of impatience, but still amused.
The Boy sipped his wine, and gazed into the gla.s.s, delighting in the rich deep colour. "I should think she would be delighted to make the acquaintance of so great an artist," he said.
The Tenor bowed ironically. "May I ask if you are pursuing your investigations as to what manner of man I am?" he asked.
"Well, yes," was the candid rejoinder; "I was. I suppose you think that you ought not to speak without an introduction. Well, say I gave you one."
The Tenor laughed. He felt that he ought to let the subject drop, and at the same time yielded to temptation.
"What would your introduction be worth?" he asked.
"Everything," the Boy rejoined. "I am on excellent terms with Angelica. We have always been inseparable, and I get on with her capitally; and she"s not so easy to get on with, I can tell you," he added, as if taking credit to himself.
"When she is good she is very good indeed, But when she is naughty she is horrid.
"And just now she"s mostly naughty. She isn"t very happy."
The interest expressed in the Tenor"s att.i.tude was intensified, and inquiry came into his eyes.
"She is not very happy," the Boy pursued with extreme deliberation, "because you come no nearer."
"Boy, you are romancing," the Tenor said, with a shade of weariness in his voice.