The Montagues knew by this time whom they were to avoid. They were
graciously taken under the wing of Mrs. Eldridge Devon—whose real
estate was not affected by insurance suits; and the next morning they
had the satisfaction of seeing their names in the list of those
present—and even a couple of lines about Alice’s costume. (Alice was
always referred to as “Miss Montague”; it was very pleasant to be _the_
“Miss Montague,” and to think of all the other would-be Miss Montagues
in the city, who were thereby haughtily rebuked!) In the “yellow”
papers there were also accounts of the trousseau of the bride, and of
the wonderful gifts which she had received, and of the long honeymoon
which she was to spend in the Mediterranean upon her husband’s yacht.
Montague found himself wondering if the ghosts of its former occupants
would not haunt her, and whether she would have been as happy, had she
known as much as he knew.
He found food for a good deal of thought in the memory of this banquet.
Among the things which he had gathered from the songs was a hint that
Oliver, also, had some secrets, which he had not seen fit to tell his
brother. The keeping of young girls was apparently one of the
established customs of the “little brothers of the rich”—and, for that
matter, of many of the big brothers, also.
A little later Montague had a curious glimpse into the life of this
“half-world.” He had occasion one evening to call up a certain
financier whom he had come to know quite well—a man of family and a
member of the church. There were some important papers to be signed and
sent off by a steamer; and the great man’s secretary said that he would
try to find him. A minute or two later he called up Montague and asked
him if he would be good enough to go to an address uptown. It was a
house not far from Riverside Drive; and Montague went there and found
his acquaintance, with several other prominent men of affairs whom he
knew, conversing in a drawing-room with one of the most charming ladies
he had ever met. She was exquisite to look at, and one of the few
people in New York whom he had found worth listening to. He spent such
an enjoyable evening, that when he was leaving, he remarked to the lady
that he would like his cousin Alice to meet her; and then he noticed
that she flushed slightly, and was embarrassed. Later on he learned to
his dismay that the charming and beautiful lady did not go into
Society.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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