Actresses -- Fiction; Americans -- England -- Fiction; Love stories; Mate selection -- Fiction
As he went blindly out of the theater he struck his arm against a piece
of stage fittings and the blow was sharp and stinging, but he was glad
of the hurt.
Without, in the street, Dan took his place with the other men and
waited, a bitter taste in his mouth and anger in his breast, waited
until Letty Lane fluttered down, followed by Poniotowsky, and the two
drove away.
The young man could have gone after, running behind the motor, but there
was a taxicab at hand; he jumped in it, ordering the man to follow the
car to the Savoy. There the boy had the pleasure of seeing Miss Lane
enter the hotel, Poniotowsky with her—had the anguish of seeing them
both go up in the lift to her apartments.
When Dan came to himself he heard the chimes of St. Martin’s ring out
eleven. He then remembered for the first time that he had promised to
dine alone at home with the Duchess of Breakwater.
“Gosh, Lily will be wild!”
In spite of the lateness of the hour he hurried to Park Lane. The
familiar face of the manservant who let him in blurred before the young
man’s eyes. Her grace was out at the theater? Blair would wait then, and
he went into the small drawing-room, quiet, empty, reposeful, with a
fire across the andirons, for the evening was damp and cool. Still dazed
by his jealous, passionate emotions, he glanced about the room, chose a
long leather sofa, and stretching out his length, fell asleep. There in
the shadow he slept profoundly, waking suddenly to find that he was not
alone. Across the room the Duchess of Breakwater stood by the table; she
was in evening dress, her cloak and gloves on the chair at her side. She
laughed softly and the man to whom she laughed, on whom she smiled, was
Lord Galorey.
Blair raised himself up on the sofa without making any noise, and he saw
Galorey take the woman in his arms. The sight didn’t make the fiancée
angry. He realized instantly that he _wanted to believe that it was
true_, and as there was nothing theatrical in the young Westerner, he
sprang up, slang so much a part of his nature that the first words that
came to his lips was a phrase in vogue.
“Look who’s here!” he cried, and came blithely forward, his head clear,
his lips smiling.
The duchess gave a little scream and Dan lounged up to the two people
and held his hand frankly out to the lady.
“That’s all right, Lily! Go right on, Gordon, please. Only I had to let
you know when I waked up! Only fair. I guess I must have been asleep
quite a while.”
The Duchess of Breakwater shrugged. “I don’t know what you dreamed,” she
said acidly, “if you were asleep.”
“Well, it was a very pretty dream,” the boy returned, “and showed what a
stupid ass I’ve been to think I couldn’t have dreamed it when I was
awake.”
“I think you are crazy,” the duchess exclaimed.
But Blair repeated: “That’s all right. I mean to say as far as I am
concerned—”
And Galorey, in order to stand by his lady, murmured:
“My dear chap, you _have_ been dreaming.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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