Part 22 (1/2)
Lane looked for faces he knew. On each side of the pillar where he and Blair stood the stream of color and gayety flowed. Helen and Margaret Maynard went by on the far edge of that stream. Across the hall he caught a glimpse of the flas.h.i.+ng golden beauty of Bessy Bell. Then near at hand he recognized Fanchon Smith, a pet.i.te, smug-faced little brunette, with naked shoulders bulging out of a piebald gown. She espied Lane and her face froze. Then there were familiar faces near and far, to which Lane could not attach names.
All at once he became aware that other of his senses besides sight were being stimulated. He had been hearing without distinguis.h.i.+ng what he heard. And curiously he listened, still with that strange knock of memory at his heart. Everybody was talking, some low, some high, all in the spirit of the hour. And in one moment he had heard that which killed the false enchantment.
”Not a chance!...”
”Hot dog--she's some Jane!”
”Now to the clinch--”
”What'll we do till the next spiel--”
”Have a shot?----”
”Boys, it's only the shank of the evening. Leave something peppy for the finish.”
”Mame, you look like a million dollars in that rag.”
”She shakes a mean s.h.i.+mmy, believe me....”
”That egg! Not on your life!”
”Cut the next with Ned. We'll sneak down and take a ride in my car....”
”Oh, spiffy!”
Lane's acutely strained attention was diverted by Blair's voice.
”Look who's with my sister Margie.”
Lane turned to look through an open s.p.a.ce in the dispersing stream.
Blair's sister was pa.s.sing with d.i.c.k Swann. Elegantly and fastidiously attired, the young millionaire appeared to be attentive to his partner. Margaret stood out rather strikingly from the other girls near her by reason of the simplicity and modesty of her dress. She did not look so much bored as discontented. Lane saw her eyes rove to and fro from the entrance of the hall. When she espied Lane she nodded and spoke with a smile and made an evident move toward him, but was restrained by Swann. He led her past Lane and Blair without so much as glancing in their direction. Lane heard Blair swear.
”Dare, if my mother throws Marg at that--slacker, I'll block the deal if it's the last thing I ever do,” he declared, violently.
”And I'll help you,” replied Lane, instantly.
”I know Margie hates him.”
”Blair, your sister is in love with Holt Dalrymple.”
”No! Not really? Thought that was only a boy-and-girl affair.... Aha!
the n.i.g.g.e.r music again! Let's find a seat, Dare.”
Saxophone, trombone, piccolo, snare-drum and other barbaric instruments opened with a brazen defiance of music, and a vibrant a.s.surance of quick, raw, strong sounds. Lane himself felt the stirring effect upon his nerves. He had difficulty in keeping still. From the lines of chairs along the walls and from doors and alcoves rushed the gay-colored throng to leap, to close, to step, to rock and sway, until the floor was full of a moving ma.s.s of life.
The first half-dozen couples Lane studied all danced more or less as Helen and Swann had, that day in Helen's studio. Then, by way of a remarkable contrast, there pa.s.sed two young people who danced decently. Lane descried his sister Lorna in the throng, and when she and her partner came round in the giddy circle, Lane saw that she wiggled and toddled like the others. Lane, as she pa.s.sed him, caught a glance of her eyes, flas.h.i.+ng, reproachful, furious, directed at some one across her partner's shoulder. Lane followed that glance and saw Swann. Apparently he did not notice Lorna, and was absorbed in the dance with his own partner, Helen Wrapp. This byplay further excited Lane's curiosity. On the whole, it was an ungraceful, violent mob, almost totally lacking in restraint, whirling, kicking, swaying, clasping, instinctively physical, crude, vulgar and wild. Down the line of chairs from his position, Lane saw the chaperones of the Prom, no doubt mothers of some of these girls. Lane wondered at them with sincere and persistent amaze. If they were respectable, and had even a slight degree of intelligence, how could they look on at this dance with complacence? Perhaps after all the young people were not wholly to blame for an abnormal expression of instinctive action.
That dance had its several encores and finally ended.
Margaret and Holt made their way up to Lane and Blair. The girl was now radiant. It took no second glance for Lane to see how matters stood with her at that moment.