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The Lost Ambassador: The Search For The Missing Delora, a novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim |
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Chapter 23. Felicia |
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_ CHAPTER XXIII. FELICIA It seemed to me that Felicia that night was in her most charming mood. She wore a dress of some soft white material, and a large black hat, under which her face--a little paler even than usual--wore almost a pathetic aspect. Her fingers touched my arm as we entered the restaurant together. She seemed, in a way, to have lost some of her self-control,--the exclusiveness with which she had surrounded herself,--and to have become at once more natural and more girlish. I noticed that she chose a seat with her back to the room, and I understood her reason even before she told me. "I think," she said, "that to-night it would be pleasant to forget that there is any one here who disturbs me. I think it would be pleasant to remember only that this great holiday of mine, which I have looked forward to so long, has really begun." "You have looked forward to coming to London so much?" I asked. "Yes!" she answered. "I have lived a very quiet life, Capitaine Rotherby. After the Sisters had finished with me--and I stayed at the school longer than any of the others--I went straight to the house of a friend of my uncle's, where I had only a _dame de compagnie_. My uncle--he was so long coming, and the life was very dull. But always he wrote to me, 'Some day I will take you to London!' Even when we were in Paris together he would tell me that." "Tell me," I asked, "what is your uncle's Christian name?" "I have three uncles," she said, after a moment's hesitation,--"Maurice, Ferdinand, and Nicholas. Nicholas lives all the time in South America. Maurice and Ferdinand are often in Paris." "And the uncle with whom you are now?" I asked. I seemed to have been unfortunate in my choice of a conversation. Her eyes had grown larger. The quivering of her lips was almost pitiful. "I am a clumsy ass!" I interrupted quickly. "I am asking you questions which you do not wish to answer. A little later on, perhaps, you will tell me everything of your own accord. But to-night I shall ask you nothing. We will remember only that the holiday has begun." She drew a little sigh of relief. "You are so kind," she murmured, "so very kind. Indeed I do not want to think of these things, which I do not understand, and which only puzzle me all the time. We will let them alone, is it not so? We will let them alone and talk about foolish things. Or you shall tell me about London, and the country--tell me what we will do. Indeed, I may go down to your home in Norfolk." "I think you will like it there," I said. "It is too stuffy for London these months. My brother's house is not far from the sea. There is a great park which stretches down to some marshes, and beyond that the sands." "Can one bathe?" she asked breathlessly. "Of course," I answered. "There is a private beach, and when we have people in the house at this time of the year we always have the motor-car ready to take them down and back. That is for those who bathe early. Later on it is only a pleasant walk. Then you can learn games if you like,--golf and tennis, cricket and croquet." "I should be so stupid," she said, with a little regretful sigh. "In France they did not teach me those things. I can play tennis a little, but oh! so badly; and in England," she continued, "you think so much of your games. Tell me, Capitaine Rotherby, will you think me very stupid in the country if I can do nothing but swim a little and play tennis very badly?" "Rather not!" I answered. "There is the motor, you know. I could take you for some delightful drives. We should find plenty to do, I am sure, and I promise you that if only you will be as amiable as you are here I shall not find any fault." "You will like to have me there?" she asked. Her question came with the simplicity of a child. She laughed softly with pleasure when I leaned over the table and whispered to her,-- "Better than anything else in the world!" "I am not sure, Capitaine Rotherby," she said, looking at me out of her great eyes, "whether you are behaving nicely." "If I am not," I declared, "it is your fault! You should not look so charming." She laughed softly. "And you should not make such speeches to a poor little foreign girl," she said, "who knows so little of your London ways." Louis stood suddenly before us. We felt his presence like a cold shadow. The laughter died away from her eyes, and I found it difficult enough to address him civilly. "Monsieur is well served?" he asked. "Everything all right, eh?" "Everything is very good, as usual, Louis," I answered. "The only thing that is amiss you cannot alter." "For example?" he asked. "The atmosphere," I answered. "It is no weather for London." "Monsieur is right," he admitted. "He is thinking of departing for the country soon?" "It depends a little upon mademoiselle," I answered. Louis shook his head very slowly. He had the air of a man who discusses something with infinite regret. "It would be very delightful indeed," he said, "if it were possible for mademoiselle to go into Norfolk to your brother's house. It would be very good for mademoiselle, but I am not sure--I fear that her uncle--" "How the mischief did you know anything about it?" I asked in amazement. Louis smiled--that subtle, half-concealed smile which seemed scarcely to part his lips. "Why should not mademoiselle have told me?" he asked. "But I have not!" she declared suddenly. "I have not seen Louis since you were here this afternoon, Capitaine Rotherby." Louis extended his hands. "It is true," he admitted. "It is not from mademoiselle that I had the news. But there, one cannot tell. Things may alter at any moment. It may be very pleasant for Monsieur Delora that his niece is able to accept this charming invitation." "So you have been in communication with Mr. Delora, Louis?" I asked. "Naturally," Louis answered. "He told me of mademoiselle's request. He told me that he had promised to reply at ten o'clock this evening." "Perhaps you can tell us," I remarked, "what that reply will be?" Louis' face remained absolutely expressionless. He only shook his head. "Mr. Delora is his own master," he said. "It may suit him to be without mademoiselle, or it may not. Pardon, monsieur!" Louis was gone, but he had left his shadow behind. "He does not think," she murmured, "that I may come!" "Felicia,--" I said. "But I did not say that you might call me Felicia!" she interrupted. "Then do say so," I begged. "For this evening, then," she assented. "For this evening, then, Felicia," I continued. "I do not wish to worry you by talking about certain things, but do you not think yourself that your uncle is very inconsiderate to leave you here alone on your first visit to London,--not to come near the place, or provide you with any means of amusement? Why should he hesitate to let you come to us?" "We will not talk of it," she begged, a little nervously. "I must do as he wishes. We will hope that he says yes, will we not?" "He must say yes!" I declared. "If he doesn't I'll find out where he is, somehow, and go and talk to him!" She shook her head. "He is very much engaged," she said. "He would not like you to find him out, nor would he have any time to talk to you." "Selling his coffee?" I could not help saying. "To-night, Capitaine Rotherby," she answered softly, "we do not talk of those things. Tell me what else we shall do down at your brother's house?" "We shall go for long walks," I told her. "There are beautiful gardens there--a rose garden more than a hundred years old, and at the end of it a footpath which leads through a pine plantation and then down to the sea marshes. We can sit and watch the sea and talk, and when you find it dull we will fill the house with young people, and play games and dance--dance by moonlight, if you like. Or we can go fishing," I continued. "There is a small yacht there and a couple of sailing-boats." She listened as though afraid of losing a single word. "Tell me," I asked, "have you been lonely all your life, child?" "All my life," she answered, and somehow or other her voice seemed to me full of tears, so that I was almost surprised to find her eyes dry. "Yes, I have always been lonely!" she murmured. "My uncle has been kind to me, but he has always some great scheme on hand, and Madame Muller--she would be kind if she knew how, I think, but she is as though she were made of wood. She has no sympathy, she does not understand." "I wonder," I said reflectively, "what made your uncle bring you here." "It was a promise," she said hurriedly,--"a promise of long ago. You yourself must know that. Your letter from your brother in South America said, 'Mr. Delora and his niece.'" "It is true," I admitted. "But why he should want to bring you and then neglect you like this--But I forgot," I interrupted. "We must not talk so. Tell me, you have been often to the theatre in Paris?" "Very seldom," she answered, "and I love it so much. Madame Muller and I go sometimes, but where we live is some distance from Paris, and it is difficult to get home afterwards, especially for us two alone. My uncle takes us sometimes, but he is generally so occupied." "He is often in Paris, then?" I asked. She started a little. "Yes!" she said hurriedly. "He is often there, of course. But please do not forget,--to-night we do not talk about my uncle. We talk about ourselves. May I ask you something?" "Certainly!" I answered. "If my uncle says 'No!'--that I may not come--do you go away altogether, then, to-morrow?" "No," I answered, "I do not! I shall not leave you alone here. So long as you stay, I shall remain in London." She drew a little breath, and with a quick, impetuous movement her hand stole across the table and pressed mine. "It is so good of you!" she murmured. "I am afraid that it is selfishness, Felicia," I answered. "I should not care to go away and leave you here. I am beginning to find," I added, "that the pleasures in life which do not include you count for very little." "You will turn my head," she declared, with a delightful little laugh. "It is the truth," I assured her. "I am quite sure now," she murmured, "that my great holiday has commenced!" _ |
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