Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Sept. 21, 1917, edition 1 / Page 3
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I I THE PRINCE OF SEYRE PLOTS JOHN'S DOWNFALL THROUGH FASCINATING WOMEN, AND INTRO DUCES HIM TO MADAME CALAVERA, FA MOUS RUSSIAN DANCER Synopsis. Louise Maurel, famous actress, was making a motor tour of the English Cumberland district, when her car broke down late one evening and she was forced to accept the overnight hospitality of Ste phen and John Strangewey, recluse woman haters living in a splendid old mansion on n great farm. Before she left next day she had capti vated John and he had fascinated her. Three months later John, on a sudden impulse, wont to London and looked up Louise. She was de lighted to see him and introduced him to her friends of the artistic and dramatic world, among thorn Sophy, a light-hearted little actress, and Graillot, a playwright of remarkable mental gifts. The prince of Seyre, a wealthy French noble, whom he already knew, became his guide, and he entered the gay boheraian life of the city. Graillot warned Louise not to toy with her two ardent lovers, John and the prince, and told her the prince was dangerous for John. CHAPTER IX Continued. "Ah, no, dear lady," he insisted, "I am not talking wildly. I am Graillot, who for thirty years have written dra mas on one subject and- one subject only men and women. It has been given to me to study many varying types of the human race, to watch the outcome of many strange situations. I have watched the prince draw you nearer and nearer to him. What there is or may be between you I do not know. It is not for me to know. But If not now, some day Eugene of Seyre means you to be his, and he is not a person to be lightly resisted. Now from the skies there looms up this sudden obstacle." "You do not realize," Louise pro tested, almost eagerly, "how slight Is my acquaintance with Mr. Strangewey. I once spent the night and a few hours of the next morning at his house In Cumberland, and that is all I have ever seen of him. How can his pres ence here be of any serious Import to Eugene?" "As to that," Graillot replied, "I say nothing. If what I have suggested does not exist, then for the first time In my life I have made a mistake ; but I do not think I have. You may not realize It, but there is before you one of those struggles that make or mar the life of women of every age. As for the men, I will only say this, and it Is because of it that I have spoken at all I am a lover of fair play, and the Struggle Is not even. The younger man may hold every card in the pack, but Eugene of Seyre has learned how to win tricks without aces. I stayed be hind to say this to you, Louise. You know the young man, and I do not. It Is you who must warn him." "Warn him?" Louise repeated, with upraised eyebrows. "Dear master, aren't we just a little do you mind if I use that word so hateful to you melodramatic? The age of duels Is past, also the age of hired bravos and assassins." "Agreed," Graillot interrupted, "but the weapons of today are more danger ous. It Is the souls of their enemies that men attack. If I were a friend of that young man's, I would say to him: 'Beware, not of the enmity of Eugene of Seyre, but of his friend ship I And now, dear lady, I have fin ished. I lingered behind because the world holds no more sincere admirer of yourself and your genius than I. Don't ring. May I not let myself out?" . He looked steadfastly into her eyes. His plain, bearded face was heavy browed, lined, tired a little with the coming of age. ; "You are not going?" she asked him. "Dear Louise," he said, "I am going, because the time when I can help is not yet. Listen ! More hurm has been done in this world by advice than in any other way. I have no advice to give you. You have one sure and cer tain guide, and that is your own heart, .your own instincts, your own sweet consciousness of what is best. I leave you to that. If trouble comes, I am always ready!" CHAPTER X. During the remainder of that after noon and evening John was oppressed by a vague sense of the splendor of his surroundings and his companion's mysterious capacity for achieving im possibilities. Their visits to the tai lors, the shirtmakers, the hosiers and the bootmakers almost resembled a royal progress. All difficulties were waved aside. Thut night he dined, clothed like other men from head to foot, in the lofty dining room of one of the. most exclusive clubs in London. The prince proved an agreeable if somewhat reticent companion. He in troduced John to many well-known people, always with that little note of personal interest In his few words of presentation which gave a certain sig nificance to the ceremony. From the club, where the question of "John's proposed membership, the prince acting as his sponsor, was fa vorably discussed with several mem bers of the committee, they drove to Covcat Garden, and for the first time I TT By E. In his life John entered the famous opera house. The prince, preceded by an attendant, led the way to a box upon the second tier. A woman turned her head as they entered and stretched out her hand, which the prince raised to his lips. "You see, I have taken you at your word, Eugene," she remarked. "You give me double pleasure, dear lady," the prince declared. "Not only is It a joy to be your host, but you give me also the opportunity of presenting to you my friend, John Strangewey. Strangewey, this is my very distant relative and very dear friend, Lady Hilda Mulloch." Lady Hilda smiled graciously at John. She was apparently of a little less than middle age, with dark bands of chestnut hair surmounted by a tiara. Her face was the face of a clever and still beautiful woman ; her figure slen der and dignified ; her voice low and delightful. "Are you paying your nightly hom age to Calavera, Mr. Strangewey, or are you only an occasional visitor?" she asked. "This is my first visit of any sort to Covent Garden," John told her. She looked at him with as much sur prise as good breeding permitted. John, who had not as j-ct sat down, seemed almost preternaturally tall in that small box, with its low ceiling. He was locking around the house with the enthusiasm of a boy. Lady Hilda glanced away from him toward the prince, and smiled; then she looked back at John. There was something like admiration in he- face. "Do you live abroad?" she asked. John shook his head. "I live in Cumberland," he said. "Many people here seem to think that that is the same thing: My brother and I have a farm there." "But you visit London occasionally, svrely?" "I have not been in London," John told her, "since I passed through It on my way home from Oxford, eight years ago." "I have never heard anything so ex traordinary in my life!" the woman de clared frankly. "Is it the prince who has Induced you to break out of your seclusion?" "Our young friend," the prince ex plained, "finds himself suddenly in al tered circumstances. He has been left a large fortune, and has come to spend it. Incidentally, I hope, he has come "Beware, Not of the Enmity of Eugene of Seyre, but of His Friendship." to see something more of your sex than Is possible among his mountain wilds. He has come, in short, to look a little way Into life." Lady Hilda leaned back in her chair. "How romantic!" "The prince amuses himself," John assured her. "I don't suppose I shall stay very long in London. I want just to try It for a time." She looked at him almost wistfully. She was a woman with brains ; a wom an notorious for the freedom of her , life, for her intellectual gifts, for her J 'O- & X PHILUPS OPPENHEIM almost brutal disregard of the conven I tions of her class. The psychological interest of John Strangewey's situa tion appealed to her powerfully. Be sides, she had a weakness for hand some men. "At any rate," said Lady nilda, "I am glad to think that I shall be able to watch you when you see Calavera In her dances for your first time." The curtain rang up upon one of the most gorgeous and sensuous of the, Russian ballets. John, who by their joint insistence was occupying the front chair in the box, leaned forward in his place, his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the stage. Both the prince and Lady Hilda, in the background, al though they occasionally glanced at the performance, devoted most of their attention to watching him. As the story progressed and the mu sic grew In passion and voluptuous ness, they distinctly saw his almost militant protest. They saw the knit ting of his firm mouth and the slight contraction of his eyebrows. The prince and his friend exchanged glances. She drew her chair a little farther back, and he followed her ex ample. "Where did you find anything so wonderful as this?" she murmured. "Lost among the hills of Cumber land," the prince replied. "I have an estate up there in fact, he and I are joint lords of the manor of the vil lage In which he has lived." "And you?" she whispered, glancing at John to be sure that she was not overheard. "Where do you come In? As educator of the young? I don't seem to see you In that role!" A very rare and by.no means pleas ant smile twisted the corners of his lips for a moment. "It is a long story." "Can I be brought In?" she asked. He nodded. "It rests with you. It would suit my plans." She toyed with her fan for a mo ment, looked restlessly at the stage and back again at John. Then she rose from her place and stood before the lookingglass. From the greater obscur ity of the box she motioned to the prince. John remained entirely heedless of their movements. His eyes were ! still riveted upon the stage, fascinated with the wonderful coloring, the reali zation of a new art. "You and I," Lady Hilda whispered, "do not need to play about with the truth, Eugene. What are you doing this for?" "The idlest whim," the prince as sured her quietly. "Look at him. Think for a moment of his position absolutely without experience, entirely ignorant about women, with a fortune one only dreams of, and probably the handsomest animal in London. What Is going to become of him?" "I think I understand a little," she confessed. "I think you do," the prince assent ed. "He has views, this young man. It is my humor to see them dissipated. The modern Sir Galahad always irri tated me a little." She shrugged her shoulders. "They'll never give him a chance, these women," she said. "Much better hand him over to me." The prince smiled enigmatically, and Lady Hilda returned to her seat. John was still leaning forward with his eyes fixed upon Calavera, who was dancing alone now. The ballet was drawing toward the end. The music had reached its climax of wild and passion ate sensuousness, dominated and in spired by the woman whose every movement and every glance seemed part of some occult, dimly understood language. When the curtain rang down, John, like many others, was confused. Nev ertheless, after that first breathless pause, he stood up and joined in the tumultuous applause. "Well?" the prince asked. John shook his head. "I don't know," he answered. "Neither does anyone else," Lady Hilda said. "Don't try to analyze your impressions for our benefit, Mr. Strangewey. I am exactly in your po sition, and I have been here a dozen times. Even to us hardened men and women of the world, this Russian mu sic came as a surprise. There were parts of it j-ou did not like, though, weren't there?" "There were parts of It I hated," John agreed. "There were passages that seemed to aim at discord in every sense of the word." She nodded sympathetically. They were on their way down the broad staircase. "I wonder," -the murmured, "whether I am going to be asked out to sup per?" "Alas, not tonight, dear lady," the prince regretted. "I am having a few friends at Seyre House." She shot a glance at him and shrugged her shoulders. She was evi dently displeased. "How much too bad!" she exclaimed. "I am not at all sure that it is right of you to Invite Mr. Strangewey to one of your orgies. A respectable little. supper at the Carlton, and a cigarette In my library afterward, would have been a great deal better for both of you certainly for Mr. Strangewey. I think I shall run away with him, as it is p The prince shrugged his shoulders. "It Is unfortunate," he sighed, "but we are both engaged. If you will give us the opportunity some other eve ning " "I am not at all sure that I shall have anything more to do with you, Eu gene," she declared. "You are not be having nicely. Will you come and see me while you are In town, Mr. Strangewey?" she added, turning to John. "I should like to very much," he re piled. "I think,", he added, a little hesitatingly, "that I have read one of your books of travel. It is very in teresting to meet you." "So my fame has really reached Cumberland 1" she laughed. "You must "Give Me Your Arm. We Will Walk to a Quieter Place." come and talk to me one afternoon quite soon. Will you?" "I will come with pleasure," John promised. They stood for a few moments in the crowded vestibule until Lady Hilda Mulloch's car was called. The prince stood back, allowing John to escort her to the door. She detained him for a moment after she had taken her seat, and leaned out of the window, her fin gers still In his hand. "Be careful!" she whispered. "The prince's supper parties are Just a lit tle shall I say banal? There are bet ter things if one waits !" CHAPTER XI. The reception rooms of Seyre House, by some people considered the finest in London, were crowded that night by a brilliant and cosmopolitan assembly. For some time John stood by the prince's side and was Introduced to more people than he had ever met be fore in his life. Presently, however, he was discovered by his friend Amer ton. "Queer thing your being here, a friend of the prince and all that !" the young man remarked. "Where's Miss Sophy this evening?" "I haven't seen her," John replied. "I don't believe she is invited." "Like to be Introduced to some of the girls, or shall we go and have a drink?" John was hesitating when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. The prince's voice sounded In his ear. "Strangewey," he said, "I am privi leged to present you to Mine. Alda Calavera. Madame, this is my friend of whom I spoke to you." John turned away from the little group of girls and young men toward whom Amerton had been leading him. The woman was different from any thing he had imagined, from anything he had ever seen. In the ballet a writhing, sensuous figure with every gesture a note in the octave of pas sion, here she seemed the very per sonification of a negative and striking immobility. She was slender, not so tall as she had seemed upon the stage, dressed in white from head to foot. Her face was almost marblelike in its pallor, her smooth, black hair was drawn tightly over her ears, and her eyes were of the deepest shade of blue. She raised her hand, as he bowed, with a gesture almost royal In Its condescen sion. The prince, with quiet tact, bridged over the moment during which John struggled In vain for something to say. "Mr. Strangewey," he remarked, "paid his first visit to Covent Garden tonight. He has seen his first ballet, as we moderns understand the term. I canDOt help envying hlia that delight. He naturally finds it difiicult to realize this additional good fortune. Will you excuse me for one moment?" The princo departed to welcome ,4iV UNUSUAL LOVE STORY some later arrivals. The noisy little group standing close at hand, from which John had been diverted, passed on into the refreshment room, and the two were, for a few moments, almost Isolated. "You were pleased with the perform ance, I hope?" Her voice was in character with her personality. It was extremely low, scarcely louder than a whisper. To his surprise, it was almost wholly free from any foreign accent. "It was very wonderful," John an swered. "The prince tells me," she continued, "that you are a stranger in London. Give me your arm. We. will walk to a quieter place. In a few moments we are to bf disturbed for supper. One eats so often and so much in this coun try. Why do I say that, though? It is not so bad as in Russia." They passed across the polished wood floor into a little room with oriental fittings, where a lamp was swinging from the ceiling, giving out a dim but pleasant light. The place was empty, and the sound of the music and voices seemed to come from a dis tance. She sank down upon a divan back among the shadows, and mo tioned John to sit by her side. "You have come to find out, to un derstand Is that not so?" she inquired. "What you know of life, the prince tells me, you have learned from books. Now you have come to discover what more there is to be learned in the world of men and women." "The prince has been very kind," John said. She turned her head slowly and looked at him. "A young man to whom the prince chooses to be kind Is, in a way, for tunate," she said. "There Is very lit tle In life, in men or In women, which he does not understand. Let us re turn to what we were speaking about. I find It very interesting." "You are very kind," John declared. "What j-ou will learn here," she went on, "depends very much upon yourself. Are you Intelligent? Ferhnps not very," she added, looking at him critically. "You have brains, however, without a doubt. You have also what places you at once en rapport with the cult of the moment you are wonderfully good looking." John moved a little uneasily In his place. He felt that the dancer's eyes were fixed upon him, and he was fever ishly anxious not to respond to the in vitation of their gaze. He was con scious, too, of the queer, Indefinable fascination of her near presence In the dimly-lighted room. "What you will learn," she proceed ed, "depends very much upon your de sires. If you seek for the best, and are content with nothing else, you will find It. But so few men are content to wait!" "I Intend to," John said simply. "Look at me, please," she ordered. Once more he was compelled to look Into her deep-blue eyes. The Incom prehensible smile was still upon her lips. "You have loved?" "No," he answered, taken a little aback by the abruptness of the ques tion. "You grow more wonderful ! You are free from any distracting thoughts about women? You have no entangle ments?" "I have nothing of the sort," John declared, almost Irritably. "There Is one person who has made a wonder ful cha'nge in my life. I believe I could say that I am absolutely certain of my feelings for her, but so far she has not given me much encouragement. Tell me, madanie, why do you ask me these questions?" "Because It Interests me," she re plied. "Why do you not Insist that this lady should tell you the truth?' "I have come to London to Insist," he told her, "but I have been here only forty-eight hours. I am waiting." "So many people spend their lives doing that," she went on presently. "It does not appeal to me. The moment I make up my mind that I want a thing, I take it. The moment I make up my mind to give, I give." John was suddenly conscious of the closeness of the atmosphere. The lin gers of his hands were clenched tight ly together. He swore to himself that he would not look into tins "woman's face. He listened to the band which was playing in the balcony of the. hall, to the murmur of the voi shouts of laughter. He told that Mme. Calavera was amu self with him. "The prince's party," she c after a long pause, ".seems j great success, to judge by ti they are making. So manyX shout and laugh when they are i I myself find a more perfect ex sion of happiness in silence." She was leaning a little buck in her place. One arm was resting upon a pile of cushions, the other hung loose ly over the side of the divan. John felt a sudden desire to rise to his feet, and a simultaneous consciousness that his feet seemed to be made of lead. "You may hold mv fingers," she sail1.; 1 1 1 I "and please keep your face turned toward me. Why are you nervous? 1 am not very formidable." . He took her fingers, very much. as the prince had done upon her arrival,' and pressed them formally to his lips. Then he released them and rose. "You know," he confessed, "I am very stupid at this sort of thing. Shall we go back to the reception rooms? I shall be the most unpopular man herd If I keep you any longer." The smile deepened slightly. Little lines appeared at the sides of her eyes. So far from being annoyed, he could see that she was laughing. "Joseph," she mocked, "I am not tempting you, really ! Do sit down. I have met men In many countries, but none like you. Don't you realize that your love for one woman should make you kind to all?" "No, I don't," he answered bluntly. She patted his hand gently. "Come," she said, "do not be afraid of me. I will not moke love to you seriously. You must be kind to me be cause everybody spoils me. After sup per there are one or two more ques tions I must ask you. Do you know that I am going to dance here? Never before have I danced In a private house in England. Except upon the stage, I like to dance only to those whom I love I" The little space between the cur tains was suddenly darkened. Joha turned eagerly around, and, to his im-" mense relief, recognized the prince. Their host came forward to where they were sitting, and held out his arm to Calavera. "Dear lady," he announced, "supper is served. Will you do me this great honor?" She rose to her feet The prince turned to John. "This is my privilege as host," he explained; "but if you will follow us, you will find some consolation in store for you." "Well?" the prince asked, as he handed Alda Calavera to her place at his right hand. "I think not," she replied. He raised his eyebrows slightly. For a moment he glanced down the supper table with the care of a punctilious host, to see that his guests were prop erly seated. He addressed a few trivialities to the musical-comedy star who was sitting on his left. Then he leaned once more toward the great dancer. "You surprise me," he said. "I should have thought that the enter prise would have commended Itself to you. You do not doubt the facts?" "They are obvious enough," she re plied. "The young man tried to tell me that he was in love with another woman, and I felt suddenly powerless. I think I must be getting to that age when one prefers to achieve one's con quests with the lifting of a finger." The prince sighed. "I shall never understand your sexF he declared. "I should have supposed that the slight effort of resistance would have provided Just the necessary stimulus." She turned her beautiful head and looked at the prince through narrowed eyes. "After all," she asked, "what should I gain? The young man Is, In his way. a splendid work of art. Why should I be vandal enough to destroy It? I shall ask you another question." The prince slowly sipped the wine from the glass that he was holding to his Hps. Then he set it down delib erately. "Why not?" "What Is your interest? Is It a bet, a whim, or enmity?" "You may count It the latter," the prince replied deliberately. Calavera laughed softly to herself. "Now, for the first time," she con fessed, "I feel Interest. This is where one realizes that we live in the most Impossible age of all history. The great noble who seeks to destroy the poor young man from the country Is powerless to wreak harm upon him. You can neither make him a pauper nor have him beaten to death. Why are there princes any longer, I won der? You are only as other men." "It Is an unhappy reflection, but it Is the truth," the prince admitted. "My ancestors would have disposed of this young man as I should a trouble some fly, and It would have cost them no more than a few silver pieces and a sack of wine. Today, alas, condi tions are different. It will cost me more." She trifled for a moment with the salad upon her plate, which as yet she had scarcely tasted. "I am feeling," she remarked, "mag nificently oriental like Cleopatra. The sensation pleases me. We are bar gaining, are we not " "We shall not bargain," the prince interrupted softly. "It is you who shall name your price." She raised her eyes and dropped them again. "The prince has spoken," she mur mured. He touched her fingers for a mo ment with his, as if to seal their com pact ; then he turned once more to Ihe lady upon his left. Do you believe that Strange wey will be able to withstand the magnificent fascinations and voluptuous efforts of the Russian dancer to ensnare him? (TO BE CONTINUED.) Economy Note. By reversing the handle on a dust brush which has been worn near the point additional wear may be c.b. talced.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Sept. 21, 1917, edition 1
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