She flowered
now beneath the sun of those dark lustrous eyes and the soft rain
of that admiration from the greatest dramatic poet in the world. It
really did seem to Edward Henry that she grew younger. Assuredly she
grew more girlish and her voice improved. And then the bottles
began to pop, and it was as though the action of uncorking wine
automatically uncorked hearts also. Mr. Seven Sachs, sitting square
and upright, smiled gaily at Edward Henry across the gleaming table
and raised a glass. Little Marrier, who at nearly all times had a most
enthusiastic smile, did the same. In the result five glasses met over
the central bed of chrysanthemums. Edward Henry was happy. Surrounded
by enigmas--for he had no conception whatever why Rose Euclid had
brought any of the three men to his table--he was nevertheless
uplifted.
As he looked about him, at the rich table, and at the glittering
chandelier overhead (albeit the lamps thereof were inferior to his
own), and at the expanses of soft carpet, and at the silken-textured
walls, and at the voluptuous curtains, and at the couple of impeccable
gentlemen in-waiting, and at Joseph, who knew his place behind his
master's chair--he came to the justifiable conclusion that money was
a marvellous thing, and the workings of commerce mysterious and
beautiful. He had invented the Five Towns Thrift Club; working men
and their wives in the Five Towns were paying their twopences
and sixpences and shillings weekly into his club, and finding
the transaction a real convenience--and lo! he was entertaining
celebrities at Wilkins's.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122