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Page 4
The play on which they have decided is Goldsmith's famous production,
"She Stoops to Conquer."
Miss Villiers, a pretty girl with yellow hair and charming eyes, is to
be Constantia Neville; Miss Delmaine, Kate Hardcastle; Lady Gertrude
Vining, though rather young for the part, has consented to play Mrs.
Hardcastle, under the impression that she looks well in a cap and
powdered hair. An impossible Tony Lumpkin has been discovered in a
nervous young man with a hesitation in his speech and a difficulty about
the letter "S"--a young man who wofully misunderstands Tony, and brings
him out in a hitherto unknown character; a suitable Hastings has been
found in the person of Captain Ringwood, a gallant young officer, and
one of the "curled darlings" of society.
But who is to play Marlow? Who is to be the happy man, so blessed--even
though in these fictitious circumstances--as to be allowed to make love
to the reigning beauty of the past season? Nearly every man in the house
has thrown out a hint as to his fitness for the part, but as yet no
arrangement has been arrived at.
Sir Adrian of course is the one toward whom all eyes--and some very
jealous ones--are directed. But his duties as host compel him, sorely
against his will, to draw back a little from the proffered honor, and
to consult the wishes of his guests rather than his own. Miss Delmaine
herself has laughingly declined to make any choice of a stage lover, so
that, up to the present moment, matters are still in such a state of
confusion and uncertainty that they have been unable to name any date
for the production of their play.
It is four o'clock, and they are all standing or sitting in the
library, intent as usual in discussing the difficulty. They are all
talking together, and, in the excitement that prevails, no one hears the
door open, or the footman's calm, introduction of a gentleman, who now
comes leisurely up to where Sir Adrian is standing, leaning over
Florence Delmaine's chair.
He is a tall man of about thirty-five, with a dark face and dark eyes,
and, withal, a slight resemblance to Sir Adrian.
"Ah, Arthur, is it you!" says Sir Adrian, in a surprised tone that has
certainly no cordiality in it, but, just as certainly, the tone is not
repellent.
"Yes," replies the stranger, with a languid smile, and without
confusion. "Yesterday I suddenly recollected the general invitation you
gave me a month ago to come to you at any time that suited me best. This
time suits me, and so I have come."
He still smiles as he says this, and looks expectantly at Sir Adrian,
who, as in duty bound, instantly tells him he is very glad to see him,
and that he is a good fellow to have come without waiting for a more
formal repetition of his invitation. Then he takes him over to old Lady
FitzAlmont, the mother of Lady Gertrude Vining, and introduces him to
her as "my cousin Mr. Dynecourt."
The same ceremony is gone through with some of the others, but, when
he brings him to Mrs. Talbot, that pretty widow interrupts his mode of
introduction.
"Mr. Dynecourt and I are old friends," she says, giving her hand to the
new-comer. Then, turning to her cousin, she adds, "Florence, is it not
a fatality our meeting him so often?"
"Have we met so often?" asks Florence quietly, but with a touch of
_hauteur_ and dislike in her tone. Then she too gives a cold little hand
to Mr. Dynecourt, who lingers over it until she disdainfully draws it
away, after which he turns from her abruptly and devotes himself to
Dora Talbot.
The widow is glad of his attentions. He is handsome and well-bred, and
for the last half hour she has been feeling slightly bored; so eager has
been the discussion about the Marlow matter, that she has been little
sought after by the opposite sex. And now, once again, the subject is
being examined in all its bearings, and the discussion waxes fast and
furious.
"What is it all about?" asks Arthur Dynecourt presently, glancing at the
animated group in the middle of the room. And Sir Adrian, hearing his
question, explains it to him.
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