The San Francisco call., 1905-04-02
CHAPTER X.
The Price of the BaubIe.


Beau Brummell. from his seat in the
bow-window. bowed with empresse-
ment as Gordon aIighted from his car
riage and ascended the steps of Whites
Club from an early dinner at Holland
House
Fore gad." admired the dandy,
what a coati II becomes him as if
he'd been hatc4ed in it"
Lord Peterslkm at his elbow gazed
with secOnding approval The somber
elegance OF the black velvet dress coat.
which Gordon wore close -buttoned. and
the white rolling collar left open so as
10 expose the throat. served TO heighten,
the pallor of his skin and set in high
relief the handsome, palrician face
above il
Still on his pedestal" observed Pc
tersham- Before long his vertex sub
hmis viii displacs enough stars to
overthrow the Newtonian system, 1
hear Caro- Lamb is not tired doing
homage His affair with Lady oxford
seems 10 be tapering."
Women." CALCULATED Brummeu
Hes a martyr to them. Stap nv "
tails. the beauties run after him because
he won't make up to them. Treat wo-
men like fools, and they'll all worship
you,'
To the pinnacle this implied. Gordon
had risen at q leap He was the idol OF
fashionable London, the chief topic OF
frivolous boudoir gossip and intellec-
tual table talk His person, his travels
spangied with romantic tales, his
gloom, his pride his beauty. and the
dazzle OF his prodigious success, COM
bined 10 bring him an unheard-of hon1-
age His newest book was on every
drawing room table in the kingdom.
He was made much of by Lady Jersey.
Hostesses Quarreled over entertaining
him. and ladies OF every title below the
blood royal asked to be placed next him
at dinner. The Regent himself had
asked him TO Carlton House.
Each of his publications since that
February day when he woke to fame
and when the chariot of the incompar-
able Captain Brummell had set him
down at Melbourne House. had had a
like history. Each had won the same
rapt praise, the same wondering honl-
age 10 talent If they missed the burn
ing fervor Of those earlier impassioned
lines on Grecian liberty. IL they held,
each more clearly. an under-note of ag-
Mysticism. IL was overlooked in delight
at their freedom. their metrical sweep
and seethe of feeling, the melancholy
sea-surge and fret of their moods His
ancient detractors, whom his success
had left breathless, constrained to in
nuendo, had added TO his personality
the tang OF the audacious. OF bizarre
license, of fantastic eccentricity, that
beckoned even while it repelled.
One would have thought Gordon him.
self Indifferent 10 praise as TO censure.
The stu dissatisfaction that came to
him IN the night hours in his
tufnbled study. when he remem-
bered the strength and purpose
that had budded in his soul in those
early weeks at Newstead. he alone
knew. The convention that had carped
at him before his fame he trod under
foot He freQuented Manton's shoot
Ing gallery. practiced the broadsword
at Angeles. spared with Gentleman
Jackson" the champion pugiiist. in his
rooms in Bond street, and clareted and
champagned at the Cocoa Tree with
Sheridan and Moore till five in the
matin- Other men might conceal their
harshest peccadilloes. Gordon con-
cealed nothing. What he did he did
frankly, with disdain for appearances.
Hypocrisy was to him the souls gan
creme He preferred to have the world
think him worse than TO think him
better than he was.
His enemies in time had plucked UP
courage, reyamped old stories and in