, 1884-02-07

card to the waiter. 1t was sent upstairs.
and she was shown into the cofee-room. She
went in and stood still a few moments, then
began to walk to and fro rather restlessly,
her eyes on the ground. She was a little
nervous about this meeting with a man she
had never seen. 1t would be quite easy il he
were nice; If he were not, it would be horrid.
She thought to herself, as she waited, that IL
one of her dearest friends had not asked her
to do this she would have refused.
Probably her sudden dislike of her task
merely arose from the depressing effect OF be-
ing stranded alone in the midst of a great
hotel cofree-room, and having to remain
there. At all events, she resolved that she
would DO cordial, IL the man looked at all
nice; she would not let him be chilled as most
foreigners are, in the first hour he spent in
England. And then she began TO think how
his friends had been to her when she
was In Russia. That gave her new COURAGE;
but oh, how long he kept her waitingl She
glanced around the room. She could just see
the top of a black bonnet over a distant arm
chair; a lady was there reading a paper. She
felt glad there was no one to observe a pretty
woman waiting in u public coffee-room for
some one who did not come. f.tI
At last the door opened, and a gentleman
entered quickly. Mrs. Valery saw in a sin
gle, swift glance that he was extremely hand
some, tall and MISUNDERSTANDING
and that he had that air which
one is compelled to describe as
foreign" for want of a better word. That
is to say, though he was not very Russian in
appearance, yet he did not look like an Eng
ltshman. Mrs. Valery called up all her cour-
age, and her pretty manners, and, with an
extreme nervousness which no one but her
self could perceive, advanced eagerly to
meet him. She held out her hand and began
to talk rapidly in Russian. He did not an
swer her; but then she gave him no time to,
for her nervousness made her talk rather
more than she intended. He held her hand
In his and gazed admiringly into her
face, which, with its slight flush of embar-
rassment, was even ~lovelier than usual. This
went on for two or three minutes; then Mrs.
Valery tried to draw her hand away, and
looked about her for a chair. But her new
friend held her han fast, which discomposed
her a good deal, yet did not startle her SO
much as the sight which greeted her eyes as
she looked around. Lady Lynx had ad-
vanced stealthily and stood close beside them.
Her face was awful. Mrs Valery uttered an
inarticulate cry Of establishment. This made
the gentleman look around also. He imme-
diately dropped Mrs. Valery's hand.
Now" said Lady Lynx, before any one
else had time to speak, now, Mrs. valery,
L kuOm you LOT WuhL you aTGI|
This speech produced a different effect
from What she intended. Certainly, it
startled Mrs. Valery as much as she hoped it
would; but, before that lady had time to
speak, the handsome gentleman said, in an
easy manner, and with a knowing twinkle in
his eye:
"Then, my ear Kate, 1 wish you'd tell me.
l took her for an amiable and very pretty
lunatic Was l right Perhaps you can tell
me also if she speaks any language but Hin
dostan, or whatever the unknown tongue is
that she's been talking"
III frivolous tone Is useless now, Sir
George" said Lady Lynx, with iron dignity;
ait has been tried too often. Perhaps you
will kindly tell the waiter to call me a cab"
Certainly, my DEAR" said Sir George,
with an exaggerated good humor. At that
moment a waiter came in, carrying a salyer
on which was a'goblet of brandy and soda.
that's right" said Sir George, perhaps
this will clear my brain, for Pm beginning
to believe I'm dreaming. Waiter, call q cab
for this lady,
@Waiter," cried Mrs. Valery, @where is the
Russian gentleman you took my card tor
II is here, madame" said the waiter, as
almost at that moment the door opened, and
"a swarthy, fyellow-slsinned man entered the
room. He looked inquiringly at the two
ladies'. Mrs. Valery reused herself; she ad-
vanced toward him, and without holding out
her hand, asked him in Russian II he was
count SO and so. He said "Yes," and Mrs.
Valery moved away Il few PAGES to speak to
him more at her ease. But she found it diff
cult to re-enact the warm welcome which
had been wrongly given. She was shaken
and unnerved, too, by Lady Lynx's face and
words.
what does all this meanF' asked Sir
George, in a low voice, of his wife.
"How can l tellf" she asked; you know
better than 1 do. This is some further de-
velopment of the farce, 1 suppose. 1 am going
home; you need not trouble yourself to ac-
company me-"
And she turned away, but he caught her
arm.
Look here, Kate" he said, @this must be
explained. What are you talking about
You seem to know that lady, but l don't"
NONSENSE cried Lady Lynx.
~ never set eyes on her before. You don't
mean to say you imagine we met here on
purposeP =
What else can l imaginein
What grounds have you for imagining
It'll"
That saw your affectionate meeting.H
Sir George laughed. "Deuced affecticnatel
Why, l thought she was madl Don't be alb
surd. What elsei"
why didn't you say what time you ware
arrivingi What did you mean to do before
you came homel"
"Not meet her, l assure you. Who is shelp
"Frank Valery's wife" q
"Than take me over and introduce me to
her and apologize. And another time don't
choose a lady to insult when you are jeal-
GUS"
IaJy ,r,- .No.l sa.ai.- 81 &c.,
Sir George was in the right, and felt he was
speaking the truth. And as she looked at
Mrs. Valery and the Russian as they stood
talking together, she saw that she had made
a mistake amateur detectives are apt to fall
into. She had too readily concluded that
Mrs. Valery was telling her a made-up story.
She saw that there was nothing to be done
but apologize. But she could not bring her
self to do it.
At that moment Mrs. Valery turned round,
and meeting Lady Lynx's look of mingled
emotions, she smiled. Her sense of humor
bad come uppermost. After all, she could
afford to forgive Lady Lynx; her enemy was
80 very plain. u
Lady Lynx summoned all her knowledge
Of the world to support her, went to Mrs.
Valery and made an humble and hearty apol.
ogy. Mrs. Valery's eyes sparkled with de-
mure amusement.
"You must both come and dine with me,r
she said by way of answer. @Frank will be
delighted to see Sir George; l know they are
old friends, You must-the count is com
ing"
Sir George made haste to accept this invi.
tation. After dinner Mrs. Valery told the
story of the scene in the coffee-room, making
but one change in it-she left out Lady Lynx's
unfortunate speech. Everybody laughed,
even Lady Lynx herself.
And so Mrs. Valery disarmed a bitter en-
envy, and made a new ally. For Sir George
became one of her faithful admirers, and
Lady Lynx had to put up with it whether she
liked it or not.