Since the episode of Mrs. Winnie, Oliver had apparently concluded that
his brother was one of the initiated. Not long afterward he permitted
him to a glimpse into that side of his life which had been hinted at in
the songs at the bachelors’ dinner.
Oliver had planned to take Betty Wyman to the theatre; but Betty’s
grandfather had come home from the West unexpectedly, and so Oliver
came round and took his brother instead.
“I was going to play a joke on her,” he said. “We’ll go to see one of
my old flames.”
It was a translation of a French farce, in which the marital
infidelities of two young couples were the occasion of many mishaps.
One of the characters was a waiting-maid, who was in love with a
handsome young soldier, and was pursued by the husband of one of the
couples. It was a minor part, but the young Jewish girl who played it
had so many pretty graces and such a merry laugh that she made it quite
conspicuous. When the act was over, Oliver asked him whose acting he
liked best, and he named her.
“Come and be introduced to her,” Oliver said.
He opened a door near their box. “How do you do, Mr. Wilson,” he said,
nodding to a man in evening dress, who stood near by. Then he turned
toward the dressing-rooms, and went down a corridor, and knocked upon
one of the doors. A voice called, “Come in,” and he opened the door;
and there was a tiny room, with odds and ends of clothing scattered
about, and the girl, clad in corsets and underskirt, sitting before a
mirror. “Hello, Rosalie,” said he.
And she dropped her powder-puff, and sprang up with a cry—“Ollie!” ‘In
a moment more she had her arms about his neck.
“Oh, you wretched man,” she cried. “Why don’t you come to see me any
more? Didn’t you get my letters?”
“I got some,” said he. “But I’ve been busy. This is my brother, Mr.
Allan Montague.”
The other nodded to Montague, and said, “How do you do?”—but without
letting go of Oliver. “Why don’t you come to see me?” she exclaimed.
“There, there, now!” said Oliver, laughing good-naturedly. “I brought
my brother along so that you’d have to behave yourself.”
“I don’t care about your brother!” exclaimed the girl, without even
giving him another glance. Then she held Oliver at arm’s length, and
gazed into his face. “How can you be so cruel to me?” she asked.
“I told you I was busy,” said he, cheerfully. “And I gave you fair
warning, didn’t I? How’s Toodles?”
“Oh, Toodles is in raptures,” said Rosalie. “She’s got a new fellow.”
And then, her manner changing to one of merriment, she added: “Oh,
Ollie! He gave her a diamond brooch! And she looks like a
countess—she’s hoping for a chance to wear it in a part!”
“You’ve seen Toodles,” said Oliver, to his brother “She’s in ‘The
Kaliph of Kamskatka’”.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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