He I see that you are desperately unreasonable, little woman.
She. There! The moment I begin to object, you get angry. What will you do when I am only your property stolen property? It can"t be, Guy. It can"t be! I thought it could, but it can"t. You"ll get tired of me.
He I tell you I shall not. Won"t anything make you understand that?
She. There, can"t you see? If you speak to me like that now, you"ll call me horrible names later, if I don"t do everything as you like. And if you were cruel to me, Guy, where should I go? where should I go? I can"t trust you. Oh! I can"t trust you!
He. I suppose I ought to say that I can trust you. I"ve ample reason.
She. Please don"t, dear. It hurts as much as if you hit me.
He. It isn"t exactly pleasant for me.
She. I can"t help it. I wish I were dead! I can"t trust you, and I don"t trust myself. Oh, Guy, let it die away and be forgotten!
He. Too late now. I don"t understand you I won"t and I can"t trust myself to talk this evening. May I call to-morrow?
She. Yes. No! Oh, give me time! The day after. I get into my "rickshaw here and meet Him at Peliti"s. You ride.
He. I"ll go on to Peliti"s too. I think I want a drink. My world"s knocked about my ears and the stars are falling. Who are those brutes howling in the Old Library?
She. They"re rehearsing the singing-quadrilles for the Fancy Ball. Can"t you hear Mrs. Buzgago"s voice? She has a solo. It"s quite a new idea.
Listen!
Mrs. Buzgago (in the Old Library, con molt. exp.).
See-saw! Margery Daw!
Sold her bed to lie upon straw.
Wasn"t she a silly s.l.u.t
To sell her bed and lie upon dirt?
Captain Congleton, I"m going to alter that to "flirt." It sounds better.
He. No, I"ve changed my mind about the drink. Good-night, little lady. I shall see you to-morrow?
She. Ye es. Good-night, Guy. Don"t be angry with me.
He. Angry! You know I trust you absolutely. Good-night and G.o.d bless you!
(Three seconds later. Alone.) Hmm! I"d give something to discover whether there"s another man at the back of all this.
A SECOND-RATE WOMAN
Est fuga, volvitur rota, On we drift: where looms the dim port?
One Two Three Four Five contribute their quota: Something is gained if one caught but the import, Show it us, Hugues of Saxe-Gotha.
--Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha.
"Dressed! Don"t tell me that woman ever dressed in her life. She stood in the middle of the room while her ayah no, her husband it must have been a man threw her clothes at her. She then did her hair with her fingers, and rubbed her bonnet in the flue under the bed. I know she did, as well as if I had a.s.sisted at the orgy. Who is she?" said Mrs.
Hauksbee.
"Don"t!" said Mrs. Mallowe feebly. "You make my head ache. I am miserable to-day. Stay me with fondants, comfort me with chocolates, for I am. Did you bring anything from Peliti"s?"
"Questions to begin with. You shall have the sweets when you have answered them. Who and what is the creature? There were at least half-a-dozen men round her, and she appeared to be going to sleep in their midst."
"Delville," said Mrs. Mallowe, ""Shady" Delville, to distinguish her from Mrs. Jim of that ilk. She dances as untidily as she dresses, I believe, and her husband is somewhere in Madras. Go and call, if you are so interested."
"What have I to do with Shigramitish women? She merely caught my attention for a minute, and I wondered at the attraction that a dowd has for a certain type of man. I expected to see her walk out of her clothes until I looked at her eyes."
"Hooks and eyes, surely," drawled Mrs. Mallowe.
"Don"t be clever, Polly. You make my head ache. And round this hayrick stood a crowd of men a positive crowd!"
"Perhaps they also expected."
"Polly, don"t be Rabelaisian!"
Mrs. Mallowe curled herself up comfortably on the sofa, and turned her attention to the sweets. She and Mrs. Hauksbee shared the same house at Simla; and these things befell two seasons after the matter of Otis Yeere, which has been already recorded.
Mrs. Hauksbee stepped into the verandah and looked down upon the Mall, her forehead puckered with thought.
"Hah!" said Mrs. Hauksbee shortly. "Indeed!"
"What is it?" said Mrs. Mallowe sleepily.
"That dowd and The Dancing Master to whom I object."
"Why to The Dancing Master? He is a middle-aged gentleman, of reprobate and romantic tendencies, and tries to be a friend of mine."
"Then make up your mind to lose him. Dowds cling by nature, and I should imagine that this animal how terrible her bonnet looks from above! is specially clingsome."
"She is welcome to The Dancing Master so far as I am concerned. I never could take an interest in a monotonous liar. The frustrated aim of his life is to persuade people that he is a bachelor."
"O-oh! I think I"ve met that sort of man before. And isn"t he?"
"No. He confided that to me a few days ago. Ugh! Some men ought to be killed."
"What happened then?"
"He posed as the horror of horrors a misunderstood man. Heaven knows the femme incomprise is sad enough and bad enough but the other thing!"
"And so fat too! I should have laughed in his face. Men seldom confide in me. How is it they come to you?"