The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-02
A Pink-a q d White Possibility.

oAt a Da(R6AOAha
palms. They made an efficient background.
for. though Miss Fairfax was innocent of
posing. she was old enough 10 know where
and how a girl should stand. Through the
wide arch she could see. flooded in the glare
of electric light, a tall, somewhat COM
handing figure. The ball was half over,
but he had only just arrived.
Who Is that man." she said. languidly.
and in a tone perhaps too studiously de-
void OF interest. Her fan barely limited the
direction in which he was.
Good gracious was the answer; why
It's Avoncourt. / had no idea he was in
town He's been the Queens ambassador
somewhere or other-St. Petersburg or -"
She interrupted him.
II didn't know he was in London, either"
she said in the same tone.
1t was not very long before a mutual
friend brought Lord Avoncourt up to be
introduced TO Miss Fairfax. She was more
or less the fashion. BEING accustomed to
homage. she was more interested than fat
tered at his notice. She gave him a wonder
, who-you-can-be" look. with one eyebrow
raised. but her smile was charming.
She was at that time a little tired of
everything-of the season. her frocks. her
partners. and the world in general.
Lord Avoncourt remembered her. He had
been away from England for five years.
and was n little out OF touch with his old
life. But he had a distinct recollection OF
seeing Miss Fairfax at her first ball. and
ne wondered rather that she had not mar
ried in the interim. As a debutante she
was enchantingly pretty. very fair, with a
skin like the petals OF a wild rose. large.
wondering gray eyes and hair of a con-
spicuous golden color. A friend of his,
Eric lie Marchant. had pointed her out to
him.
"One of the new beauties" he said;
Lady Mary Fairfax's little girl. What do
you think of herr"
Avoncourt m his verdict only
too we'll: tonight it seemed a little in the
nature of a prophecy.
Think of herr" he said. Ask me again
five years hence. At present she is only a
p~ink-and-white possibility
The stated time had elapsed. and he saw
a subtle change had come over her. She
had arrived" as the French say. The
wild-rose skin was untouched by the raw
ages of time or art. The hair. naturally of
a dubious tint, was still of a crisped. deep
gold. But the charm of the young girl had
gone; the charm OF the woman had taken
fits place.
Lord Avonoourt was over forty. and had
Just succeeded to the title through the
death OF a cousin. AS a young man he al
ways said he had had no time to marry;
later. the inclination was not forthcoming.
Now he contemplated matrimony from the
utilitarian. rather than from the senti-
mental. point of view. He had decided to
make no extravagant demands of the lady
who should share the Avoncourt honors
with him. She must only be v~irtuous,
beautiful and as intelligent as is necessary
II is dificult to distinguish the land of
that divinity which shapes our ends from
an insidious temptation of the devil. I
this critical point in his career had Avon,
court encountered the woman, in the divine
guise of Miss Fairfax. She made an inn
preston on him. she compelled him with
large, lustrous eyes to remain beside her
most of the evening. He was clever. he
son present. She had reached the stage
when she inquired less who a man was
than what he had done. A certain con-
scfous sense Of power came to her assist
ance-
II am SO tired of it all" she had said
word II meant the balls-and that ball in
particular-the partners, the monotony OF
excitement. even the homage bestowed un-
der such obvious DISCUSSES as bouquets
But he understood. 1t had been his bust
ness in life 10 understand.
You are tired" he said. ref1ectively. be
cause you have eaten too many of socie-
tvs good things-you have had the plums
OUT OF ali the CAKES.
Miss Fairfax smiled disconcertingly.
How do you know" she demanded.
you are a stranger TO me-"
Not to know Miss Fairfax Is to argue
oneself If not unknown, at least the most
unobservant of men,"
"Ah,' she said: II have had the plums
out Of that cake! Last week 1 was intro
duced tc a royal parsonage. How he bored
me-"
But he was not bored he said, land
sou had the honor and glory-most people
M Iap',T b hsse 10 ,n be- : paid i fo oI bnt It's H'se, ou nfeu =
marketable commodity and has never yet
fallen below par"
She gave his clever. clean-shaven face a
brief. but searching look. His compliments
possessed a ssbtlety which her last admir-
er.s had lacked. On the whole she was
pleased that this star of the first magni-
tude should have arisen above her horizon.
Moreover. she was monopolizing Lady
Tadcaster's neutrality-suspicious. lion. and the
situation was fraught with a delicate sense.
of triumph.
Miss Fairfax was the practical outcome
OF the century which has seen the enamel
patton of slaves anC OF Englishwomen. She
was saturated with a clever pose of mod
acquistive: she had read most things and
had talked about them with a naivete that
Vas almost INGENIOUS. For the rest. her
balls. for which her appetite was insati-
able. her contempt immense and uncon-
cealed.
She had a great deal to say to Lord
Avonccurt.
ne was interested IN the Egyptian QueS-
ton (there is always an Egyptian question.
as IL TO remind men OF the sphinx's riddle)'
In q frontier dispute. In a lately revealed
atrocfty among aboriginal tribes. She was
quite au fat about them. had caught ali
the points with curious alacrity. He found
her cleverness very charming: il is cutie
a tolerable commodity in a pretty woman
though IL aggrayates the physical defects
of a plain one.
How bored LIE Marchant looksi'' he
said. suddenly, a. two people walked slow
~ past them Neither was speaking: the
man looked u~nspeakably ennuye, the wom-
an as IL she knew she was boring him
and could not help IL.
Miss Fairfax did not answer. A yerv
faint flush came into her face. The sight
OF those two people had called an odious
Tonight an impossible-memory. Very
soon afterward he suggested a return TO
the ballroom.
Meanwhile Lady Tadcaster had missed
her lion.
II can't think where on earth Lord
Avoncourt Is" she said. rather irritablv.
10 her favorite nephew. Mr.. Edward Lail-
riston. who happened to be standing hear
her Il want to introduce him to some
body"
II don't think he wants TO be introduced
to anybody. though" remarked the Young
man: he has gone the way of all flesh
You don't mean to say he's dead,' She
said. putting up her lorgnette.
Only to a sense of the honor Won wish
70 confer upon him. He is sitting out with
Miss Fairfax in the conservatory"
Lady Tadcaster smiled.
You men are all like sheep" she said.
zone leads. the rest follow. 1 though. Lord