Americans -- Europe -- Fiction; British -- Europe -- Fiction; Male friendship -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction
“Now what do you think of her face?” Gordon asked, after staring a while
at the sky through the oak-boughs.
“Of course, in future,” said Longueville, “whenever you make use of
the personal pronoun feminine, I am to understand that Miss Vivian is
indicated.”
“Her name is Angela,” said Gordon; “but of course I can scarcely call
her that.”
“It ‘s a beautiful name,” Longueville rejoined; “but I may say, in
answer to your question, that I am not struck with the fact that her
face corresponds to it.”
“You don’t think her face beautiful, then?”
“I don’t think it angelic. But how can I tell? I have only had a glimpse
of her.”
“Wait till she looks at you and speaks--wait till she smiles,” said
Gordon.
“I don’t think I saw her smile--at least, not at me, directly. I hope
she will!” Longueville went on. “But who is she--this beautiful girl
with the beautiful name?”
“She is her mother’s daughter,” said Gordon Wright. “I don’t really know
a great deal more about her than that.”
“And who is her mother?”
“A delightful little woman, devoted to Miss Vivian. She is a widow, and
Angela is her only child. They have lived a great deal in Europe; they
have but a modest income. Over here, Mrs. Vivian says, they can get a
lot of things for their money that they can’t get at home. So they stay,
you see. When they are at home they live in New York. They know some of
my people there. When they are in Europe they live about in different
places. They are fond of Italy. They are extremely nice; it ‘s
impossible to be nicer. They are very fond of books, fond of music, and
art, and all that. They always read in the morning. They only come out
rather late in the day.”
“I see they are very superior people,” said Bernard. “And little Miss
Evers--what does she do in the morning? I know what she does in the
evening!”
“I don’t know what her regular habits are. I have n’t paid much
attention to her. She is very pretty.”
“Wunderschon!” said Bernard. “But you were certainly talking to her last
evening.”
“Of course I talk to her sometimes. She is totally different from Angela
Vivian--not nearly so cultivated; but she seems very charming.”
“A little silly, eh?” Bernard suggested.
“She certainly is not so wise as Miss Vivian.”
“That would be too much to ask, eh? But the Vivians, as kind as they are
wise, have taken her under their protection.”
“Yes,” said Gordon, “they are to keep her another month or two. Her
mother has gone to Marienbad, which I believe is thought a dull place
for a young girl; so that, as they were coming here, they offered to
bring her with them. Mrs. Evers is an old friend of Mrs. Vivian, who, on
leaving Italy, had come up to Dresden to be with her. They spent a month
there together; Mrs. Evers had been there since the winter. I think
Mrs. Vivian really came to Baden-Baden--she would have preferred a less
expensive place--to bring Blanche Evers. Her mother wanted her so much
to come.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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