England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction; Social classes -- England -- Fiction
For Dolly's out and about again,
She doesn't give a damn for a shower of rain.
Here's Dolly with her collie!
And London! _Chorus._ Dear old London!
London is itself again!
"Goo' gir' said Mr. Richards when Dorothy had finished and the dust in
his little office in the cupola of the Vanity had subsided. "Goo' gir'.
I thi' you'll ma' a 'ice 'ihel hit in that song."
The impresario was right: Dorothy did make a resounding hit; and a more
welcome token of it than her picture among the letterpress and
advertisements of every illustrated paper, the dedication of a new
face-cream, and the christening of a brand of cigarettes in her honor,
was the reappearance of Clarehaven with character and complexion much
matured by the sun of Africa, so ripe, indeed, that he was ready to fall
at her feet. She received him gently and kindly, but without
encouragement; he was given to understand that his treatment had driven
her to take refuge in art, the result of which he had just been
witnessing from the front of the house. Besides, she told him, now that
Olive's friend was dead, she must stay and look after her. People had
misjudged Olive and herself so much in the past that she did not intend
to let them misjudge her in future. She was making money at the Vanity
now, and she begged Lord Clarehaven, if he had ever felt any affection
for her, to go away again and shoot more wild animals. Cupid himself
would have had to use dum-dum darts to make any impression on Dorothy in
her present mood.
Such nobility of bearing, such wounded beauty, such weary grace, could
only have one effect on a man who had spent so many months among hippos
and black women, and without hesitation Clarehaven proposed marriage.
Dorothy's heart leaped within her; but she preserved a calm exterior,
and a sad smile expressed her disbelief in his seriousness. He
protested; almost he declaimed. She merely shook her head, and the
desperate suitor hurried down to Devonshire in order to convince his
mother that he must marry Dorothy at once, and that she must
demonstrate, either by visit or by letter, what a welcome his bride
would receive from the family. Clarehaven lacked eloquence, and the
dowager was appalled. Lonsdale was telegraphed for, and presently he
came up to town to act as her emissary to beg Dorothy to refuse her son.
"It'll kill the poor lady," he prophesied. "I know you're not wildly
keen on Tony, so let him go, there's a dear girl."
"I never had the slightest intention of doing anything else. You don't
suppose that just when I've made my first success I'm going to throw
myself away on marriage. You ought to know me better, Lonnie."
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account