"
"Is she as pretty as you?
"You can find out for yourself. I'm going to ask her to
something--presently."
In the last word, in the pause that preceded it, there was the creeping
sound of the reluctance Lady Holme felt in allowing Miss Schley to draw
any closer to her life. Lord Holme did not notice it. He only said:
"Right you are. Pimpernel--I should like to have a squint at her."
"Very well. You shall."
"Pimpernel," repeated Lord Holme, in a loud bass voice, as he lounged out
of the room, grinning. The name tickled his fancy immensely. That was
evident.
Lady Holme fully intended to ask Miss Schley to the "something" already
mentioned immediately. But somehow several days slipped by and it was
difficult to find an unoccupied hour. The Holme cards had, of course,
duly gone to the Carlton, but there the matter had ended, so far as Lady
Holme was concerned. Miss Schley, however, was not so heedless as the
woman she resembled. She began to return with some assiduity to the
practice of the talent of the old Philadelphia days. In those days she
used to do a "turn" in the course of which she imitated some of the
popular public favourites of the States, and for each of her imitations
she made up to resemble the person mimicked. She now concentrated this
talent upon Lady Holme, but naturally the methods she employed in Society
were far more subtle than those she had formerly used upon the stage.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106