He was not in the least degree in love with Philippa. She was a brunette--he preferred a blonde; brunette beauty had no charm for him.
He liked gentle, fair-haired women, tender of heart and soul--brilliancy did not charm him. Even when, previously to going abroad, he had gone down to Verdun Royal to say good-by, there was not the least approach to love in his heart. He had thought Philippa very charming and very picturesque as she stood under the lilac-trees; he had said truly that he should never see a lilac without thinking of her as she stood there.
But that had not meant that he loved her.
He had bent down, as he considered himself in courtesy bound, to kiss her face when he bade her adieu; but it was no lover"s kiss that fell so lightly on her lips. He realized to himself most fully the fact that, although he liked her, cared a great deal for her, and felt that she stood in the place of a sister to him, he did not love her.
But about Philippa herself? He was not vain; the proud, stately Lord Arleigh knew nothing of vanity. He could not think that the childish folly had taken deep root in her heart-he would not believe it. She had been a child like himself; perhaps even she had forgotten the nonsense more completely than he himself had. On his return to England, the first thing he heard when he reached London was that his old friend and playfellow--the girl he had called his little wife--was the belle of the season, with half London at her feet.
Chapter VII.
Lord Arleigh had been so accustomed to think of Philippa as a child that he could with difficulty imagine the fact that she was now a lovely girl, and one of the wealthiest heiresses in London. He felt some curiosity about her. How would she greet him? How would she receive him?
He wrote to her at once, asking permission to visit her, and he came away from that visit with his eyes a little dazzled, his brain somewhat dazed, but his heart untouched. His fancy was somewhat disturbed by the haunting memory of dark, splendid eyes, lighted with fire and pa.s.sion, and a bright, radiant face and scarlet lips--by a _melange_ of amber, lace, and perfume--but his heart was untouched. She was beautiful beyond his fairest dreams of woman--he owned that to himself--but it was not the kind of beauty that he admired it was too vivid, too highly colored, too brilliant. He preferred the sweet, pure lily to the queenly rose.
Still he said to himself that he had never seen a face or figure like Miss L"Estrange"s. No wonder that she had half London at her feet.
He was pleased with her kind reception of him, although he had not read her welcome aright; he was too true a gentleman even to think that it was love which shone in her eyes and trembled on her lips--love which made her voice falter and die away--love which caused her to exert every art and grace of which she was mistress to fascinate him. He was delighted with her--his heart grew warm under the charm of her words, but he never dreamed of love.
He had said to himself that there must be no renewal of his childish nonsense of early days--that he must be careful not to allude to it; to do so would be in bad taste--not that he was vain enough to think she would attach any importance to it, even if he did so; but he was one of nature"s gentlemen, and he would have scorned to exaggerate or to say one word more than he meant. Her welcome had been most graceful, most kind--the beautiful face had softened and changed completely for him.
She had devoted herself entirely to him; nothing in all the wide world had seemed to her of the least interest except himself and his affairs--books, music, pictures, even herself, her own triumphs, were as nothing when compared with him. He would have been less than mortal not to have been both pleased and flattered.
Pressed so earnestly to return to dinner, he had promised to do so; and evening, the sweet-scented May evening, found him once more at Hyde Park. If anything, Philippa looked more lovely. She wore her favorite colors--amber and white--a dress of rich amber brocade, trimmed with white lace; the queenly head was circled with diamonds; jewels like fire gleamed on the white breast; there was a cl.u.s.ter of choice flowers in her bodice. He had seen her hitherto as a girl; now he was to see her as the high-bred hostess, the mistress of a large and magnificent mansion.
He owned to himself that she was simply perfect. He had seen nothing in better taste, although he had been on intimate terms with the great ones of the earth. As he watched her, he thought to himself that, high and brilliant as was her station, it was not yet high enough for her. She flung a charm so magical around her that he was insensibly attracted by it, yet he was not the least in love--nothing was further from his thoughts. He could not help seeing that, after a fashion, she treated him differently from her other guests. He could not have told why or how; he felt only a certain subtle difference; her voice seemed to take another tone in addressing him, her face another expression as though she regarded him as one quite apart from all others.
The dinner-party was a success, as was every kind of entertainment with which Philippa L"Estrange was concerned. When the visitors rose to take their leave, Norman rose also. She was standing near him.
"Do not go yet, Norman," she said; "it is quite early. Stay, and I will sing to you."
She spoke in so low a tone of voice that no one else heard her. He was quite willing. Where could he feel more at home than in this charming drawing-room, with this beautiful girl, his old friend and playmate?
She bade adieu to her visitors, and then turned to him with such a smile as might have lost or won Troy.
"I thought they would never go," she said; "and it seems to me that I have barely exchanged one word with you yet, Norman."
"We have talked many hours," he returned, laughing.
"Ah, you count time by the old fashion, hours and minutes. I forget it when I am talking to one I--to an old friend like you."
"You are enthusiastic," said Lord Arleigh, wondering at the light on the splendid face.
"Nay, I am constant," she rejoined.
And for a few minutes after that silence reigned between them. Philippa was the first to break it.
"Do you remember," she asked, "that you used to praise my voice, and prophesy that I should sing well?"
"Yes, I remember," he replied.
"I have worked hard at my music," she continued, "in the hope of pleasing you."
"In the hope of pleasing me?" he interrogated. "It was kind to think so much of me."
"Of whom should I think, if not of you?" she inquired.
There were both love and reproach in her voice--he heard neither. Had he been as vain as he was proud, he would have been quicker to detect her love for himself.
The windows had been opened because the evening air was so clear and sweet; it came in now, and seemed to give the flowers a sweeter fragrance. Lord Arleigh drew his chair to the piano.
"I want you only to listen," she said. "You will have no turning over to do for me; the songs I love best I know by heart. Shut your eyes, Norman, and dream."
"I shall dream more vividly if I keep them open and look at you," he returned.
Then in a few minutes he began to think he must be in dream-land--the rich, sweet voice, so clear, so soft, so low, was filling the room with sweetest music. It was like no human voice that he remembered; seductive, full of pa.s.sion and tenderness--a voice that told its own story, that told of its owner"s power and charm--a voice that carried away the hearts of the listeners irresistibly as the strong current carries the leaflet.
She sang of love, mighty, irresistible love, the king before whom all bow down; and as she sang he looked at her. The soft, pearly light of the lamps fell on her glorious face, and seemed to render it more beautiful. He wondered what spell was fast falling over him, for he saw nothing but Philippa"s face, heard nothing but the music that seemed to steep his senses as in a dream.
How fatally, wondrously lovely she was, this siren who sang to him of love, until every sense was full of silent ecstasy, until his face flushed, and his heart beat fast. Suddenly his eyes met hers; the scarlet lips trembled, the white fingers grew unsteady; her eyelids drooped, and the sweet music stopped.
She tried to hide her confusion by smiling.
"You should not look at me, Norman," she said, "when I sing; it embarra.s.ses me."
"You should contrive to look a little less beautiful then, Philippa," he rejoined. "What was that last song?"
"It is a new one," she replied, "called "My Queen.""
"I should like to read the words," said Lord Arleigh.
In a few minutes she had found it for him, and they bent over the printed page together; her dark hair touched his cheek, the perfume from the white lilies she wore seemed to entrance him; he could not understand the spell that lay over him.
"Is it not beautiful?" she said.
"Yes, beautiful, but ideal; few women, I think, would equal this poet"s queen."
"You do not know--you cannot tell, Norman. I think any woman who loves, and loves truly, becomes a queen."
He looked at her, wondering at the pa.s.sion in her voice--wondering at the expression on her beautiful face.
"You are incredulous," she said; "but it is true. Love is woman"s dominion; let her but once enter it, and she becomes a queen; her heart and soul grow grander, the light of love crowns her. It is the real diadem of womanhood, Norman; she knows no other."
He drew back startled; her words seemed to rouse him into sudden consciousness. She was quick enough to see it, and, with the _distrait_ manner of a true woman of the world, quickly changed the subject. She asked some trifling question about Beechgrove, and then said, suddenly:
"I should like to see that fine old place of yours, Norman. I was only ten when mamma took me there the last time; that was rather too young to appreciate its treasures. I should like to see it again."
"I hope you will see it, Philippa; I have many curiosities to show you.