Part 14 (1/2)

It was a strange introduction, for three times did they bow with court formality to each other, and then the rustic lovers came to life again, and he clasped her in his arms.

”If you knew he was such an exalted personage, and knew me not to be a poor actress upon a visit, as I pretended,” Rene cried, turning towards me, ”why did you insist that I must break away from happiness because of my position? Surely we are what our world calls eligibles?”

And while I, in a generous instant, would have confessed the whole truth, a flush came over her face.

”My father must never know of this foolish masquerade,” she said, gravely.

”You never met Prince Ferdinand until two minutes since,” I answered.

”Is it not so? We will say that his Highness's infatuation for an actress died the natural death of most infatuations; and then, a little later, make known his coming alliance with no less a lady than Rene, daughter of the Compte de Pontiers.”

So ended Prince Ferdinand's entanglement. So ended my romantic mission that was such a successful failure; and now sometimes when I admire that diamond necklace I wonder if an accusation might not be formulated against me for obtaining jewels under false pretences. And yet--why?

A DEAL WITH CHINA

For the moment the exhilarating fascination of ”Le Pole Nord” had absolutely enthralled the heart of feminine Paris.

To skate for an hour and then sit and sip one's coffee, to hold an informal reception among one's own particular enemies, or to flirt with one's dearest friends for the remainder of the afternoon, was now the amus.e.m.e.nt upon which Society had set its approving hall-mark, and for once in the way the craze that fas.h.i.+onable Paris had smiled upon was something in the nature of pleasure, and not a task.

It was delight to glide across the ice to the strains of that excellent orchestra; it was premature paradise to know that one's tailor-made gown, edged with fur to maintain an illusive suggestion of winter, need not await a frost before it could pique one's bosom companion; it was new life to feel one's blood tingling with the glow of health and new elation; to realize that one had successfully mastered the intricacies of double grape-vines and Canadian eights; and it was fas.h.i.+onable, for did not the d.u.c.h.ess de Maussapet, the Countess Venezia, and all others we poor women have been taught to imitate, grace the a.s.sembly almost every afternoon?

We had danced a quadrille upon the ice, and as the final bars died away my eyes met those of my diplomatic friend Monsieur Roche, as he leaned against a pillar, and there was a look upon his face, a peculiar gesture as he bowed to me, that told me why so staid a man had joined the frivolities of ”Le Pole Nord.”

Yet it went against my heart to dismiss my companion, for he was the most handsome instructor that ”Le Pole Nord” possessed, an Apollo in his fur-trimmed jacket and jaunty cap, and all my feminine friends were dying to skate with him. It went against my heart to give him up to a woman who would only bore him.

He sighed as he unfastened my skates, and I sighed too, and walked to where Monsieur Roche was waiting.

And the poor man did look so absurd in his silk hat and conventional frock-coat compared with my late companion; but that man was now skating with a woman I detested, and I promptly dismissed him from my thoughts.

”I have looked everywhere for you,” Monsieur Roche exclaimed, as he took my hand.

”There is only one place where I could be, monsieur, and that is here.

To be away from 'Le Pole Nord' at this time of the day is to be out of the world. Would you care to cultivate the art with my a.s.sistance?”

”I wish for your guidance over something even more slippery than ice,”

he answered, as we seated ourselves upon a lounge.

”Well?”

”You know that we are entertaining an envoy from China, who presumably tours the world on a voyage of pleasure and enlightenment.”

”His Excellency Hun Sun?”

”Precisely.” Monsieur Roche leaned towards me until his lips almost touched my ear. ”This journey of pleasure is a subterfuge. The Amba.s.sador comes from China to France.”

”And the object of his visit?”

”To gain a pledge from France for defensive, or even offensive, protection.”