The record-union., 1897-04-11


all, / am responsible for the affair; 1
| hope you will come with me into the
drawing room to help me receive, be-
cause you know the people you have
asked and / do not
You know some of them,' said Mrs
Maddenham. 1T is only the royal
set you are not in Without 1 will try
and get you in if I can: only you know
it is rather difficult
Difficult echoed Jane, with
great surprise reflected on her face
But they are coming to see me, are
they not?"
Mrs. Maddenham grew suddenly red
in the face and was troubled with Il
tickling in her throat which caused her
to cough considerably. What a fool
Jane was, to be sure. she mentally con-
Sidered. The idea of her expecting
that the royal set were actually COM
ing to see her, 1t was enough to make
"swagger' persons laugh themselves
into convulsions-fits, But it was no
use saying anything to Jane; Jane
would never comprehend that she ought
to be greatly honored to have her house
turned into a kind of restaurant for
the entertainment of great" people,
and that she ought to be proud and
glad if the said great" people ate and
drank of what she provided without
either a How d'y do or Thank you"
to their hostess. She would never UNI
derstand; 'swagger" society and its
ways We're altogether beyond Jane.
Between 10 and IL o'clock the COM
pany began to arrives and Jane stand
ing with Mrs. Maddenham at the head
of her stately staircase, which was dec
GRATED for the occasion with the rarest
palms and exotics, awaited with a
somewhat beating heart the approach
OF the" guests of the evening. They
We're late in coming; but 10 make
amends for their delay the Select"
company invited to meet them flocke6
INTO the rooms in a crowd, laughing
ana talking together and spreading
themselves in loose and familiar fash
ION all over the place, as if it belonged
TO them. and paying very little heed to
either Jane or Mrs. Maddenham
Though the first arrivals, who hap
| pened, by the excellent management of
Mrs. Maddenham, to be certain respect
able old fogies who had met Jane be-
fore, greeted their hostess with the
usual conventional manner and cour-
| tesy, yet when. the crush grew denser and
people became wedged en- masse on the
stairs, unable to move backward or
forward, it was hardly possible to dis
tinguish Jane in the general press, much
less greet her as the mistress of the
house and giver of the evenings hos
pitality.
iy,fa -,
ROOM" said Jane anxiously, as she
gazed at the increasing stream. MY
dear Mrs. Maddenham, I am sure you
have asked too many peoplei"
Not a bit of it," retorted Mrs. Mad
denham. THE more We can keep them
squeezed up here the less chance they
will have of disturbing their highnesses
in the supper-room. Supper is only for
the royal set
This was a Staggerer for Jane, and
she was about to enter a protest
against such an unequal arrangement
when there was a sudden stir-a sway
ing movement in the crowd on the
stairs-and two broadly smiling gem
tiemen entered followed by two other
somewhat serious gentlemen, all of
whom blandly shook hands with Mrs
Maddenhem, who, in her turn
bobbed demurely up and down to
the two smiling gentlemen and
nodded Familiarity to the two serious
gentlemen, and then piloted them over
to a certain portion of the room where
bevy of the ripping" ladies elsewhere
alluded to awaited their coming.
Jane looked about her bewilderedly
1t was beginning to be like the luncheon
party at Henley: there seemed to be no
room for her at all. Had royalty ar
rived? Were those two broadly smiI-
ing gentlemen the equerries in attend
ance? They had all passed her-they
had not noticed her; Mrs. Maddenham
had borne them away-afar. but
whittier? Putting on her gold-rimmed
glasses, Jane peered into every corner
and found no sign of either the broadly
smiling or the serious gentlemen at all:
as matter of fact, they had passed
out through the opposite door with the
ladies they had selected as their COM
panions, and We're gone down to suppar.
The band played gay music-the noise
of tongues and the swish of silk dresses
became confuSing-the scent of flowers.
mingling with the sicklier odor. of arti
fetal perfumes, asSailed James nose
and irritated it-and a sudden wrath
began to kindle in her usually peaceable
mind. Was it possible-could it be
likely-that Mrs. Maddenham had gone
down to supper without presenting her.
the actual hostess of the occasion To
royalty at all? 1t seemed like it-it
really seemed very like it, Jane waited
a few moments on her own staircase
like a belated stranger, in doubt and
perplexity, then, suddenly perceiving
two of her fiunkeys engaged in hand
ling wine, coffee, ices and other refresh,
ments among the people who were
crowded in the drawing-room, she beck
oned one of them to come up to her.
The man did so.
Have the royal people Gomez" she
asked him.
"Oh, yes'm! They are in the sup
per-room.''
rs Mrs Maddenham Thereof
"Yes'm. Mrs. Maddenham is at the
royal table"
Supper has commenced, them"
On, yes'm. Supper's we'll on now"
Jane asked no more questions. Pale
and calm and full of her grand man
ner.' which gave her an almost regal
air, She made her way slowly and with
elaborate care and courtesy down the
broad staircase, apologizing sweetly if
she chanced to brush against a dress or
disturb a side-flirtation-and both men
and women paused in their gable to
stare at her and say, soto voce, why.
believe that's old Miss Belmont! Pom
my life, it's the woman whose house