Part 26 (2/2)

”I give it up,” she wailed. ”I'll simply never be able to _stay_ that way.”

”If you were a professional dancer,” said Lewis, ”I'd say 'nonsense' to that. But you're not. I'm afraid it would take you weeks, perhaps months, to get the stamina. Take it easy now while I make some tea.”

”Tea in the morning!” said Vi. ”I can't stand it. I'd rather have a gla.s.s of port or something like that.”

”I've no doubt you would, but you're not going to get it,” said Lewis, calmly, as he went about the business of brewing tea.

Vi finished her first cup, and asked for a second.

”It's quite a bracer, after all,” she said. ”I feel a lot better.” She rose and went to the model's throne at one side of the room. ”Is this where they stand?” she asked.

Lewis nodded.

Vi climbed the throne, and took a pose. Her face was turned from Lewis, her right arm half outstretched, her left at her side. She was in the act of stepping. Her long left thigh was salient, yet withdrawing. It was the pose of one who leads the way.

”This is the pose you will do me in,” she said.

For a moment Lewis was silent, then he said gravely:

”No, you don't really want me to do you that way.”

”I do, and you will,” said Vi, without looking around.

For another long moment Lewis was silent.

”All right,” he said at last. ”Come down. Dress yourself. You've had enough for to-day.”

CHAPTER x.x.x

Weeks pa.s.sed. Lewis worked steadily at his figure of Vi. From the time the wires had been set and the rough clay slapped on them, he had never allowed her to see the figure.

”It's no use asking,” he said. ”You're no master at this art. The workman who shows unfinished stuff to anybody but a master is a fool.”

”Well, when, then?” asked Vi, impatiently, after weeks had lengthened to months.

”Almost any day now,” said Lewis; but before 'any day' came around, something happened that materially delayed the satisfaction of Vi's curiosity.

Lady Derl had frequently drafted Lewis into dinners that she thought would be stupid for her without him. As a result, the inevitable in London happened. It became a habit to invite Lewis when Lady Derl was coming. He never took her in,--her rank and position made that impossible,--but he was there, somewhere at the lower end of the table, where she could watch him when she felt bored and occasionally read in the astonished faces of his neighbors the devastation he had caused by some remark; for Lewis, like his father, had a way of saying things. The difference was that Leighton's _mots_ were natural and malicious, while Lewis's were only natural. On the whole, Lewis created the greater sensation.

The night after Lewis had said ”Almost any day now” to Vi, he found himself at a semi-diplomatic dinner next to a young person who, like himself, seemed to find the affair a bit heavy.

”What did they invite you for?” asked Lewis.

”They couldn't help it,” replied the young person, stifling a yawn. ”I'm the wife of the charge of the Brazilian legation. And you?”

”Oh, I'm here just to take Lady Derl home.”

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