Читать книгу The Kingdom of Earth - E. Phillips Oppenheim - Страница 5

"On the contrary," the girl declared, lowering her lorgnette, and looking up toward the man who had addressed her, "I am extremely interested. I love watching a crowd of people at any time. I think that this is quite delightful!"

"If only that idiot of a waiter would bring our coffee," her companion remarked, glancing around irritably. "We have been here nearly twenty minutes."

"The poor man has so much to do," the girl answered composedly. "The place is simply packed. Don't worry about the coffee, but go on telling me who the people are—the heavy gentleman, with the pasty face and the long hair, for instance."

Her companion readjusted his eye-glass and leaned forward in his chair. "He is a pianist from Australia," he announced. "I have forgotten his name. The lady with him sings at the opera. The people behind are stock-brokers—very rich indeed. They have a magnificent place in Hertfordshire, and he motors up to town every day—nearly forty miles."

"The small man with the pince-nez?"

He shook his head. "You have me this time. He is probably, by his black tie and dinner-coat, a travelling American. A Sunday-night restaurant crowd is the most cosmopolitan in the world, you must remember."

"I know," she answered. "That is the most delightful part of it. One can see one's own people anywhere. It is these other types which fascinate me."

He looked at her curiously. She represented to him an enigma which as yet he had made no progress whatever in solving. She was still a young woman—she could scarcely be more than twenty-five—an aristocrat by birth, wealthy, and astonishingly beautiful. She had read many books on abstruse subjects, the titles of which even were unknown to him, she was reported to have given large sums of money to the English labour party, and she was a member of a very advanced society of Socialists; and with it all she was a painstaking and accomplished actress at one of the best known and most exclusive of London theatres. Her desire to come here, her interest in this gathering, puzzled him. Yet it was without doubt honest. Perhaps she was going to take after her maternal grandmother, a brilliant French novelist. Some likeness to the miniatures and paintings of that wonderful old lady he seemed to be able to detect in the broad forehead, the dark, soft eyes, the small but determined mouth, of the girl who sat by his side, her eyes following always the constant stream of people who passed out from the restaurant to their seats in the lounge.

The scarlet-coated band began to play; the girl's attention wandered for a moment to the music. Most of the people by now had found seats, and the scene was, in its way, a brilliant one. Through the glass partition which separated the restaurant from the lounge, one could catch glimpses of the late diners, seated at tables lit with shaded lamps and laden with flowers; the foyer itself was crowded now with groups of men and women, the hum of whose conversation at times almost drowned the music. The girl, with her aunt and escort, occupied seats only a few yards from the central aisle, under a huge palm-tree. They themselves were sufficiently observed. The man, Colonel Sir Gilbert Ferringhall, was known—by sight—to almost every one. He was the representative of an ancient and rich family, a popular member of the best service clubs, a great sportsman, and the intimate friend of his sovereign. The aunt was noticeable, perhaps, for nothing but a quiet and tired distinction. The girl was not only the most beautiful person in the room, but she was beautiful in a wholly singular and unusual way. Her neck was long almost to a fault, but it was white and shapely, and around it there hung simply one roughly cut, gleaming blue stone, fastened by a thin gold chain. Her dress was of the same shade of deep blue, toned down by a gossamer-like web of black. Her features were pale, but less with an actual pallor than with the ivory tint which goes with perfect health. Her teeth were whiter and her lips more scarlet than the usual English type. Her eyes were deep and soft, but she had a trick of half closing them, as though she were short-sighted. Her face, as a whole, notwithstanding its perfections, seemed to lack the animal happiness of her age and sex. The expression of the mouth, of the eyes when she looked at you, was elusive. Even Ferringhall, who during a long career of popular bachelorhood had made almost a science of his studies in femininity, felt himself unable to place her.

The stream of people on their way out from the restaurant began to thin. A hopeless family gathering was followed by a straggling line of nondescripts. The girl stifled a yawn and sipped her coffee, which had just arrived. Suddenly the animation returned to her face. She leaned a little forward in her seat and touched her companion upon the arm.

"Tell me," she demanded eagerly, "who is that?"

Ferringhall abandoned his conversation with her aunt, and adjusting his eye-glass followed the motion of her head. A tall, well-built man had issued from the dining-room alone, and was glancing indifferently around in search of a seat. He was clean-shaven, his hair was as black as coal, and there were lines upon his face deeper than any which time alone could have engraved. His skin was dry and slightly bronzed, his eyes were bright and penetrating. He walked with a distinct military bearing; his movements, as he quietly took possession of a chair exactly opposite to them, were characterized by a certain deliberation which seemed almost temperamental. He crossed his legs, leaned back in his chair, and lighting a cigarette looked leisurely around him. His eyes met the girl's, full of vivid and unrestrained curiosity, not unmingled with recognition. Ferringhall was bending toward her.

"I am afraid," he said, "that as a showman I am turning out a failure. The man's face seems familiar to me, but I cannot place him."

"It is familiar to me, also," the girl said. "I want to know who he is."

Her aunt leaned a little forward. "Unless you wish him to come and speak to us," she remarked drily, "I should look somewhere else for a few moments."

"If I thought that my looking would bring him," the girl answered, "I would simply go on staring."

Ferringhall raised his eyebrows a little dubiously. "I wonder," he said, "what there is about the man that attracts you so much?"

She smiled very slightly and turned toward him. "Look at the others," she answered, "and look at him. Look at them!" The slight sweep of her hand seemed to gather into one conglomerate mass the whole motley crowd of chattering, laughing people. "They are of the Kingdom of the Earth—every one of them. Isn't it there in their faces? You've seen them go by in streams. They were like a flock of sheep, picturesque in their way, perhaps, but there isn't one whom you'd recognize to-morrow."

"And our friend opposite?" Ferringhall asked.

"You do not need me to tell you that there are different things in his face," she answered.

"He hasn't the appearance of a saint, exactly," Ferringhall said thoughtfully.

She shrugged her shoulders daintily. "What man has?" she declared, with emphasis.

"To what kingdom then—" he began.

She smiled a little vaguely. "You are inclined to be elementary to-night," she remarked. "Do you want me to believe that you know of no other kingdoms than the kingdoms of heaven and earth?"

He stroked his moustache reflectively. He was beginning to realize that the position of escort to this young woman, beautiful though she was and unaccountably distinguished, had its drawbacks.

"You mean—" he commenced cautiously.

"Oh! never mind what I mean," she interrupted, laughing. "It is so tiresome to explain."

A flash of inspiration lent venom to his tongue.

"You think that he"—inclining his head toward the man opposite—"would have understood?"

"I am sure that he would," she answered lightly.

He turned to talk to her aunt. Courtesy demanded it, even if he had not himself felt the necessity of inflicting some sort of a rebuke upon this brilliant but flippant young person. But in the midst of his conversation he broke off suddenly. The girl and he exchanged glances. They had both been witnesses to the same incidents.

Two young men, they were little more than boys, had come out of the restaurant arm in arm. Simultaneously, in the midst of their conversation, they had caught sight of the man who sat smoking alone, with his head resting upon his hand and his eyes fixed upon vacancy. Apparently surprised, they nevertheless acted without hesitation. They drew a little apart, their bodies seemed to stiffen, their heels came together as though by instinct, and they bowed very low indeed to the man, whose eyes had now been attracted by their coming. What followed was the strangest part of the affair. The man to whom their salute was proffered, calmly and deliberately ignored it; his eyes, cold and set, seemed to look through the two young men. He neither smiled nor inclined his head in any way. It was more than any ordinary cut. It was a deliberate refusal to recognize in himself the person to whom those two young men had bent their knees. After the first moment's pause, they had hurried on. They passed through the rest of the room, looking neither to the right nor to the left, and climbed the stairs. The girl looked appealingly toward her companion.

"You know Mr. Vlasto, don't you, Sir Gilbert?" she said. "You must go after them and find out who that is. I cannot leave this room before I know."

Ferringhall was himself interested. With a bow to the elder lady he hurried after the two young men. He found them standing in a retired corner of the entresol, talking in a low tone, and went over to them at once.

"My young friend," he said, resting his hand upon the shoulder of the elder of the two, "you are in luck. I congratulate you!"

The young man laughed a little dubiously. "I am not quite so sure about that, my dear Sir Gilbert," he said.

"You will be presently," Ferringhall answered. "Miss Pellisier sent me to you."

The young man looked wistfully down into the foyer. "Is she here to-night?" he asked quickly. "I didn't see her. We've just come out of the restaurant."

"Sitting with me near the entrance," Ferringhall answered. "You passed within a few feet of us. Come and have some coffee. Miss Pellisier wants to speak to you."

The invitation was a flattering enough one, but the young man only shook his head. He was obviously disturbed. "Thank you very much," he answered, "but we have to be off at once. That's so, isn't it, Desmond?" he added, turning to his companion for support.

Desmond—a young American by his accent—answered as desired, but without conviction. "Sure!"

"In that case," Ferringhall remarked, "I will not detain you. By the by, though, you might gratify our curiosity in a certain matter, if you won't think the question impertinent. Miss Pellisier and I are both sure that we know the face of the man to whom you two bowed as you came out of the restaurant—tall, distinguished-looking man, sitting by himself. I wish you'd tell us who he is!"

The young man shook his head slowly. "I am afraid," he said, "that I cannot tell you. I did not see any one in the restaurant whom I know."

Ferringhall was genuinely surprised. For the moment he scarcely realized the situation. "I mean the man to whom you bowed, you and your friend," he said. "We were only a few yards away."

"It was a mistake," Vlasto answered coolly. "We mistook him for some one else. It was no one whom we know."

Ferringhall was silent for a moment. These young cubs to lie to him! He turned on his heel. "Sorry I troubled you," he said curtly. "Good night!"

He turned to descend into the crowded foyer and, nodding here and there to acquaintances, began to make his way back to his companions. Suddenly, in the act of descending the steps, he came to a full stop. His chair between the two ladies who were his guests was occupied. He raised his eye-glass and looked once more incredulously in their direction. The man who sat there was the stranger in whom the younger of his two companions had shown so much interest!