New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
"And who the devil are you?" sputtered Burley, with the air of a man who
is not to be easily frightened.
"Oh, nobody in particular," said the quiet man in a low voice. And,
before he could be questioned further, he had melted unobtrusively into
the crowd.
*IV*
A little later, Robert led three jovial young maskers into the gypsy
tent. The foremost was dressed as _Charles Surface_ and had quite
enough gay confidence to do justice to the part.
"So here’s the Outlaws’ piece of resistance," he called out merrily.
"We’ll see whether she can do half as much justice to my palm as to her
lovely gypsy shawl."
He sat down at Janet’s little table and held out his hand. She took it,
examined it gravely for some seconds, and then, in her fine clarinet
tones she reported swiftly, without a pause, and getting almost
breathless towards the end:
"You are handsome, graceful, false and cruel. You’ve been a good
soldier, but you’ll become a poor poet. I see you divided into three
parts: part one—Charles Surface; part two—Joseph Surface; part three—Sir
Peter Teazle. What a pity your name isn’t Henry! For you are as dashing
as Henry the Fifth, as amorous as Henry of Navarre, and as kind to women
as Henry the Eighth. You will be married twice, but how many hearts you
will break I dare not reveal. Your own heart is a safe deposit vault,
fireproof and loveproof both. Hapless and witless damsels without
number will try to blow it up or melt it—without success. One girl
alone will refrain from the attempt, realizing the utter uselessness of
piercing this too, too solid flesh—"
"Here," cried the young man, drawing away his hand, the laughter and
jibing endorsements with which his comrades greeted the several
revelations, proving too much for him. "I don’t call this a fortune: I
call it a raw deal."
"No use abusing the cards," said Janet, still affecting the utmost
gravity. "The cards never lie."
"Oh, don’t they, Miss Gypsy? That’s where your professional prejudice
blinds you. Take your discovery that I’m a poor poet, for instance.
Well, the fact is, I’m no poet at all. I never so much as wrote a
couplet to a girl in all my life."
"I said: you _will become_ a poet," remarked Janet, gently correcting
him.
"And when will that be, pray?"
Janet hastily cut the cards anew, dealt out five cards, and held out the
Queen of Spades to the onlookers.
"When a dark lady enters your life," she said.
"A dark lady _has_ entered my life," he said, his voice vibrating
seductively. "Entered it with a very poor opinion of me, it seems. But
I shouldn’t call her the Queen of Spades. I should call her Janet, the
Queen of Clubs."
"Clubs, because I scored so many good hits?"
"No, because a Queen of Spades must have lustrous black eyes, and yours
are heavenly gray. Come, let’s unmask, and see who’s the better fortune
teller of the two."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account