Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society Read online

  CHAPTER VI

  THE FLY IN THE BROTH

  Diana was an experienced entertainer and under her skillful supervisionthe reception proved eminently successful. Nor had she cause to beashamed of the three _protegees_ she presented to society, since capable_modistes_ had supplemented their girlish charms and freshness withcostumes pertinent to the occasion. Perhaps Patsy's chubby form looked alittle "dumpish" in her party gown, for some of Diana's female guestsregarded her with quiet amusement and bored tolerance, while the samecritical posse was amazed and envious at Beth's superb beauty andstately bearing. After all, it was Louise who captured the womancontingency and scored the greatest success; for her appearance was notonly dainty and attractive but she was so perfectly self-possessed andresponsive and bore herself so admirably under the somewhat trying;circumstances of a debut that she won the cordial goodwill of all whomshe encountered. The hostess was elaborately gowned in white pompadoursatin, trimmed with white chiffon and embroidered in pink roses andpearls. The Von Taer home was handsomely decorated for the occasion,since Diana never did anything by halves and for her own credit insistedon attention to those details of display that society recognizes andloves. Hundreds of long-stemmed American Beauties and Kentia palms werecombined in beautifying the spacious hall, while orchids in marvelousvariety nodded their blossoms in the great drawing-room, where theyoung-ladies received. These rare and precious flowers were arranged inbronze baskets with sprays of maidenhair. In the music room adjoining,great clusters of Madam Chantenay roses embellished the charming scene.Branches of cherry-blossoms, supplied by hot-houses, were banked in thelofty dining-room, where a Japanese pergola made of bamboo and lightedwith red lanterns was erected at the upper end. The attendants here wereJapanese girls in native costume, and the long table was laid with alace cloth over pink satin, with butterfly bows of pink tulle. The tableitself was decorated with cut-glass baskets of Cecil Brunner rosesmingled with lilies of the valley and refreshments were distributed tothe standing guests as they entered.

  The affair was in the nature of a typical "crush," for Diana's list ofeligibles included most of the prominent society folk then in town, andshe was too important a personage to have her invitations disregarded.Beth and Patsy were fairly bewildered by the numerous introductions,until names became meaningless in their ears; but Louise, perfectlycomposed and in no wise distracted by her surroundings or the music ofthe orchestra and the perpetual buzz of conversation in the crowdedrooms, impressed each individual upon her memory clearly, and was notlikely to blunder in regard to names or individuality in the future.This is a rare talent, indeed, and scores, largely in one's favor; forno one likes to think himself so unimportant as to be forgotten, underany circumstances.

  It was during the thick of the reception that one of Miss Von Taer'sintimates, a graceful blond girl, suddenly seized her arm and whispered:"Oh, Diana! Guess who's here--guess, my dear!" Diana knew. Her eyes,always narrowed until the lashes shielded their sharp watchfulness,seldom missed observing anything of importance. She pressed her friend'shand and turned again to the line of guests, while Louise, who hadoverheard the excited whisper, wondered casually what it might mean.

  Soon after she knew. A tall, handsome young fellow was bowing beforeDiana, who--wonder of wonders!--for an instant unclosed her great eyesand shot an electric glance into his smiling face. The glance was briefas unexpected, yet it must have told the young man something, for heflushed and bowed again as if to hide his embarrassment. It also toldLouise something, and her heart, which had given a quick bound at sightof the man's face, began to cry out against Diana Von Taer's artifices.

  "Mr. Arthur Weldon," said the hostess, in her soft voice; and now, asthe young man turned an eager gaze on Louise and half extended his hand,the girl's face grew pale and she imitated Diana to the extent ofdropping her eyes and bowing with frigid indifference. Standing closehe whispered "Louise!" in a pleading tone that made Diana frownwickedly. But the girl was unresponsive and another instant forced himto turn to Beth.

  "Why, Arthur! are you here, then?" said the girl, in a surprised butcordial tone.

  "That is not astonishing, Miss Beth," he replied. "The puzzling fact isthat _you_ are here--and under such auspices," he added, in a lowertone.

  Patsy now claimed him, with a frank greeting, and Arthur Weldon could dolittle more than press her hand when the line forced him to move on andgive place to others.

  But this especial young fellow occupied the minds of all four girls longafter the crowd had swallowed him up. Diana was uneasy and obviouslydisturbed by the discovery that he was known to the three cousins, aswell as by the memory of his tone as he addressed Louise Merrick.Louise, who had read Diana's quick glance with the accuracy of anintuitionist, felt a sudden suspicion and dislike for Diana nowdominating her. Behind all this was a mystery, which shall be explainedhere because the reader deserves to be more enlightened than thecharacters themselves.

  Arthur Weldon's nature was a queer combination of weakness and strength.He was physically brave but a moral coward. The motherless son of a manwholly immersed in business, he had been much neglected in his youth andhis unstable character was largely the result of this neglect. Onleaving college he refused a business career planned for him by hisfather, who cast him off with scornful indifference, and save for a slimtemporary allowance promised to disinherit him. It was during thisperiod that Arthur met Louise and fell desperately in love with her. Thegirl appeared to return the young fellow's devotion, but shrewd, worldlyMrs. Merrick, discovering that the boy was practically disinherited andhad no prospects whatever, forbade him the house. Louise, until now butmildly interested in the young-man, resented her mother's interferenceand refused to give him up. She found ways to meet Arthur Weldon outsideher home, so that the situation had become complicated and dangerouswhen Uncle John seized his three nieces and whisked them off to Europe.Young Weldon, under an assumed name, followed and attached himself tothe party; but John Merrick's suspicions were presently aroused and ondiscovering the identity of the youth he forbade him or Louise to "makelove" or even speak of such a thing during the remainder of the trip.

  The young fellow, by manly acts on some occasions and grave weaknesseson others, won Uncle John's kindly interest. The old gentleman knewhuman nature, and saw much to admire as well as condemn in Louise'sfriend. Beth and Patsy found him a pleasant comrade, and after alllove-making was tabooed they were quite a harmonious party. Finally thesudden death of Weldon's father left him the possessor of a fortune. Hereturned to America to look after his newly-acquired business and becameso immersed in it that Louise felt herself neglected when she came homeexpecting him to dance attendance upon her as before. She treated himcoldly and he ceased calling, his volatile and sensitive natureresenting such treatment. It is curious what little things influencethe trend of human lives. Many estrangements are caused by trifles sointangible that we can scarcely locate them at all.

  At first the girl was very unhappy at the alienation, but soon schooledherself to forget her former admirer. Arthur Weldon, for his part,consoled himself by plunging into social distractions and devotinghimself to Diana Von Taer, whose strange personality for a timefascinated him.

  The business could not hold young Weldon's vacillant temperament forlong; neither could Diana. As a matter of fact his heart, more staunchthan he himself suspected, had never wavered much from Louise. Yet prideforbade his attempting to renew their former relations. It was now somemonths since he had seen the girl, and his eager exclamation was wrestedfrom him by surprise and a sudden awakening to the fact that his lovefor her had merely slumbered.

  Diana, worldly, cold and calculating as was her nature, had beenprofoundly touched by Arthur's devotion to her. Usually young men weresoon repulsed by her unfortunate personality, which was not easilyunderstood. Therefore her intense nature responded freely to thisadmirer's attentions, and if Diana could really love she loved ArthurWeldon. He had never proposed to her or even intimated it was hisintention t
o do so, but she conceived a powerful desire to win him andhad never abandoned this motive when he grew cold and appeared to deserther. Just now he was recently back from Italy, where he had passedseveral months, and Diana's reception was his first reappearance insociety. The girl had planned to bring him to her side this evening andintended to exert her strongest fascinations to lure him back to hisformer allegiance; so her annoyance may be guessed when she found herthree _protegees_ seemingly more familiar with the young man than wasshe herself.

  At last the line ended and the introductions were complete. The_debutantes_ were at once the center of interested groups composed ofthose who felt it a duty or pleasure to show them attention. Dianawandered to the music room and waylaid Arthur Weldon, who was just aboutto make his escape from the house, having decided it was impossible tofind an opportunity to converse with Louise that evening.

  "I'm so glad you came, Arthur," she said, a quick glance assuring herthey were not overheard. "You landed from the steamer but yesterday, Ihear."

  "And came straightway to pay my respects to my old friend," he answeredlightly. "Isn't it unusual for you to present _debutantes_, Diana?"

  "You know these girls, don't you, Arthur?"

  "Yes; I met them in Europe."

  "And flirted with Miss Merrick? Be honest, Arthur, I know your secret."

  "Do you? Then you know we were merely good friends," said he, annoyed ather accusation.

  "Of course. You called her 'Louise,' didn't you?"

  "To be sure. And Patsy called me 'Arthur. You may have heard her."

  "Patsy?"

  "That's Miss Patricia Doyle--our dear little Patsy."

  "Oh. I'm sure you didn't fall in love with _her_, at any rate."

  "I'm not so sure. Everybody loves Patsy. But I had no time forlove-making. I was doing Europe."

  "Wasn't that a year or so ago?" she asked, realizing he was trying toevade further reference to Louise.

  "Yes."

  "And since then?"

  "I've been away the last six or seven months, as you know, on my secondtrip abroad."

  "But before that--when you first returned?"

  "If I remember rightly I was then much in the society of Miss Von Taer.Is the catechism ended at last?"

  "Yes," she replied, laughing. "Don't think me inquisitive, Arthur; I wassurprised to find you knew these girls, with whom I am myself butlightly acquainted."

  "Yet you introduce them to your very select set?"

  "To please my father, who wishes to please Mr. Merrick."

  "I understand," said he, nodding. "But they're nice girls, Diana.You're not running chances, I assure you."

  "That relieves me," she replied rather scornfully. "If Arthur Weldonwill vouch for them--"

  "But I don't. I'll vouch for no one--not even myself," he declaredhastily. She was calmly reading his face, and did not seem to approvethe text.

  "Are you as fickle as ever, then, _mon cher_?" she asked, softly.

  "I'm not fickle, Diana. My fault is that I'm never serious."

  "Never?"

  "I cannot remember ever being serious; at least, where a girl wasconcerned."

  Diana bit her lips to restrain a frown, but her eyes, which he wasavoiding, flashed wickedly.

  "That is surely a fault, my Arthur," was her tender reply. "Were younever serious during our quiet evenings together; our dances, theatreparties and romps?"

  "That was merely fun. And you, Diana?"

  "Oh, I enjoyed the fun, too. It meant so much to me. I began to live,then, and found life very sweet. But when you suddenly left me and wentabroad--ah, _that_ was indeed serious."

  Her tone was full of passionate yearning. He laughed, trying to appearat ease. Some sort of an understanding must be had with Diana sooner orlater, and she might as well realize at this present interview that theold relations could not be restored. His nature was not brutal and hedisliked to hurt her; moreover, the boy had an uneasy feeling that hehad been a far more ardent admirer of this peculiar girl than any fellowshould be who had had no serious intentions; yet it would be folly toallow Diana to think she could win him back to his former allegiance. Nocompromising word had ever left his lips; he had never spoken of love toher. Yet the girl's attitude seemed to infer a certain possession of himwhich was far from agreeable.

  Having gone so far, he should have said more; but here again his lack ofmoral courage proved his stumbling-block, and he weakly evaded a frankexpression of his true feelings. "Life," he began somewhat haltingly,to break the embarrassing pause, "is only serious when we make it so;and as soon as we make it serious it makes us unhappy. So I've adoptedone invariable rule: to laugh and be gay."

  "Then I too will be gay, and together we'll enjoy life," respondedDiana, with an effort to speak lightly. "I shall let your moods be mymoods, Arthur, as a good friend should. Are we not affinities?"

  Again he knew not what to say. Her persistence in clinging to herintangible hold upon him was extremely irritating, and he realized thegirl was far too clever for him to cope with and was liable to cause himfuture trouble. Instead of seizing the opportunity to frankly undeceiveher he foolishly evaded the subject.

  "You've been tempting fate to-night," he remarked with assumedcarelessness. "Don't you remember that to stand four girls in a row is abad omen?"

  "Only for the one who first winks. Isn't that the way the saying goes? Iseldom wink, myself," she continued, smilingly. "But I have no faith inill omens. Their power is entirely due to mental fear."

  "I think not," said Arthur, glad the conversation had taken this turn."Once I knew a fellow with thirteen letters in his name. He had nomental fear. But he proposed to a girl--and was accepted."

  She gave him one of those sudden, swift glances that were sodisconcerting.

  "If you had a middle initial, there would be thirteen letters in yourown name, Arthur Weldon."

  "But I haven't, Diana; I haven't," he protested, eagerly. "And if ever Ipropose to a girl I'm sure she'll refuse me. But I've no intention ofdoing such a crazy thing, so I'm perfectly safe."

  "You cannot be sure until you try, Arthur," she replied pointedly, andwith a start he became conscious that he was again treading upondangerous ground.

  "Come; let us rejoin your guests," said he, offering her his arm. "Theywould all hate me if they knew I was keeping the fair Diana from them solong." "Arthur, I must have a good long; talk with you--one of ourold, delightful confabs," she said, earnestly. "Will you call Sundayafternoon? Then we shall be quite undisturbed."

  He hesitated.

  "Sunday afternoon?" he answered.

  "Yes."

  "All right; I'll come, Diana."

  She gave him a grateful look and taking his arm allowed him to lead herback to the drawing-room. The crush was over, many having alreadydeparted. Some of the young people were dancing in the open spaces tothe music of a string orchestra hidden behind a bank of ferns in thehall.

  Louise and Beth were the centers of attentive circles; Patsy conversedwith merry freedom with a group of ancient dowagers, who delighted inher freshness and healthy vigor and were flattered by her consideration.Mrs. Merrick--for she had been invited--sat in a corner gorgeously robedand stiff as a poker, her eyes devouring the scene. Noting the triumphof Louise she failed to realize she was herself neglected. A singleglance sufficed to acquaint Diana with all this, and after a graciousword to her guests here and there she asked Arthur to dance with her. Hecould not well refuse, but felt irritated and annoyed when he observedLouise's eyes fastened upon him in amused disdain. After a few turns hediscovered some departing ones waiting to bid their hostess _adieu_, andescaped from his unpleasant predicament by halting his partner beforethem. Then he slipped away and quietly left the house before Diana hadtime to miss him.