England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Orphans -- Fiction; Uncles -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
"I'm afraid you've got the light in your eyes," said her aunt, and she
made signs with her nose that her niece should move over to the left,
where at the next table a fat man with a back like the nether part of a
rhinoceros was taking up so much space that it was obviously impossible
for Jasmine to squeeze her chair between his back and the side of their
table. She hesitated for a moment, hoping that her aunt would indicate
the other side of the table where she herself had been sitting; but she
did not offer to move her bag, which took up what space was left by the
vase of flowers, and Jasmine was too anxious to have a view of the room
to take the risk by moving it herself of being advised to stay where she
was.
Frank, the waiter, who had come to her rescue once already, was the
instrument chosen by destiny to preserve her a second time from
disappointment. For just as he was handing the duck to Lady Grant, the
fat man at the next table, outraged by some piece of news in the paper
he was reading, threw himself back in his chair so violently that he
swept the dish out of Frank's hand. The noise made everybody look in
their direction, and Lady Grant and Jasmine, who had jumped up in
affright, were conspicuous to the world. It was thus that Mr. Vibart,
lunching at the far end of the room, perceived Jasmine, learned who Lady
Grant was, and without a moment's hesitation came across and insisted
that they should all lunch at his table. Lettice and Pamela did not dare
to look as disagreeable as they felt, for each knew from her sister's
countenance how ugly ill-temper made her. The host was so boisterously
cheerful that the luncheon party appeared to be going splendidly, and
when about two o'clock Lettice glanced at her watch and asked if they
ought not to be getting along with the foursome before the links filled
up, Jasmine thought that she could have no idea how old such fussiness
made her seem.
"I say, Claude, do you know," Mr. Vibart said gravely to his companion,
a young man to find any other adjective for whom would be a waste of
time, "I say, Claude, I believe I did strain my leg in the ravine before
the eighth. Most extraordinary! It's gone quite stiff." He called to
another friend who was passing out of the dining-room unaccompanied.
"Ryder! Are you engaged this afternoon? I wish you'd take my place in a
foursome, like a good chap. I've strained my leg."
"Oh, let's postpone it," Lettice begged, with a desperate attempt to
hide with an expression of concern the chagrin she felt.
"Oh no, don't do that," said Vibart. "Ryder might think you were trying
to snub him. He's an awful sensitive fellow."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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