was sacrilege in the term when applied by such a man
to Isabel Boncassen. He had thought of days to
come, when everything would be settled, when he might
sit close to her, and call her pretty names,—when
he might in sweet familiarity tell that she was a
little Yankee and a fierce republican, and ‘chaff’
her about the stars and stripes; and then, as he pictured
the scene to himself in his imagination, she would
lean upon him and would give him back his chaff, and
would call him an aristocrat and would laugh at his
titles. As he thought of all this he would be
proud with the feeling that such privileges would
be his own. And now this wretched man had called
her a pert poppet!
There was a sanctity about her,—a divinity
which made it almost a profanity to have talked about
her at all to such a one as Dolly Longstaff.
She was his Holy of Holies, at which vulgar eyes should
not even be allowed to gaze. It had been a most
unfortunate interview. But this was clear, that,
as he had announced his engagement to such a one as
Dolly Longstaff, the matter now would admit of no
delay. He would explain to his father that as
tidings of the engagement had got abroad, honour to
the young lady would compel him to come forward openly
as her suitor at once. If this argument might
serve him, then perhaps this intrusion would not have
been altogether a misfortune.
‘Love May be a Great Misfortune’
Silverbridge when he reached Brook Street that day
was surprised to find that a large party was going
to lunch there. Isabel had asked him to come,
and he had thought her the dearest girl in the world
for doing so. but now his gratitude for that favour
was considerably abated. He did not care just
now for the honour of eating his lunch in the presence
of Mr Gotobed, the American minister, whom he found
there already in the drawing-room with Mrs Gotobed,
nor with Ezekiel Sevenkings, the great American poet
from the far West, who sat silent and stared at him
in an unpleasant way. When Sir Timothy Beeswax
was announced, with Lady Beeswax, and her daughter,
his gratification certainly was not increased.
And the last comer,—who did to arrive till
they were all seated at the table,—almost
made him start from his chair and take his departure
suddenly. That last comer was no other than Mr
Adolphus Longstaff. As it happened he was seated
next to Dolly, with Lady Beeswax on the other side
of him. Whereas his Holy of Holies was on the
other side of Dolly! The arrangement made seemed
to have been monstrous. He had endeavoured to
get next to Isabel; but she had so manoeuvred that
there should be a vacant seat between them. He
had not much regarded this because a vacant chair may
be pushed on one side. But before he had made
all his calculations Dolly Longstaff was sitting there!
He almost thought that Dolly winked at him in triumph,—that
very Dolly, who an hour ago had promised to take himself
upon his Asiatic travels!
