Part 56 (1/2)
Olga looked compa.s.sionately at her companion for an instant, and the old bitter laugh jarred upon the girl's ears.
”Poor little dove trying your wings in the upper air, flas.h.i.+ng the silver in the sun; fancying you are free to circle in the heavens so blue above you! Your wary hawk watches patiently, only waiting for you to soar a little higher, venture a little farther from the shelter of the dovecote; then he will strike you down, fasten his talons in your heart. 'Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.' The first yon have yet to leap, and with Erle Palma as your preceptor, your prospective tuition fees are heavy. You are a sweet good earnest-hearted child, but in this house you need to be something quite different--a Seraph. Do you understand? Now you are only a cherub, which in the original means dove; but some day, if you live here, you will learn the wisdom of the Seraph, which means serpent! I know little 'Latin, less of Greek,' no Hebrew; but a learned seer of New England taught me this.”
She tossed aside the bedclothes, and sprang out upon the floor, wrapping herself in her cherry-coloured shawl.
”Five o'clock, I daresay. Out of doors it is grey daylight, and I must go back to my own room un.o.bserved. What a world of sorrowful sympathy s.h.i.+nes in your wonderful eyes! What a pity you can't die now, just as you are, for then your pure sinless soul would float straight to that Fifth Heaven of the Midrash, 'Gan-Eden,' which is set apart exclusively for the souls of n.o.ble women, and Pharaoh's daughter, who is presumed to be Queen there, would certainly make you maid of honour! One word more, before I run away. Do you know why Cleopatra is coming here?''
”Olga, I do not in the least understand half you are saying.”
Olga's large white hand smoothed back the hair that clouded the girl's forehead, and she asked almost incredulously:
”Don't you really know that the Sorceress of the Nile drifts. .h.i.ther in her gilded barge? You have heard of Brunella Carew, the richest woman in the Antilles? She is the most dangerous of smooth-skinned witches, as fascinating as Phryne, but more wisely discreet. When you see her you will be at once reminded of Owen Meredith's 'Fatality':
'Live hair afloat with snakes of gold, And a throat as white as snow, And a stately figure and foot And that faint pink smile, so sweet, so cold.'
Just now this Cuban widow is the fas.h.i.+onable lioness; she is also a pet _clientele_ of Erle Palma, and comes here to-day on a brief visit. Heaven grant she prove his Lamia! As she affects Oriental style, I call her Cleopatra, which pleases her vastly. Having been endowed at birth with beauty and fortune, her remaining ambition is to appear fastidious in literature, and _dilettante_ in art, and if you wish to stretch her on St. Lawrence's gridiron, you have only to offer a quotation or ill.u.s.tration which she cannot understand. Beware of the poison of asps. There is an object to be accomplished by inviting her here, and you may safely indulge the belief that her own campaign is well matured. Keep your solemn sinless eyes wide open, and don't under any circ.u.mstances quarrel with poor Elliott Roscoe.
One drop of his blood floats more generosity and magnanimity than all the blue ice in his cousin's body. He was in a savage mood last night, at Mrs. Tarrant's, and had some angry words with your guardian, who of course treated him as he would a spoiled boy. Roscoe at least has or had a heart. There is the day staring at us! I must be gone. Remember--I have trusted you.”
She left the room, closing the door noiselessly, and Regina was lost in perplexing conjectures concerning the significance of her parting warning.
It was not yet eight o'clock when she descended to the breakfast-room, but Mr. Palma was already there, and stood at the window, with an open newspaper which he appeared to scan very intently.
In answer to her subdued ”Good-morning,” he merely bowed, without turning his head, and she rang the bell and took her place at the table.
While she scalded and wiped the cups (one of his requirements), he walked to the hearth, glanced at his watch, and said:
”Let me have my coffee at once. I have an early engagement. As it threatens snow, you must keep indoors today.”
”I am obliged to attend the Cantata rehearsal at Mrs. Brompton's.”
”Then I will order the carriage to be placed at your disposal. What hour?”
”One o'clock.”
Upon her plate lay a sealed envelope, and as she put it in her pocket, his keen eyes searched her countenance.
”Did you sleep well? I should judge you had not closed your eyes.”
”I wrote a long letter to mother, and afterward I could not sleep.”
”You look as if you had grown five years older, since you gave me my coffee yesterday. When the rehearsal ends, I wish you to come directly home and go to sleep; for there will be company here to-day, and it might be rather unflattering to me as guardian, to present my ward to strangers, and imagine their comments on your weary hollow eyes and face as blanched, as 'pale as Seneca's Paulina.'”
CHAPTER XXIII.
Notwithstanding the snow which fell steadily at one o'clock, all who were to take part in the ”Cantata,” a.s.sembled punctually at Mrs.
Brompton's, and as Regina hurried down to the carriage, she found that Mrs. Carew, her little daughter and maid, had just arrived.
Avoiding a presentation, she proceeded at once to the ”Rehearsal,”