The Avalanche - Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (free ebook reader for ipad .TXT) 📗

Grand Dames

Would Extend The Glad Hand. But I'm Afraid They Won't. Terrible

Exclusive, This Bunch."

 

Ruyler Scowled And Walked Back To The Ballroom. The Exclusiveness Of This

Young Society On The Wrong Side Of The Continent Sometimes Made Him

Homesick And Sometimes Made Him Sick. He Saw Little Chance For This Poor

Girl To Enjoy The Rights Of Her Radiant Youth If Her Mother Had Not Taken

The Precaution To Bring Letters. France Was Full Of Californians. Many

Lived There. Surely She Must Have Met Some One She Could Have Made Use

Of. It Was Tragic To Watch A Pathetic Young Thing Staring At Two Or Three

Hundred Young Men And Maidens Disporting Themselves With The Natural

Hilarity Of Youth, And But Few Of Them Too Ill-Natured To Welcome A Young

And Lovely Stranger If Properly Introduced.

 

He Experienced A Desperate Impulse To Go Up To The Mother And Offer

Her The Hospitality Of The Evening, Ask Her To Regard Him As Her Host.

But Madame Delano Had A Frozen Eye, And No Doubt Orthodox French Ideas

On The Subject Of Young Girls. A Moment Later His Eye Fell On Mrs.

Ford Thornton.

 

"Fordy" Was Many Times A Millionaire, And His Handsome Intelligent Wife

Lived The Life Of Her Class. But She Was Far Less Conservative Than Any

Woman Price Had Met In San Francisco. Although She Was No Longer Young He

Had More Than Once Detected Symptoms Of A Wild And Insurgent Spirit, And

An Impatient Contempt For The Routine She Was Compelled To Follow Or Go

Into Retirement. She Was Always Leaving Abruptly For Europe, And Every

Once In A While She Did Something Quite Uncanonical; Enjoying Wickedly

The Consternation She Caused Among The Serenely Regulated, And Betraying

To The Keen Eyes Of The New Yorker An Ironic Appreciation Of The Immense

Wealth Which Enabled Her To Do As She Chose, Answerable To No One. Her

Husband Was Uxorious And She Had No Children. She Had Seemed To Price

More Restless Than Usual Of Late And Showing Unmistakable Signs Of Abrupt

Departure. (He Was Sure She Dusted The Soles Of Her Boots As She Locked

The Door Of Drawing-Room A.) Perhaps To-Night She Might Be In A

Schismatic Mood.

 

She Was Standing Apart, A Tall, Dark, Almost Fiercely Haughty Woman, But

Dressed With A Certain Arrogant Simplicity, Without Jewels, Her Hair In A

Careless Knot At The Base Of Her Head. There Were Times When She Was

Impeccably Groomed, Others When She Looked As If An Infuriated Maid Had

Left Her Helpless. She Was, As Ruyler Well Knew, A Kind And Generous

Woman (In Certain Of Her Moods), With Whom The Dastardly Cradle Fates Had

Experimented, Hoping For High Drama When The Whip Of Life Snapped Once

Too Often. Perhaps She Had Found Her Revenge As Well As Her Consolation

In Cheating Them.

 

It Was Evident To Price That She Had Been Snubbing Somebody, For A Group

Of Matrons, Flushed And Drawn Apart, Were Whispering Resentfully. Price

Ruyler Stood In No Awe Of Her. He Could Match Her Arrogance, And He Liked

And Admired Her More Than Any Of His New Friends. They Quarreled

Furiously But She Had Never Snubbed Him.

 

He Walked Over To Her, His Cool Gray Eyes Lit With The Pleasure In Seeing

Her That She Had Learned To Expect. "Good Evening, Oh, Queen Of The

Pacific," He Said Lightly. "You Are Looking Quite Wonderful As Usual. Are

You Standing Alone Almost In The Middle Of The Room To Emphasize

The--Difference?"

 

"I Am In No Mood For Compliments, Satiric Or Otherwise." She Looked Him

Over With Cool Penetration. "I May Not Massage Or Have My Old Cuticle

Ripped Off. If I Choose To Look My Age You Must Admit That It Gives Me

One More Claim To Originality."

 

"You Should Have Let The World Know Long Since Just How Original You Are,

Instead Of Settling Down Into The Leadership Of San Francisco Society--"

 

He Enjoyed Provoking Her. Her Dark Narrow Eyes Opened And Flashed As They

Must Have Done In Their Unchastened Youth. "Don't Dare Call Me The Leader

Of This--This!"

 

"Granted. But The Fact Remains That Your Word Alone Is Law. Therefore I

Am About To Ask You To Forget That I Am A Bungling Diplomat And Do A Kind

Act. For Once You Would Be Able To Be Both Kind And Original."

 

"I Did Not Know You Went In For Charities. I Am Sick Of Shelling Out."

 

"My Only Part In Charities Is Shelling Out."

 

"Well, Come To The Point. What Do You Want?"

 

"I Want You To Go Over To That Lady--Madame Delano, Her Name Is--Sitting

Beside That Beautiful Girl, And Introduce Yourself And Then Me. They Are

Strangers And I'd Like To Give Them A Good Time."

 

"How Disinterested Of You!" She Looked The Isolated Couple Over. "The

Girl Is All Right, But I Don't Like The Mother. She Is Well Dressed--Oh,

Correct From Tip To Toe--But Not Quite The Lady."

 

Ruyler's Cool Insolent Gaze Swept The Dado Of Amiable Overfed Ladies Who

Fanned Themselves Against The Wall.

 

"None Of That! You Know That I Do Not Tolerate The New York Attitude.

At Least We Know Who Ours Are; They Came Into Their Own Respectably,

And With No Uncertain Touch. Of Course It Is Stupid Of Them To Get Fat.

Naturally It Makes Them Look _Bourgeoise_. But This Is A Lazy Climate.

As To That Woman: There Is Something About Her I Do Not Like. She Is

Aggressively Not Massaged, Not Made Up. Only A Woman Of Assured

Position Can Afford To Be Mid-Victorian. It Is Now Quite The Smart

Thing To Make Up."

 

"No Doubt Her Position Is Assured In Her Own Provincial Town. It Will Be

Easy Enough To Drop Her If She Doesn't Go Down. You Can't Deny That The

Girl Is All Right--And A Sweet Pathetic Figure."

 

"If The Girl Marries One Of Our Boys--And No Doubt That Is What She Was

Brought Here For--We Shall Not Be Able To Get Rid Of The Mother. We've

Tried That And Failed."

 

At That Moment Ruyler's Eyes Met Those Of The Girl. They Flashed An

Irresistible Appeal. He Drew A Short Breath. How Different She Looked!

She Radiated A Subtle Promise Of Perfect Companionship. Price Ruyler Did

What All Men Will Do Until The End Of Time. He Made Up His Mind That He

Had Found His Woman And Without Vocal Assistance.

 

Mrs. Thornton, Who Had Been Watching The Unusual Mobility Of His Face,

Met His Eyes With A Satirical Smile In Her Own, Her Thin Red Curling Lips

Drawn Almost Straight For A Moment. She Had Played With The Fancy, Before

Anger Banished It, That If She Had Been Twenty Years Younger.... Men Had

Fallen Madly In Love With Her In Her Own Day.... She Detected The

Symptoms In This Man At Once. Her Savage Will Compelled Her To Accept

Accumulating Years Without A Concession. But She Had Forgotten Nothing.

 

Ruyler May Have Read Her Thoughts.

 

"You Know," He Said, With An Attempt At Lightness, Although The Coast

Wind Tan, Which Was His Only Claim To Coloring, Had Paled A Little, "That

Girl Reminds Me So Much Of You That I Have Made Up My Mind To Marry Her.

I Don't Care Who She Is. If You Don't Help Me To Meet Her Conventionally

I'll Manage Somehow, But I Should Hate To Practice Any Subterfuges On The

Woman I Intend To Make My Wife."

 

For A Moment He Had The Sensation Of Being Pinned To The Wall By That

Narrow Concentrated Gaze. Then Mrs. Thornton Swung On Her Heel. "I'll Do

It," She Said.

 

She Walked Across The Room With The Supple Grace Her Slender Figure Had

Never Lost And Sat Down Beside The Older Woman. In A Moment The

Astonished Dowagers Who Had "Suffered From Her Fiendish Temper All

Evening," Saw Her Talking With Spontaneous Graciousness To Both The

Strangers. Madame Delano Was At First More Distant And Reserved Than Mrs.

Thornton Had Ever Been, Manifestly Betraying All The Suspicion And

Unsocial Instincts Of Her Class; But She Thawed, And The Two Women

Chatted, While Once More The Girl's Eyes Wandered To The Dancers.

 

When Mrs. Thornton Had Tormented Ruyler For Quite Fifteen Minutes She

Beckoned To Him Imperiously. A Moment Later He Was Whirling The Girl Down

The Ball Room And Thrilling At Her Contact.

 

 

V

 

The Wooing Had Been As Headlong As His Falling In Love. Helene Delano Had

A Deep Sweet Voice, Which Completed The Conquest During The Hour They

Spent In The Grounds Under The Shelter Of A Great Palm, Until Hunted Down

By A Horrified Parent.

 

Helene Talked Frankly Of Her Life. Her Mother Had Been Visiting Relatives

In A Small New England Town--Holbrook Centre, She Believed It Was Called,

But Hard American Names Did Not Cling To Her Memory--She Loved The Soft

Latin And Indian Names In California--And There She Had Met And Married

Her Father, James Delano. They Were On Their Way To Japan When Business

Detained Him In San Francisco Much Longer Than He Had Expected And She

Was Born. She Believed That He Had Owned A Ranch That He Wanted To Sell.

He Died On The Voyage Across The Pacific And Her Mother Had Returned To

Live Among Her Own People In Rouen--Very Plain Bourgeois, But Of A

Respectability, Oh, La! La!

 

"But It Was A Tiresome Life For A Young Girl With American Blood In Her,

Monsieur." Her Mother's Income From Her Husband's Estate Was Not Large,

But They Lived In A Wing Of The Old House And Were Very Comfortable. From

Her Window There Was A Lovely View Of The Seine Winding Off To Paris.

"Oh, Monsieur, How I Used To Long To Go To Paris! America Was Too Far. I

Never Even Dreamed Of It. But Paris! And Only Two Little Glimpses Of

It--The Last When We Spent A Fortnight There Before Sailing, To Get Me

Some Nice Frocks...."

 

She Had Studied Hard--But Hard! She Knew Four Languages, She Told Ruyler

Proudly. "I Had No _Dot_ Then, You See. It Was Possible I Might Have To

Teach One Day. A Governess In England, Oh, La! La!"

 

But Six Months Ago A Good Old Uncle Had Died And Left Them Some Money.

She Would Have A Little _Dot_ Now, And They Could Travel. Maman Said She

Would Not Have A Large Enough _Dot_ To Make A Fine Marriage In France,

But That The English And American Men Were More Romantic. They Went First

To The Orient, As There Were Many Englishmen Of Good Family To Be Met

There. "But Maman Is Difficult To Please," She Added With Her Enchanting

Artlessness, "As Difficult As I Myself, Monsieur. I Wish To Fall In Love

Like The American Girls. Maman Says It Is Not Necessary, But I Am Half

American, So, Why Not? There Was An English Gentleman With A Nice Title

In Hong Kong And Maman Was Quite Pleased With Him Until She Discovered

That He Gambled Or Did Something Equally Horrid And She Bought Our

Tickets For San Francisco Right Away."

 

Yes, She Was Enjoying Her Travels, But She Was A Little Lonesome; In

Rouen At Least She Had Her Cousins. For The First Time In Her Life She

Was Talking To A Young Man Alone; Even On The Steamer She Was Not

Permitted To Speak To Any Of The Nice Young Men Who Looked As If They

Would Like Her If Only Maman Would Relent.

 

"In Our Ugly Old Rooms In Rouen Maman Cherished Me Like Some Rare Little

Flower In An Old Earthen Pot," She Added Quaintly. "Now The Pot Has

Tinsel And Tissue Paper Round It, But Until To-Night I Have Felt As If I

Might Just As Well Be An Old Cabbage."

 

But It Had Been Heaven To Dance With A Young Man Who Was Not A Cousin;

And To Sit Out Alone With Him In The Moonlight, Oh, _Grace A Dieu_!

 

Traveling She Had Read Modern Novels For The First Time. There Were Many

In The Ship's Library, Oh, But Dozens! And She Knew Now How American And

English Girls Enjoyed Life. Her Mother Had Been Ill Nearly All The Way

Over. She Had Given Her Word Not To Speak To Any One, But Maman Had Been

Ignorant Of The Library Replete With The Novelists Of The Day, And

Although She Was Not Untruthful, _Enfin_, She Saw No Reason To Ask Her

Too Anxious Parent For Another Prohibition And Condemn Herself To Yawn

At The Sea.

 

Ruyler Proposed At The End Of A Week. She Was The Only Really Innocent,

Unspoiled, Unselfconscious Girl He Had Ever Met, Almost As Old-Fashioned

As His Great Grandmother Must Have Been. Not That He Set Forth Her

Virtues To Bolster His Determination To Marry A Girl Of No Family Even In

Her Own Country; He Was Madly In Love, And Life Without Her Was

Unthinkable; But He Tabulated The Thousand Points To Her Credit For The

Benefit Of His Outraged Father.

 

He Did Not Pretend To Like Madame Delano. She Was