Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-07
scar which you are trying to hide under

ing glance at Bee, he answered.:
II was thrown from my carriage
some days ago-it was that accident
which detained me so long In Boston.
wrote to Charlotte about it-did she
not tell you?"
charlotte never tells me anything
betwixt the demands of art and society
she really has no time, assure YOU
sinking her voice for Mr.. Saxe's benefit
II am greatly bored with all these art.
lists. Most of them-the young ones
at least, are absurdly poor. But Char.
lotte will patronize them, will invite
them to our dinners and receptions
will paint pictures and fit up studios
and find that I must resign myself te
the inevitable"
Quite right" answered the banker
absently.
"Apropos of poor people," madame
ratified on, the Harding cottage on
Ocean avenue has Just been sold. These
unfortunate Hardings! Lawrence was
Ethers devoted admirer last season.
you know. They have lost everything
The daughter was engaged to Jack
Severne, the millionaire, but, Of course,
he will not marry her now. Larry Is
expected from Europe daily. 1t Is very
hard for him. He will have to find a
or something. How fortunate
that Ethel never encouraged his suit
The announcement of dinner cut
short the conversation, and the party
proceeded to table.
Long afterward Bees memory Of this
meal-her first beneath the Vann roof
was made up principally of two
extraordinary quantity OF
wine which Madame Vann drank and q
face, full Of southern fire and
that shone upon her across
the glittering plate and Sevres Of. the
board.
Trained servants came and went,
noiseless as shadows; a flood Of softest
light filled the room, and the air was
heavy with the odor Of flowers. AS for
the Raphael face, it spoke to Bee now
and then-it looked at her a great deal,
but it talked mostly to Miss Vann on
art subjects that were as Sanscrit to
our novice.
Nevertheless she listened quietly and
observed that the two were good COM
rades; that the young artist regarded
his hostess with genuine esteem and
and that her manner toward
him was indulgent and motherly. 1t
was young genius invariably which
Miss Vann affected.
Men whom the gossips may call my
sons but not my lovers" she was wont
to say laughingly and the air which she
assumed toward such was always ma
ternal.
Where is your friend, the baron, to-
night?" said Eric SAKE, suddenly, as II
a curious thought had just struck
him. .-.sa .ss4s
1.-The baron? Oh, he went to Wash
ington two days ago on diplomatic bus
Iness," answered Charlotte Vann. New
port seems like a desert without him,
does it not? or perhaps, it would be
more accurate to say, like the sky
without the SUM-"
Il really had not noticed anything SO
serious" replied SAKE, passing a Ma
jolica plate heaped with purple grapes
to Bee.
who is that?" queried the banker,
from the other end Of the table. He had
listened so long to Madame Vann's
clatter that he began to feel the need
Of diversion.
Baron Strozzi, an Italian nobleman
and the lion of Newport society this
season." cried Charlotte Vann, with
He Is a guest at the
rich, very distingue, and
the head Of an immensely ancient fam
ily-his ancestors were in the Roman
senate with julius Caesar"
Indeed" said the banker, and Bee
opened her blue eyes wide. us he
young?"
"Yes-at least, not past thirty"
"Handsome?"
"Irresistably so-is he not, Eric?"
Thus appealed to, Mr.. SAKE answered
quickly, but firmly:
Il should say not"
Confess, then, that he is the mos,
of men,"
He may be, but. one can scarcely ex-
pect him to waste his peculiar powers
upon his own sex. My acquaintance
with the baron is too limited to allow
me to judge of his attractions"
II know not why 1t is," laughed Char
lotte Vann, but you can rarely OF
never induce one man to praise anoth-
er. Our dear, delightful baron Is ar
especial godsend this season. when
eligible parties are so scarce at New
port The feminine portion Of society
adore him. He is polished, he is ele-
CANT, he is gallantry itself. No garden
party. no dinner, no gathering Of any
sort can be complete without him. An
1t is not every day, you know, that one
can find a live lord to button ones
glove, or hold ones fan, or murmul
compliments in ones ear"
HE has an abominable accent" SAID
Eric Sake.
Ladies' think 1t delightful" answered
Miss Vann. II have heard 1t compared
to all kinds of delicious melody"
HE is pitted with the smallpox
called out Madame Vann, as she nod
ded to the servant for more champagne
$50 was Mirabeau, and yet every
body knows that he was the most at
tractive Of men. Those scars add char
ter to the baron's face, but do not de.
tract at all from its manly beauty"
Good Heaven!" cried the banker, ir
mock alarm; keep my little Bee Out
of his way, Charlotte! fear 1t was
hardly safe to bring her to Newport
after ALL"
Charlotte Vann smiled good-natured'
ly.
Bee is not out yet" she answered
I'VE must not so much as mention low