IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // 1.0 I.I ;f ii£ iiiM ^ 1^ iiiii t 1^ 12.0 12.2 1.8 1-25 1.4 1 1.6 ■• 6" ► v> <^ /a c1 ^%.^3 '^i %\^' %y^ /a /A '^ ^s ''W '/ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ ^^ 4. ^'5 /^/^ Gi'AU 5'*^i^ 1/ u G n /u^nu company. 1881. '•(, <3q-s pw*f 890231 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISLRE. f-- ONE agieeable winter morning, while the grim roar of painted omnibuses rose from Broadway between two brisk streams of moving himianity, a gentleman named Mr. Townsend Spring suddenly stopped under tlie big, gray, many-windowed stiucture of the new Post-Of- Hce, and held out his hand to another gentleman, who was passing him unnoticed. " Bless my soul, Wainright! " said Mr. Spring. " What are you doing in a place like New York ? " " I thought I would come over and look about a little," said the gentleman thus addressed. This latter speaker was, perhay :n his twenty-sixth year. He was of middle height nd compact build; he was extremely blond ; the moustache shading his serious mouth was even a shade lighter than his light hair. His features were all strong and regular, but each was so stamped with gi'avity and composure that you somehow thought of him as a person eminently quiet and reputable before you observed that he was also handsome. His eyes were blue and calm, and their clearness of coloring sometimes gave the impression of coldness besides. He was dressed with the pftonjiar grace of all well-.n.ttired J^nglishmen, which is another way of saying that his clothes fitted him faultlessly and yet looked as if they >'! i 1 i li 4 A fJENTLEMAX OF LKISURK. liad received only the most transient attention on the part of their wearer. Mr. Clinton Wainwright was not an Knglishnian ; but to record this fact is like casually men- tioning the foreign origin of some vegetable growth which we have seen for years prosperously domesticated. He had lived a long time in England, though American by birth. His sympathies, as the phrase goes, were entirely with the mother country. Atiairs relating to a large in- heritance from a deceased kinsman had brought him across the ocean. He meant that his sojourn here should not exceed three months at the most. He expected to be a little amused and a great deal bored by the trip, but the financial reasons why he should take it had of late grown imperative. It cost him an effort, however, to go at all. He had not realized, until the hour came for starting, how his dislike of things transatlantic had gradually struck deeper roots as years went on. This morning, when his meeting with Mr. Townsend Spring occuived, it was scarcely two days since he had quitted the steamer. He said as much to his companion, who at once responded, — " I suppose you have been busy, thus far, in looking up your relations." "Oh, no," replied Wainwright. "Except a fourth cousin or two, I have no relations left. Our direct line, as one might say, threatens to become extinct with my- self." " By Jove, I hope not," said Spring, with a full laugh. Then he shook his head, and added, " I am sure there isn't much chance of that. The way you noticed all the pretty girls last summer in Switzerland meant that you'd never die a bachelor. And I don't foiget either, h'^w some of the pretty girls noticed you." " You're very good, really," said Wainwright. He spoke, as he always spoke, with what we call a broad accent, but there was now the least hint of a sarcastic drawl in his tones. He thrust a hand into each vei-tical side-pocket of his loose trousers, till the A OENTLKMAX OF LKISURE. on the part vas not an iually nien- )wth which cated. He merican by ere entirely I a large in- •ought him here should )ected to be rip, but the ■ late grown to go at all. arting, how lally struck g, when his red, it was earner. He esponded, — looking up t a fourth • direct line, ct with my- a, full laugh. I sure there ticed all the t that you'd jr, h'^w some wright. He we call a it hint of a L hand into 3ers, till the scant front of his cutaway morning coat gave the effect of a skirtlesa jacket. He stared at Sf)ring with a sort of blank nuidne.s.s. Ho con.si.lered him quite a dreadful creature. Last summer he had interfered most jarringly with the i)oetry of the Alps and glaciers, but now^'hc seemed m good harmony with the raw smartness of an American thorouglifare. Wainwright had known a fel- low something like him, who had been in his own year at Oxford. True, the refinements of association had smoothed away sonie of his co-disciple's barbarisms. But Spring stood forth at all times in bald, immoderate cru- dity. ^ " It's lucky I came across you," now said Mr. Spring, with fine consciousiies that he was deepenino- a past fav- orable opinion. " I'll put you down at the Metropolitan Club. It s the biggest and finest club in the country ■ it's up to anything you've got in England, I think." " Ah V " said Wainright, whose satire wa.« sometimes stealthy, but never uncivil, and whose good breeding was known by his friends to have survived every solt of social test. " It must be a very fine club." " Yes. indeed," rattled on Spring. " I know you'll say so, too, when you 've seen the Metropolitan." He was a man not over two and thirty. He had a thick-set fitvuiv and a bluti', florid face, with that blui.sh tinge about cipher plump cheek which is said to denote vinous dinners and late revels. But his small eyes twinkled freshly, and his frame and movements bespoke an unimpaired' fund of health. He had an immense lemon-colored mou.stache, that quite hid his mouth, making two bulging ovals on' each side of it, where the coarse, glossy hairs'' met in a curved point at either end. His drchs was modish, with a dapper dandyism in the make and pattern of its' vivid plaids. He wore a cravat of crimson satin, sprinkled with large white sprays, like wall-paper, and pierced with a scarf-pni that was a jockey's cap and riding- whip joined together in a sort of golden arabesque. • " But 1 'ui c A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. ^'ointr to do more for you than put you down there at the club," Mr. Spring now continued. " I 'm going to make you come and see my wife." " I shall be most happy to come," said Wainwright, with prompt courtesy. " There 's a good deal going on just now," proceeded his companion. " We can make things rather jolly for you, if you want; we can show you about. Fanny luisn't forgotten you • she still talks of you every now and then ; she was always death on you English chaps Hold up a second ; I 'W give you a card. Here it is, ... . No. West Thirty-Fiftii Street. You can pop in on us wlienever you please." Mj\ Spring here produced an ornate wallet of Russian leather, bearing a gilt monogram of his initials. Then, after giving Wainwriglit the card, he added, " You 'Jl excuse me, old fellow, if 1 hurry right off. The Street 's in a kind of flurry to-day, and I 've got to keep my wits about me. Ever so glad to have met you. Don't forget, now, to give us a call an soon as you can manage." Away darted Mr. Spring, leaving his hearer quite will- ing to agree witli him that the street was in a remarkable flurry. Wainwright did not perceive the usual idiomatic allusion to Wall Street, although vaguely aware that Townsend Spring was a stock-broker. An extraordinary violence and confusion seemed reigning in Broadway. The liveliest bustle of London thoroughfares did not sur- pass it. He had just come from his banker, and he was returning to his hotel. During the long walk that fol- lowed, Wainwright decided that he would call upon Mi-s. Spring. He could not go that evening, for he was en- gaged to dine with his banker : but he would go, never- theless, hereafter. He had liked Mrs. Spring in Switzer- land. She had been the first American lady to whom he had ever felt attracted ; indeed, she had been the flrst whose acquaintance he; had ever cared to seek. Till now, lie had believed her delightfully exceptional among her *> nwa i w v^n there at the joing to make I Wain Wright, proceeiled his jolly for you, Fanny liasn't now and then ; s Hold ;is, . . . . No. pop in on us produced an G;ilt monogram light the card, 1 hurry right lay, and I 'vc glad to have all as soon as rer quite will- a renmrkable sual idiomatic Y aware that extraordinary in Broadway. s did not sur- ', and he wns ^alk that fol- all upon Mrs. >r he was en- Id go, never- g in Switzer- Y to whom he )een the first •k. Till now, il among hor A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 7 countrywomen, but of late this im[)ression had changed • he began to realize the importance of his mistake. As he now passed along Fifth A\x>nue, noting the brown- stone prosperity of its high-stooped mansions, the glimpses of sumptuous drapeiy at the plate-glass windows, the occasional, porcelain Jardiniere or costly bit of bronze, that suggested richer luxuries lying beyond them, he was also sensible of a similar surprise regarding many of the ladies whom he met. He found himself perpetually re- minded of Mrs. Spring, and perpetually made to feel that he was a very long distance away fi London. He had never been to Paris ; his Swiss trip had been his only ex- perience of the Continent; he was about a« "insular" a person as twenty youthful yeai-s of residence in Encrland are commonly able to produce. For this reason, the^fem- inine figures that now passed him seemed often distin- guished by a delicacy and elegance that appealed with fascinating novelty to his sense of beauty and refinement. It is safe to say that Wainwright had expected uncouth- ness and vulgarity everywhere. It must be told of him at once, as a matter of pure justice, that he had arrived m New York with the feelings neither of a snob nor a pri^; that he was the soit of young gentleman who must tairly and honestly earn the title of a very good fellow no matter in what circle of society fate should cast him ;' but that he had taken the tint of certain surrounding be- liefs as naturally as water reflects sky. He had had no doubts whatever on the subject of America being as small nationally as it wjus large geographically. He had moved among a set of English people who very rarely take the trouble even to sneer at this country ; they were of the .sort who remember only incidentally that this is the place the C^unard steamers make for when not sailin" eastward. They belonged distinctly to the aristocracy"; Wainwnghts mothtn-, who had died while he vvas at Ox, tord, had married a second time in England, and the young man's step-father hac] been nearly related to an r •I 1 » I i 8 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISUllE. earl, Wainwright had been accepted at patrician firesides without a single fastidious murmur. His American birth was almost ignored, or at best remembered against him with lenient grace, like the peccadilloes of some deceased kinsman. He dressed himself for the dinner with his banker, this evening, in a good deal of curious ex|)ectanc3\ He had had several shaip surprises already, and he was now prepared for several more. The banker himself, Mr. Bodenstein, had seemed to him a very charming gentleman. Mr. Bodenstein was of Geruian birth ; he spoke English with a slight accent. He was extremely bald, had bright-red side-whiskers, a fat, shapeless nose, and thick, loose lips. But his double-breasted coat was of speekless broadcloth and perfect fit ; he carried .gold eye-glasses, which he would sometimes wave gracefully while speaking. He could talk with sound sense on numberless subjects ; he was famous as a shrewd financier, and owned a supei .1 gallery of paintings ; he had one palatial home on the Fifth Avenue and another at Newport; Ik; vvasametnber of the Jockey Club, and an enthusiastic patroa of tlus turf He had no library worth the naMu^ ])ut he read men and newspapers instead, and both with carefui tho- roughness. He had greatly bettered himsoif, in a soi-'ml sense, some fifteen years ago, by marrying a beautiful and charming lady, of fine Knickerbocker lineage. His wealth was enormous, and his hospitalities were piinct^ly. The hour at which he had asked Waiuwright to dme with him was seven o'clock. Our young Anglo-American felt a lively thrill of surprise on hearing tliat anybody in h'xi native country dined at seven. He had supposed two in the afternoon to be a uiuch more probrMe hour. i m ir. WATNWRIOHT !.a,l himself driven in a cab from his hotel to Mr. Bndenstein'.s Fifth Avenue man- sion. One l.utler opened the door for him; another re- moved hi.s wraps. M'ith 4;;iful expeditior. The voun-.an was then ushered from a Imil of noble proportion's into a suite of drawm^r-rooms, grander still. EvervAvhero ,i?leamed a quiet splendor of ornr.nientation, rule.l by the most discreet taste. Mr. Bo.lenstein, lookin- udier but «|uitc as gentlemanly, in his snowy neck-tie ami faultless evening dress, canie foiward with outstretched hand Ho at once presented Wainwriglit to his wife. Mrs Boden- stein was young, blonde and beautiful. She wore a dress ot sky-blue velvet cut high in the neck, and studded with V- 1, 'f;, T ' ,^* ""'''"'' T' '-" ^'''S^ «iiamoml. She had a Uil ot fluted lace about her throat, from which her deli- cnte head seemed to break forth like a flower. She struck Wamwnght as a most enchanting person. He had ceased to be merely surprised ; he was bewildered. It seeme- eaten and the white wine was being poured. " This is my cousin, Miss Spuytenduyvil," said Mrs. Bodenstein, with gentle sociality, "and I am sure that you will rret on very nicely together." "^ Wainwright looked at his new aciiuaintanco, and asked himself what grounds her appearance presented for their future harmonious intercouivo. Miss Spuytenduyvil had a pale, narrow face, with small dim eyes, over which, the lids would .sometimes droop in almost .somnolent languor. But her companion .soon fouiul that she was neither sleepy nor indifferent. A strong interest for fresh ob- servation and discovery had of late sprung up within Wainwright, It was a feeling whose growth could be niarked by hours: it had been developed through a series of mild shocks. He had found himself suddenly tians- tormed from a sort of dispassionate pilgrim into a n./te- tS, . Jit%, '-m, ''*™!F A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 11 maker of vigilant zeal. He could ill account for the change ; he had a faint sense of its being only half resul- tant from mere piqued curiosity ; there seemed a furtive warmth behind it, whose just measure and ori-dn he was destined afterward to gauge and value. Itw'as not yet time for Wainwright to discover that he could do any- thing so unforeseen as to feel fondly toward the country or his birth. "^ Miss Spuytenduyvil had a thin, rather harsh voice which aptly suited the occasional wintry flicker of her smile. Wainwright found himself watching her with studious intentness. He had formed an idea that she mi^ht be typical and representative after some peculiar tashion, but he was already in much doubt as to whether she would be agreeably so, "I suppose you have met very few American ladies " said Miss Spuytenduyvil, opening conversation. " I had met only one," replied Wainwright. " before commg to this country." Miss Spuytenduyvil was about to touch a glass of ice- water to her pale, colr." Miss Spuytenduyvil gave a chilly little rattle of laugh- ter. Ihere is very small chance of my knowing hJr " she said, with prim crispness. Then she bent her'pufled and ringletted head qnito low ovfi- a riw oyster Wainwright wondered' if he had' stuml^le.rupon anv awkward family ciuarrel " Good giacious : " he said, "I . owns" ~_j,i.r 12 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. hope you don't mean that Mrs. Spring is some cousin ■with whom you have had a falling out. That would be a most unlucky mi.shap for me, truly !" Ills companion gave a start, and looked at him with a veiy shocked expression. " Cousin ! " she repeated, and threw back her head with another faint, mirthless laugh, Wainwri<;ht thought he had seldom seen a moi-e unpleas- antly arrogant look. " I merely meant," explained Miss Spuytenduyvil, " that the lady whom you mentioned is not in my set." " Oh," said Wainwright. A light had begun to break upon him. He perceived that this young lady was indeed a typical person. But her type struck him, just at this moment, as the most alarmingly unexpected thing he could possibly have encountei-ed. " Pray tell lue," he con- tinued, in the voice of one who puts a most serious ques- tion, " what does your last phrase mean ? I assure you, I ask purely for information." Miss Spuytenduyvil had lost her haughty demeanor. She leaned cpiite affably toward Wainwright ; he saw, now, that her eyes were of a slaty, opaque hue, with only a speck of dull light in each. She was smiling, and he concluded that he did not like her smile any better than her laugh. " I forgot," she said, "how ignorant you Englisli j)eople are about everything American." " But I am an American," said Wainwright. '■ Oh, true. Yet you have lived so long in England. I meant that this Mrs. Spring is taken up by a few of the best i)eople, but then . .. . . how shall I say it ? . . . . well, she is nobody at all." " I thought her decidedly somebody," objected Wain- wright, with mild humor. " Oh, she is loud enough ; she makes herself felt. She came from the country, somewhere. It is dreadful to see that sort of person getting about everywhere." Here Miss Spuytenduyvil shrugged lier slim shoulders. " Really," she »* u English [)eople objected Wain- A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. went on, " you compel me to be very explicit. I object to being explicit in these matters. 13 Not that It isn't "' ru 1 -j^ •'■»^vi;v^i.o» J.U loll thought good taste, I know. But then I am very indi«r nant against our modern society." * "1 am glad that you take pitv on the ignorance of a fellow countryman," said Wainwright, with artful humi- lity. He had secretly made up his mind that Miss Spuy- tenduyvil was one of the most disagreeable youn«' persons whom he had ever met. ° "Are you .so very ignorant of all Americfin ways ?" she asked, with one of her smiles, that had in it the hardness : of a penknife-blade. " I am afraid that I am," he laughed. " But you surely supposed that we had grades of society here." '' Wainwright was silent for a moment. " I confess " he presently .said, " that I had not given the subject 'any thought whatever." ^ Mi.ss Spuytenduyvil took the least sip of her white wine. She had begun to look sarcastically amused. " Then you want me to go on explaining ? " she said. " If you will be so kind." A gentle hum of talk had now risen on all sides ; the air wiis tenderly fragrant With the scent of tea-rose and violet. Wainwright let his eyes wander over the broad table, and assured himself that no feast could have been ordered with more- quiet magnificence; he looked at the row of nch-clad ladies, some lovely as were the roses them- selves ; he marked the noiseless attendants glide over the soft carpets. He lifted his gaze, and saw an arras of crim- son velvet drooping from a gilt rod, like the tapestries in pictures of old castle-chambers ; not far away was a deep alcove-window, whose panes were colored with media?val effect, and here a tropic plant reared from the dimness its huge, dark, glossy fans. Overh-.ad, the coiling was ero.s.sed and corniced with massive lines of mellow-toned Gothic woodwork. Wainwright silently wondered. Here in a u A (JEXTLeMAX of LElStTRK. 1^ republican land, he found himself confronted by traits of the most aristocratic significance. And Miss Spuyten- duyvil, with her finical daintiness, her mincing artifici- ality, »vell suited these undemocratic surrounding's. VVain- wright had a fancy, as he watched her, that with some changes of language and costume she had existed a cen- tury or so before, among the high-shoed and powdered ladies who aired their brocades at Bourbon courts. Her next words were measured and deliberative. " It is a very hard matter to explain," she said. " People don't usually talk about it at all. One usually passes over the whole fubject. That is thought to be the wisest plan. I regret to tell you, Mr. Wainwright, that those who should take the most pains to keep our best society in a select state are often the most careless about doing so. New people are buying their way in every year— every month It's very sad, but it's true." " But what should make it the best society ? " asked Wainwright. Miss Spuytenduyvil looked slightly peevish. " Dear me, what makes anything anything, Mr. Wainwright?" " Oh, now you are plunging into generalities!' I am afraid you are not a very patient expositor. Or am I too unmatured a pupil ? What I meant was"— " Oh, I know what you meant," interrupted the youno- lady, with quiet sharpness. " You wanted to know whether wealth does not decide everything with us. But I assure you it ougJit not to do so. Of course there might be exceptional cases, just as there are in England. But here, as there, the chief qualification for moving in hiah circles should be to have good birth." " Wainright looked very puzzled. " But everybody here IS supposed to be born alike," he said. "Supposedto be!" echoed his companion, with an ac- cent of satire on the first word. Miss Spuytenduyvil now turned her sedate f.ace full upon her neighbor. She had heightened her lean shoulders a little, and was bending *» RE. Jnted by traits of d Miss Spuyten- mincing artifici- 'oundings. Wain- ', that with some ad existed a cen- ed and powdered on courts, eliberative. " It d. " People don't f passes over the e wisest plan. I those who should )ciety in a select doing so. New J' — every month. society?" asked eevish. " Dear VVainwright?" leralities. I am )r. Or am I too ipted the young anted to know g with us. But rse there might England. But moving in high everybody here n, with an ac- '^tenduy vil now iibor. She liad d was bending A fJEVTJ.EMAN OF LEISURE. 15 toward Wainwright with an expression which made him teel how important she considered that her remark must j prove " Pray let me ask yov, a (luestion," she said. " Oh, willingly." "Why do you think that Mr. Bodenstein ret.uested vou to dme with him to-day ? " i j Wainwright reflected for a moment. " Upon my word " he said " I know only one reason : I had selected him as ' my banker. "As if that were any reason : " softly exclaimed Miss ^puytenduy vil. "I have not the remotest idea of any other. If there IS another, I wish you would enlighten me concerning it " Enlighten you! Why, good gracious' you ma.t [know that you are a Wainwright I " "I have generally been under that impression" .... y^' pshaw, you don't understand ! I mean one of the IWamwrights. Everybody knows your family, here." u ^^ } ."^ ^ ^"^^ i&^xnxXy. They are all dead." Ihat doesn't make the slightest difference. Thev aro Remembered ; they were among our leading people ; thev I . . . how shall I put it? You want one to be so dread- each othT?" ^"" ^"^"^^^ ^^ ^'® distantly related to "1 had not an idea of it." " 9^' >:f • A Wainwright once married a Spuyten- miyyil. You help to make a branch of our genealogical " I am very glad to have rendered you any such ma- terial assistance. Is that why Mr Bodenstein invited me pere to-niorht ? " I T •'."''• .y,°" »^^® ^ genealogical tree of your own." , Is It possible ? said Wainwright, with a momentary smile of keen amusement. " 1 was unprepared to find my such^ species of vegetation on these shores. It's « ^-eryditterent thing from the primeval hemlock that p^ongfellow tells us about, isn't it ? " ^ 4 10 A (iKXTLEMAN* OF LFtSDUE. t " Oil, now you are sneering at this country. Well, you will be in the fashion there. So many people do it." Here Mi.ss Spnytendnyvil straif^htened iier.self, with an an- of almost forbidding severity. " For my part, I vcver do it. 1 am too proud of having ancestors who have helped to make the country what it is." This struck Wainwright as a rather clever speech. He had just begun to wonder whether his compiinion had not an undercurrent of real shrewdness hidden beneath her fanatical gentility. But at this moment Mrs. Boden- stein, seated, as we know, on his other side, laiined his ,at^ention by one of those remai-ks which may reach us tl&d in such facile expression as to win our lenient dis- J ' regard of their being platitudes. Wainwright soon dis- ^ covered tliat his hostess was, in her wav, a mistress of platitude. He found, after a long talk with this lady, ' that her command of commonplace amounted to a distinct talent. She was delightful to watch, with her ideal com- plexion, her sweet, liquid eyes, and her phenomenal chmples. But when you had separated what she said from her winsome, mellifluous manner of saying it, you felt that tlie division Ijrought about a pitiable result. It Wfis quite impossible to define her except in negatives ; after you had concluded th^.tshe was low- voiced, of fault- less breeding and exceptionally handsome, there seemed to remain an incalculable number of things that she was not. Miss Spuytenduyvii became glai-ingly characteristic when contrasted with her. The latter was sitting quite . silent and unoccupied, when Wainwright again turned toward her, after his long resultless talk with Mrs. Boden- stein had ended. She looked colder and more self -poised than ever. She had a little block of Neapolitan ice be- fore her, but she had eaten only the white portion of it, leaving the remainder to melt away in pink and green ruin on her enameled plate. It struck Wainwright that •she might, perhaps, have eschewed these vivid colors as representing too warm a species of diet for her curiously UE. untry. Well, you tiy people do it." herself, with an ■ my part, I vrrer cestors who have lever speech. He s coin[)anion hail i hi(l(l(!n beneath nent Mrs. Boden- side, laiined his ch may reach us our lenient dis- w right .soon dis- ly, a inisti-ess of k: with this lady, intcd to a distinct th her ideal com- her phenomenal d what she said of saying it, you tiable result. It ipt in negatives ; r-voiced, of fault- ne, there seemed igs that she was gly characteristic kvas sitting quite :ht again turned with Mrs. Boden- more self-poised iapolitan ice be- ite portion of it, pink and green Vainwright that 3 vivid colors as 'or her curiously A (JKNTI-KMAN ol' LKisUKi:. 17 tngid temperament. While the od-i fan.-v brou'" " I really can't tell you," answered Wainwright. after a l)riet pause " Oh," said Miss Spuytenduyvil, with rigid demurene.ss '• then you have not been getting any new information i 1 suppose you think my cousin c'larming ; everybody does. She was a great success before she became Mrs rJodenstem. "And is that title a guarantee for still greater success ^ " asked V\ainwi-ight, who found himself naturally droppin- into the interrogative again, before this placid,' matter-of tact curtness that once more assailed him. Miss Spuyten.luyvil made a long, slow' nod, that was somehow, like a fiat. " Of course," she said "My cousin was a Miss Amsterdam." Then slu^ gave one k her laughs, that sounded to Wainwright as though there was the click of dice in it. "Truly, it seems so odd for anyone not to know about these things. Mr. Bodenstein IS a perfect gentleman, a. id immensely wealthy It was .•onsidered quite a fine match for Kate. I was quite a little girl then. I remember that I disapproved of it But I have since become reconciled." " Oh, that is very fortunate," said Wainwright, with a certain non-committal amiability that may or may not liave .sheathed considerable irony. He had a droll mo- mentary vision of a little pale-faced Miss Spuytenduyvil in short frocks, with budding theories about her valuable J)utch birth. " I hope you have enjoyed your conversation "-Jth lay cousin," said the young "iadyi breaking a rather ionff silence. ° o t 18 A OBNTLKMAX (>F LKISURE. ) iffi " Oh, yes, very much," replied Wainwright, who knew of nothing less ordinary to say. ^ " For my part," said Miss Spuytenduyvil, with a can- dor that had not a hint of flirtation in its bald plainness. " I have decidedly missed you." "Is it possible?" he returned. "I thou^'ht yoti hiu another gentleman to talic with." And at once his »•;. scanned an elderly man, with a yellow, sinewy face and : bristly, red moustache, who was talking to a lady on hi; other side, saying something that made her laugh, an laugh himself while he did so. Miss Spuytenduyvil gave a toss of the head. Iti anv one. else it would have been a (juick motion. In Ijer it was as prolonged as the spreading of a peacock^ tail. " Oh, yes," she said, in very low tones, and with a brief, cuel sneer, "th«t is Mr. Binghamton. He took me in! as you saw. It was either very unkind or very forgetfuf [j-j^"} in my cousin to let him do so. I dislike him exceedingly I have never met him befora this evening, but I dislike him all the same. I have heard about him ; 1 know who he is He writes for newspapers ; he is an Englishman, I bo lieve, but a soit of adventurer. He is recognized ; he i; received ; he is consideregj,jj. to places." _ J ijjie This struck Wainwright as the very high -tide mark ofj w^^ Miss SpuytenduyvU's uncompromisiag sno' oery. I'Pwon burst into a laugh which he felt a' .<) «* . less abc , having interpreted as too loud for civiiiiy ; and just then at a signal from the hostess, all the ladies rose to lea\ the room. " You make me anxious to meet this Mr. Binghamton, said Wainwright, as he drew back Miss Spuytenduyvil' jhtfv', and stood for a moment beside her. ' She gave one of her neat, metallic smiles. " dare say I ccVe shocked you by some of my ideas," sli As )oket enial arkn ess c the rrou it'liim !CUpi( wa.s ■dinai iiced as tl; ffei UJRE. nwright, who knew; luvvil, witli a can- n its bald plainnessJ I thought yon In Lnd at once his . V, sinewy face and a ing to a hidy on hi; ade lier laugh, ant^ of the head. In (juiek motion. In ding of a peacock^ les, and with a brief )n. He took me iti nd or very forgetf ui ke him e.xceedinglv ng, but I dislike him ; 1 know wiio he is. Engli.shraan, I be is recognized ; he i' ;rer, I am iold ; bur except that he get-] r high -tide mark of, ng sno' oery. }. nri.i. , 'less abc , ilit^ ; and just thenl ladies rose to lea\i| A iiKNTLKMA.V (iF I.KI.SLHK, s Mr. Bingham ton,'] iss Spuytenduyvil'l ler. ?tal!ic smiles. " of my ideas," sin eplied, .suiooihing the folds of her d iiai 1 han ress, with one nar 19 row no, su id \V lea.\ linwri^ht, lau'diin' again: "I like Siie looked at himeloselv f " fe^ ^., ^ , f*'i' an instant, with her .steady. |> ess eyes. \ ery few people like mine. Tm not pop- a.. I don t want to be. I say what I think ; I sIh.w i> dislikes and I have a good many dislikes. But that a) so much my fault as society's. I am a i,erson with quarrel agamst society. I think afJairsare bdng shame- ^ly mismanaged there, and I insist that I have a greater ig It than most people to be soiry about it " Ihe ladies were already gliding from the room. Aliss puytenduyvil moved away, after this speech, and VVain- ght saw, as she was disappearing, that her figure had s(, ►ony an angularity as to make the fashionable robe which b^tTl'^'tiT.V''""'''.?, "'^ '""'^ "^' «Pl^'nJiEISUi{E. a crest and arms had been graven ; on the small linger of the other hand was a heavy gold band, in which sparkled a large sunken diamond. Mr. Gansevoort had an ex- ticmely lounging manner ; the muscles of liis tall, slight fmme appeared in a perpetual state of laxity. He sat with leirs crossed one moment, and with an arm thrown over the back of his chair the next. He was smoking a cigar, which he transferred from hand to hand in graceful un- rest. He was always graceful, just as he was always rest- less. But it promptly occurred to Wainwright that his mannerwas imitative, factitious, as though he had modeled it after some admired British type. When he spoke, wlic}i he at once did, the English pronunciation was so perfectly rendered in his speech that Wainwright, with his expe- rienced ear, could .scarcely tell why he should not feel cer- tain that Mr. Gan.sevoort was an Englishman. But he somehow felt most dou})tful on that point, without clearly being able to explain his doubt. " 1 heard Binghamton say that you had just come over," began this young gentleman, with a civility that had the air of being rather seldom given. " You must have got awfully used to it there by this time." " Oh, yes," said Wainwright, " I am very used to it." " England's such an enormously jolly place," continued Mr. Gansevoort. " This country is a beastly hole in com- parison. I've no doubt you think so already, don't you, now ( Wainwright started us this last question was put to him. " No, I do not, really," he said, with decision. Mr. Binjjhamton broke into a laugh. "Good!" he ex- claimed. " It isn't a beastly hole a bit. (Jansevoort, here, is always running it down." Mr. Gansevoort had. by this time, turned toward some one on his other side, and begun a new conversation. Mr. Binghamton lowered his voice and went on addressini;' Wainwright. " Try a glass of this Burgundy, won't you '. Yes i That's right. Bodenstein's famous for his Bur- i JOCC "if It mor here (1 kno An<. n « Gan him an t (( in tl M inst( his ( men ates pie '^ sets, thin Yorl am. poin A fiKNTLKMAN OF LEISfUE. 23 e small linger of which sparkled 3ort had an ex- )f his tall, slight ity. He sat with rni thrown over smoking a cigar, in graceful un- was always rest- ivvright that his I he had modeled he spoke, which was so perfectly ,, with his expe- 3uld not feel cer- shman. But he ■j, without clearly just come over," ity that had the X must have got ry used to it." ilace," continued jtly hole in com- •eady, don't you, II was put to him. ision. " (3ood I " he ex- Jansevoort, here, led toward some onversation. Mr. t on addressing' ndy, won't you '. i )us for his Bur gundy ; well, for the matter of that, no one ever got a drop of had wine in this house. Hj has a cIh'/, too, that can't he matched anywliere, even in Paris. You saw what the dinner was. That is the way he always does these things. . . . Your health, Mr. Wainwright; may you take a liking to your mother country." " 1 have never disliked her,' said Wainwright, drinking some of his wine. " But I am afraid that I have been in- different to her." Mr. Binghamton laughed again. Hi-- tawny face broke into little wrinkles when he laughed, making him look jocose even to grotesqueness, " Bless my soul ! " he said, " it's the fa.shion to be that, nowadays." " I didn't know it was the fashion," replied Wainwright more seriously than he knew. " At lease," he added, "'not here." " Oh, yes, indeed. But it's all terrible nonsense, you know. Have you never heard of such a thing as an Anglo-maniac ? " ""Never." " Well, you'll see a few specimens quite soon. Our friend (Jansevoort is one. I thiid< (Jansevoort would consider himself disgraced if Ik; wore a pair of trousers or carried an und)rella that was not of English make." " Truly you astonish me ! And are there many people in this country who resemble him ?" Ml'. Binghamton seemed inclined to laugh again. But, instead, he blew a great deal of cigarette smoke through his odd little nose. " There is a large clique of men whose Tneird)ers resemble Inm. For instance, most of his associ- ates are cut out of the same cloth. But I see a lot of peo- ple who take very different views. I go into half a dozen sets, you know. I'm a man about town. By Jove, I think I know more of what New York is than one New Yorker out of five hnndrod, En'dishuian born thou'-'h \ am. I'm acquainted with everybody, you see; I make a point of it ; I enjoy it." f-T~ .nm i ! 24. A GENTLEMAN OP LETSURK. Wainwriglit gave a sly smilo. " Fi-oin wliat I hoaid not long ago," ho said, " 1 was led to infei- that one could not be on good terms with our host and hostess if ho M'ore acquainted with everybody." Mr. Bingham ton looked puzzled for a moment; then, employing one of his quick, Jerky gestures, he seized Wainwright's arm, leaning forward with a humorciis frown on his low, round forehead. " 1 understand," ho said, in bustling semitone,—" I understand perfectly. You mean something that dreadfid Miss Spuvtenduyvil has been saying to you." Here the speaker made a wry face, that might have done famously for a bronze statuette of Comedy, so ludicrous was its funny distortion. " By Jove, my dear fellow, that girl is my simple abomination. The idea of my having to take her "in to dinner ! It M-as positively ghastly. Now, I assure you, I'm not apt to speak ill of people ; I'm immensely commode ; 1 make the l»est of everybody I meet, and I manage to get a great deal of real enjoyment out of my dealings with all society. But that girl gives me a fooling, when I'm near her, of sitting in a draught and wantoidy catching cold. I've avoided her for njonths ; to-night, as you see, our intro- duction to each other became fatality.' I would as soon have carried a death's head in to dinner. I positively think slio has been constructed on a framework of bonivs taken from her own family vault. I don't believe she has got any pulse. I shouldn't be surprised if there were a little hole in the back of hei- head, whore .she put a key e.\(iY^^ morning, and wound u]) the clockwork that serve's her for an intelligonco. She despises mo because she has no knowdedge of my grandfather ; slio values overybodv according to liis grandfather. . . . Good heavens' ! what a .service hers would have done his kind, if he had only remained a bachelor ! " Mr. Binghamton had removed his hand from Wain- v.-]-ight's arm some little timo ago, but the latter now- placed his own hand, in a softly jovial way, upon the A GKNTt.IOfAX OF LKISURK. 25 I ^vhat I hoard that one could itoss if ho wtM'e inoinont; then, nvs, lie seized li a humorcus inderstand," lie ,and perfectly. S|niytenduyvil er made a wrv ronze statuette stortion. " By e abomination, inner! It was 'm not apt t(» le ; 1 make the to get a great ^ith all society, m near lier, of ng cold. I've see, our intro- would as soon I }>ositively work of bones it believe she 1 if there were she put a key rk that serves I'cause she has jes everybody ood lieavens I ind, if he hatl I from Wain- be latter now fny, upon the Englishman's shoulder. There was something about this Mr. Binghamton that did more than merely amuse him. Wainwright perceived a heaitiness in the man which siH-mod to spring from something appreciably actual. He had already told himself, with his alert sense at noting jind vahiing charact«'r. that the sincerity might not be deep 01 strong. Here was a sort of profe.ssional diner-out, a person of the most light, worldly pattern. But so far as he went, though the distance might not be far, Mr. Binghamton was at least real, spontaneous and genuine. " Upon my word," Wainwright now said, " T don't want to have M iss 8puy tenduy vil described to me. I have already drawn my own rather painful impress ions of her. 1 .should much prefer knowing, if you've no ol)jections, whether, of all the half a dozen sets which you frequent, these guests of to-night represent the most select set ; and if so, why." Mr. Binghamton laughed again. " Yon look j)rodi- gious'.y in earnest," he said. " Von seem like a man thii-st- ing for information." " You are quite right there." Mr. Binghamton dropped his head in apjiayent reflection, though the corner of his mouth twitched somewhat mirth- fully. On a sudden he raised his head again. Kach litth; hazel eye beamed forth from a kind "of merry squint. " It's amusing," he said, " to find any one who dines with the Bodensteins, and yet who wants to be told why they are such horrible swells." " Miss Spnytenduy vil .said something of the same .sort," was Wainwright's quiet renly. " Oh, bother Miss Spnytenduy vil !" returned Mr. Bing- liamt<)n, leaning over to empty his glas.s. "The mere mention of her name chills iny Burgundy. . . . How shall ] gratify your perfectly natural curiosity / " he went on. giving Wainwright one of his transient sidelong looks. ^ " Well, when our host first came here he was the plainest B of nobodies. 1 believe he is a Hungarian ; in one way he was certainly a Bohemian, if you'll pardon my bad joke. 2G A GEXTl.EMAX OF LEI.SiritE. JlKy tell que,,,- storie, of C' .^ "^ "''.* '■™'''™ ''""• He js a peison wl,o needs onlv t„ ", '^ " S''an"' pves a leap, and clear, H,„ 1 , , "*-■ '^'^ his teeth, The finest /oup thtCJl^J^t T""'- ■''»'" '' i«' that he leanired t:^-,, t„ , ^,°-'' '"'* "'aniage. AH hi.n.self .Jeiv'el Te ,. , ri 2 T'"^' «^ '•''^ g°" consequence, it is true hu .^i f" »T ,',*™™^». And ut last he n.a, tied M;'"'r'"' '''" >™"'-'l «■■■»- l^een the belle of the pas »L-o„rLl'"f ''''""■ ^'"^ '>»Ut Xh-,! f'^ T^'^' """"ami cnste,n won he,-, al thoZZ TU '''^^'- ^"' ''"J- « million upon he.,- to do it Even h'^ '"•*' """ '"' ^^"I'^d "«Ho a fuss about the ,„t,.ia;"' ""•'"' """' °' ">-■ '"""ily with a:„,nP."-^'™''"-''"''- '-• -'tanee," said Wai„w,-i,d,t, po,''ta,t' at "air Ire':",:, ''"f"'' "°""'- • »'-■» of "o i."- •amily, who tries to i,c^att P""'' '"¥"'" of ag,-eat •"'-^ing he,-self the ,';,oZbrxit S'^^V'" -°-f' ^y it seems rather stra.io-o " sair] W • , ' a .i,n-eat American family"' a^n^'-^ght, " to hear of any Hou,se of Peers b^^? fi^ ^'""' ^'^^« "" seat in powerful race, notwit'h t^ndinT 7u ' ^''Z P'--' and through the Revolution t^ t e t'ni.f T '^^^''^ H Dutch village. An.l 'e "r o lightly touched Mr. Gan.sevoort'sarm,and added. By the way, I must beg you to remember that I am. nut ail Englishman. I am an American." After that he pauseu lor a second or two, and looked full into the serene /: ^^wW "^•». 28 A BIEKTLEMAV of LElSlfRE. jKitrician face of liis companion. "Yes," ho went on " I am an American, like yourself." He had somehow, not been able to resist that mildlv veproachful sarcasm. He left soon afterward, went back to Ins hotel and sat for some time, consuming another ci-rar and thmlong. He fe t that he had nmch To think abm.t On the whole, his meditations were more .satisfactory than a lonpr sojourn would have been among the grandeurs of the Bodenstem mansi,m. He was not sorrv Jhat he had avoided knowing the young lady with red hair, who owned a whole street somewhere, and had so marked a rn-efer- ence for f.nglishmen. He was under the impre.ssion that he had met enough people for one day, and had had enou- ai-istocrat and the scholarly recluse. He had had his iodgmgs in London, well appointed, not exempt from some of the best books, journals and magazines ; he liad enjoyed his club and his club associates ; he had stayed at country-houses ; he had shot in the season; he had (Inied out considerably \^ien in town, and had not been Jibove an occasional crowded ball while the dowagers and the marketable beauties were down from tlu; cfsuntry in full feather. BrieHy, he had seen all that is most Engiisli in English life, and hence had naturally breathed into his 30 A OENTLKMAX OF LEISURE. Ui'mg that insularity of thought and feelin.r vvhir-h «. ;-omi«in.e,s any such mode of rlssin- < no's dnl n • IS tri th,x,uo.h Switzerland lie h^Ct M ^Sprin ."a"? liad hked her as we so often like what ])resent? fco°nt new vKsta of observation. She had seenled to in e'e nely new. Her buoyant pi,,uancv, as he then called it had corresponded with the freshness of fhl ' I'oared to hnn as an agreeable curiosity ; he had v^rha s" uneonsciously made allowances for her^ ' She then me X served for an entertaining companion of travd wh n |e had regarded with the g,-aci( us and extenuUh . f a.lnussion that she was, after all. onl/^^ In ' can 1 ad v llovv would she affect him now ? k-- ts m- ^?f iT^i" wm,ld she n.ake in the lai^e view ^ ai wa \lSiv unfolding to him its panommic entirety t Is i ev- c unbed mountains together, her laugh had rt.. out hrough the hmp d Alpine air with a siUery coiSanee IJer daring speeches, her abrupt impertinences Hi h'.' n^m.ed with the rugged she'ernesi of th" idg o n " Hgaii^r a^ aSed bi; l^gltlrCn^r^^ A little before eight o'clock, this evenincr he left h s tion 'o7 FiftH "'"''"' '" 7\'' -^ -J^ ^;e lowt po : yet wear a time-touched gravity rare in -i^fih^?, 1' subversive of all „,e,„„dal eh'n™ He dsen 1»;^, traitof variation a., he walked along; he had" oa Iv «mrked ,t under the le«< dubious conditions oTd^ntil riie January weather bad rcccntiv changed wi h 7i,,, ."stahihty which, till of late,has defed evc5, the proph;!:; A (ilNTFJvMAX (.F LEI«rUE. 31 _ our sc.entis ts All sting had left the atmosphere • a faint south wind was l.lowing, laden with a pecuVin • ^anipblandness; the stars bean. ed above the town in a Bort ox rounded calm shorn of all icy glitter. As W^^n^ knght moved onward the extreme il^a^e of his env n n- tnent struck him Here was no strident roll of I. omnibus; on either side the sweep of lai plit street earned nearly bare of passers; the houses leemed to Rrowse m a lazy duskiness, with infreriuent sqnai^s of .ght at their windows. But a few hundl-ed steps b T^^h ^ur observer into quite another realm. The dwollinc^s a hvoreamore modern air. IJoforo some of them ,Soo ^»;chesandco.y^.i„ sombre torpor, doubtless wa^ti^ fo. occupants who were destine.l to distress the mo e .unetual attendants at theatre or opera. A brie intirv'd m>u^^ him witlnn that spacious\uarter which Von ctiv^fv' 1r"' "":'''■ u ''"•^ ^•^'■■^'"-^ ^ most Lust^^ act.v c^. 1 he great ma-ble mass of the hotel lifted itsel? lo emn pa lor against the tranquil darkness. But it ou oa Its wh, e columned portico, was a thron.. of men k^ok.ngand talkmg together. Wainwrii,dit paused for a jpon his left sh(,wing the black traceries of its leatle^^ llHd^n '.^T^^^'^r^^' «"-l-iththe buy jSe lof gl'hng street-ears and the active rumble of can a^'es Ibenlth Dir o' "%"P?" the shadowy movements loeneath Directly in front of where Wainwri-ht had ta loned himse if, and across the intervening It^eet juts we ; °thi no.^T^ ''-'' " ''", P°'"^ '' intl-secUoVbe t^vetn this noted avenue and the still more nonub..- Momain of Broadway. The structure is Candoe popped by the wall of one closely behind it On asQua J ht canva,s reared above its roof, a gigantic disc ofXht |.ad been thrown, evidently by meJns of some eonlS ( nf takrn'nl ^'^ ^^^rfovdinary entertainment" wa, lOH taking place, for the benefit of any one who chose n 32 A (iKNTI.KMAN (>F LKlsnii:. w t ' 1 1 J r '« hoi Icr w,th a sort of mer(.mitilo c^hostliness where 1, could procure the most durable shi.ts. Then th s 'iH co.mnunication wouhl vanisi,, to be replaced by a colos" old rrutn asleep ,n a chair, with jaws ntoviug wL d ly a apeZr'T; l""V;,' ^''^''''y ^^-^^ towanfthe n.o'ial,' ape tuie. At last the mouse entered it, and was vi-oil Instantly afterwar.l this .Ira.natic event became blanf nothingriess, and was succeeded by the miraculous-lookin .ntormation that Tompkins the tlilor never dt^^in u customer. Wamvvri,d.t watche.l it all with soft^unax lent He p,-esently passe' \ ]^ ^^'^"'^ <^?o «lu«i^'e and unsolicited. He had a sort .f odd premonition that he might perhaps explain it better fiereafter. For the present, it seemed to bear rn-im yet vague kinship to self-accusation, if not positiv^'o re- morse. ^ He laughed low to himself as he walked on, and in truth tlie laugh might have rung a little har.sh if it had )een more audible. "I don't know what I am coming to," he told his )vvn thoughts. " Shall I suspect myself of bein ' ishamed that I am on such distant terms with mv own country ? j ^r,ii He had slight ditHculty in finding Mr. Spring's rcsi- lence. It was a basement house, with one large^li-hted vindow, whose drawn shade bore the reflected likJness Mitlmed in delicate photography, of tropical foliage gi-ow-' Ing horn a slender-pedestaled urn. He gave this window Jbrietyet contemplative glance before ringing the bell ts bnlliancy and breadth had something that reminded ^ . m of Mrs^ Spring hei-self. But there the analogy stopped hat hit of aerial picturcsqueness limned upon the radiant furtace by no means suggested his prospective hostess. It leemed to imply a covert and subtle grace of which he kf 1 * 7' "r. —v.,^.j fancy tnat the slim bou(iuet M dreamy leafage might speak with tender pro|)hecv' for feome unseen inmate of her household. ^ A maid-serv-ant admitted him, clad in an ample white loZlTt %^k"'^^^^^?P ^^^^ ^^'-^^ ^^'-^"^'^ without be ng Kuettish. The maid took his card, and parted the ex fc!f ?4]1^ "?>r ^l^rtain, while he was doffing his u .a . , ,,,txxc. ne naci time to perceive that the narrow ^all possessed several other exits, and that each was Iiaped with stately uniformity in the same delicious o H 34 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. I amber material, while the carpet beneath his feet had the hue, depth and softness of nios>. Almost immediately he heard voices behind the nearest fall of tapestry, and when the servant presently ushered him between its folds he discovered that the chamber lying beyond contained a group of people. It was not a large apartment, and its occupants, of whom three were ladies and three gentlemen gave it a deceptive air of being overcrowded. It reminded the new-comer of pictures that ho had seen by Toiil- mouche or De Jonghe. He had a confused imi.ression of Oriental screens, deep-cushioned chairs. vivid-colorcMl rugs, and tables and chairs literally piled with bric-a-brac Jhe three gentleman all rose as he entered, ami one of the ladies tried to rise, but fell back upon her capacious arm-chair with a little shriek of laughter, as her foot struck against an elaborate golden-bronze coal-scuttle near the merrily-crackling fire. This lady, as Wainwrightnow saw, was none other than Mrs iown,send S[)ring herself She held out to him a small, p ump hand, as white as milk, while leanincr back in her chair with mirthful abandonment. She had aground tace of infantile freshness, whose red lips seemed made as t.iough meant always to curl in laughter over teeth of dazzling purity. Her little h'gure was modeled with an exuberance imperiling symmetry, if not just spoilin-^ it Uainwright took the hand she offered him; she "iv tamed it for several moments, shaking it while sli. laughed and spoke at the same time. He was oblio-ed tu stoop rather awkwardly during this prolonged process ,.f welcoine, for his hostess wore a silken robe of much spleii- I dor, whose copious train had got itself coiled before hcrf chair, leaving visible two tiny teet in high-heeled slippers ' It was ever so nice of you to come so soon ! " cri.-d Mrs. Spring, letting her jocund face beam up at her |.se y to tnp me up," she went on, with a sudden nfock .laviy in face and tone, "just becau.so I ordered you to f'jed the hre. I don't see how any person who is always 'laying po and mling races, and all that, can be ,so -e! >()u to the best fellow in the world. Upon my word it would be a good way of punishing you " ^ ' ..ave it «'S '^'" "'^^Tl YT^^^-^^'' ^^"'^- SJ^« now an ae nf . V'^^f ^f ^-'^^ «hake, that would have lo,)ked . n act of .shocking boldne,ss if her diminutive stature and n k 'no/r''""' !?•' 'K^'^y^'y ^^^<* "^^^ combined to blf comif ^ everything of the sort that she did irresisti- "I hope that you don't mean that I am the best fellow ui. h thTr ', , -'"^ f^injright, at this point, with a augh that hid his pardonable embarrassment. " I should .e very sorry to come among strangers with the nece,ssity <>t iving up to any such monstrous reputation " A general h.ugh followed these words, ;,nd then a oice at Wa.mvrighfs elbow said in brisk tones 'wdclt tSr''..Tl" ^'-%^--n^ and meeting he " Oh far from that," .said Wainwriffht -eniallv is I.p found himself shaking hands with Mr'-Binlhlmt' il^i' . Upon my word," declared Mrs. Sprin- fn herrattlin<. C.-.SP way, as .she looked at WainwHght" and wave on^" -and oward Mr. Einghamton. " I di7ln't suppn e for Tn t^yTi^ 'T'!:""^^ ""T ^-"ty-f^ir^hoI:;;in sc. Lji- r °",^ knowing that man. Nobody ever en m- ". '/■ '' ^''""c^'' ^''''''^- He goes to eight and ten different places of a night. There's a sort o? cd.o,^ 36 A (iKXTLE.MAN OF LEISURE. Story told about lum tliat lie was o.ice in two .separate drawing-roo.ns at precisely the same hour. Thev sav that he waits at the wharves for the foreign steamers to coine in, and gets the custom-house office,? to introduce linn to newly-landed celebrities." Mr Binghamton lieard this tirade with a look of such complete unconcern as no facial adroitness could have counterfeited. " You see what an important being Mrs Spring evidently considers me," he said to Wainwricrht' when she will postpone your introduction to no less than four of tlio peoi)le present simply because she has a caprice for making sport of me. But I shall repair her mcivility. lie continued, taking a few stej.s in the ,lirec- tion ot two ladies who were seated at eitiier end of an im- mense cashuiere-covered lounge. "Let me present Mr Wainwright to Miss Ruth Cheever, a sister of our hostess and also to Miss Lydia Spring, a sister of her absent hus- band, whom I believe you know." ^^ Mrs. Spring here gave one of her loud, musical laughs. Dearme, Bing, she cried, "how deliohtfully explana- tmy you are! You'd bettor tell the age of ^ich youm-. T while you are dealing with other personal particulars" Mr Binghamton closed his eyes ami placed one hand upon his breadth of sjwtless shirt bosom. His dry yel- low face became ridiculously solenni; his jaunty red moustache seemed to awpiire an absunl droop "There are some mysteries," he said, with a voice like a slow bass chant, which the most daring curiosity must bo con- tent to lea\'e unsolved. ' o j u« luu The young lady called Miss Lydia Spring here sli.ditly tossed her hea.l Jt was a very pretty h?ad ; its curlv Ion air and the wa.xen pink-cheeked face beneath k ad tl e sort of ()an-, wm.low. She had a large, heavy, indolent hguue, whose generous curves were not lessened by a rai- ment of soine diai)hanuus texture, so cut as to leave in al- most audacious relief the soft, creamy outlines of neck A ORN'TLEMAX OF LKISCUE. s: and bosom. SJie spoke in a petulantly arcli way, wl.ilo .vmouklincr to suit her lazy mood a -voat plush cushion as crunson as a garnet, upon which one of her fair taj)er- ing arms had rested with handsome eflect ' "My age isn't any mystery, if y.,u please," she ex- clanned ' I M^as eighteen my last l.irth"tte>%-dust has wiH? '"""T'^"'^i «^" "^« t^yJ^I.v," asserte.1 Miss Spring M ith a combmed pout and shrug. " M ust he. Fannv ? '' « 10 proceeded appealing to the wife of her brother. "'" It makes me feel bad style. I don't like it a bit." he elder, ^•'.-.J^ 38 ??i 1.IS ■f OKNTLEMAK OF LEfStJRK. t^ ''S=f-'''- A^ut, tion, this cool, distinct expression of prefe renoo to \Vamwng ht, l,y an iu.pomtive IHtl^ ^-^tu ' Z it vvJien I heard you liad arrived. We hail ime 111 Europe last sunuuer, didn't m> > well together there ; I hope we shall be 'Oh r ll, :i ] ^^^^^ P'ct»>-<^' that has lost its frame " .second or third-rate En.dish yfu know r '"'"'lu^'^^' ii-!>^ 1 1 , •"■•^ii.^u, _>ou Know J mean thnsifi ^vho have always been among the grea' swells And |*ee ' ,^alon- just ay good m ad( A gp:ntlkman of lkisure. 39 shal I tell you wl.y ? ' Here Mrs. Spring laid her hand on W ainwright s coat sleeve. This was one of her uncon- ventional touches, and she had a number of them, as may [already have been su,specte(l of her. "Shall I tell you why ? " .slie repeated. " It is because our great swells all imitate yours. Now imitations are such tiresome things [Wry society ought to be original to have-^jfny chanu about It. Who wants to go to Turkey and find that all the hookahs and ottomans and bow-strings and ba^tina- j doings have been exterminated ? And pray of what does i our ' best society ' consist ? Why, simply of a general bowing-down before English customs, English ideas. W e re not a bit like the models we worship, but we i)re- tend to be, all the same. Mind you, I'm not speaking of the people whom one never meets. I suimose it's a wOn- derlul country when we look at it from a large, democra- tic stand-point. But I never think of looking at it so • and you 11 not, either, unless you go prowling olf into the prairies or something of that sort. If you stay in New York while you are here, you'll find that our best people AVill run after you a good deal. You are qch, y^^re a gentleman of leisure, as the phrase goen, you'il mously marriageable, and you will possibly havl cliance of observing just how one aristocilcy al adores the other." ^ ^ Wainwright was looking closely at his companion by . rp ""° ^!\^*^ «^<^ ^'"^^-<^ tJ»i« rather autocratic monoloo-ue. leli ine, he said, while the interest that was o-ettin^r so alert with him rather quickened, "do you passively .Sib- mit to be chissed with so despised a multitude " Mrs Spring laughingly threw back her heaa, showing the brilliant evenness of her teeth. "Pas.sively submit '■'' •slic repeated. " Why, good heavens, my dear boy, what T-i ^f ^ ^^"*^ '^ ■ I l«t myself go with the current ; I oritt along. Waimvriglit cehccd her laugh ; he had slightly drooped his head he was looking at the carpet ; he spoke with- 40 GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. i! at Wainwiiht betwwn S "'"'='',™ ""e side, and stare.I Ids own ev.?s now h» ''*"-'='?■'"•'!' ^^s. He had lifted like meet?n? "„ old a,Zr"'°l'' •■^^t'"''""-' i ^ «a. «cemed to hfm informed SL r" f*"*?"'-""! it had J^ow you take one up !" she sai'ri " Tt.„+ i your wav Wp 1iov« « ^ • if . ^"^^ '^•'^« always feast it ii.JitrJ^zt tt"rr„r^^" "•-^' ™rAii..tk°^.^ttTtt"'^fr«^^^^^^^ « T d.n]i f '^- ^ *"^"^ ^<^ fii"st n>ade me Jike von " f takin^'tT' "'^- T." '^^^>^'" continued Mrs. Spring Lh a fHrf''^^* P^"'"'"^' ^"^ ^i^ing each arm apIssionforTt Tn^r '^^^^^ ^ I'ke enjoyment ; 1 have tionally, sometimes Tnseekini'?'^^'~'^''P' ""^"*«"- ladiant faPP «nrU. i \ "^ ^or amusement." Her thought St fy^^^^^^^^^^^ -d her observe;. " Bu? you are vei /rlht " J "^^"^^"^^'■y ^ard keenness, steer adroitly. I'm tof Ld « Tw ^"' "^^^Y^h^t I any quicksands , and as^ fo^ tl" ^", '"" "^^ ""'"''^ «" never take them unLf l '"'P'*^^ ^^^^ ^P^^e of, I I can shoot them '' ' ^ ^'" ««re-perfectly sure-that remained sile^^t Hrhad be.„n .' ^/^^f^V^""^^- ^"^ ^e Mrs. Town«.M'^ qnrfn r ^ 4"" ^'""'^ ^^^^<^ ^^ ^6 liked " ' '^P""^ ^««« "^ ^e^v York than he had RE. r your own way," 'V' just where you lies (lead against the big gorgeous le side, and stared 3. He had Jifted attitude ; it was itzerland it had )riginality; here, t bristled with a lought to dislike it. rhat was always word for it,— at ?Jy: you nag a tleman ; you are Je me like you." 36," said Wain- led Mrs. Spring, :iving each arm 3 padded abut- yment ; 1 have sicept uninten- sement." Her I her observer lard keenness. •' to say that I my vessel on 3U spoke of, I bly sure— that nt in silence, smile. But he lat if he liked than he had (^ A GENTLEMAX OF LEJSURE. 41 liked hor in Switzerland, she at least interested him after a mtam way, more than she had done there His companion gave an abrupt, impatient shrug. It a rr?-/""f 1 '^' '^''^''^''^ «^" ^ kaleidoscope.^ Tl!e painted bits of glass were going to assume a new pattern iti were a vam woman," she said, " I should tell vou that you were fortunate to find me at home to-ni-ht' I am usually out. This is the season, you know" "hen everybody ,s usually out. But we concluded to .sl^c o " veror- V^ < ^'"'"r ^*^" ^^'^^^^'^^^^ night at the (Jro - mvsHf ■ T^ '"'' .! 'I'T .^^ «i«t^'-in-law, Lydia, and mysel . I suppose that the identity of Lydia has by this nZ.i f Vl^«" /«»»• conscience, notwithstanding the mental confusion that must have resulted from your drop! pmg in among such a nest of strange people. If not lot me explain that Lyn ly flew n.to a rage at Binghamton's last impertinence" ^ Wainwright let his eyes wander toward the couch where he two young ladies were seated; but they d not rest upon Lydia. ^ l.oW ? "he"'' ^'""^ ^^'^y " '''''^'''' '^ ^'«"^' h'^"^^- mu'oWof *"' ^"^^ T ?^'y''- B"t she does not care ms "You and she are wonderfully unlike for two sisters." amiably. Kuth is very clever; I dare sav you mi-dit like \v?"/ •'*^', ^'^ unfortunate in one respect " " What IS that ? " ^ "She has not any talent for enjoying life." wofplf 1 .1 ^^f?n^^%Jit, while his look still furtively Ru S.et^^^^^ their discussion, that perhaps Mi l Jnvnii , ""^^'^ P^-'^''^^^ a talent for makin^r ife en- had nortin t • ^: ^'"1 'f'^'''''''^ ^^'' »P'»i«n ^loud. had not two new visitors, both of whom were gentlemen 42 A GENTLE?IAX OP LEISURE. just tlien entered the room Mr^ «^...- the.n. Her elegant costu n". r^v f^l"^ '°'° ^^ ^^^^eive •she did so, and a daintv .w l^ . ^-^^ ^ "^^^ ^^'-^ckle as the P-n- jewe]r?;^t?4 ^^^ In the general uprisino-thof ^.ii" , "* '^""■''• men, AVainwright fbun himself 1^'? T.°"- ^^'^ ^^^"^le- • ''Isn't it funn;," sa'd t o Wh, ''' ^" ^f''" ^"^fe'hamt<.n. hear that won^in rattiranf i^^n'kle 1,:"'^'' ^T^"^'' " ^^ I once met an enemy of Ws who J '"'r' '^'' '"«^^*"'* ' about it. Hesaidihatperhrprhe^^h^^^^^^^^^ dress so, on the same princiDe n. H. rf'^''/ ™ade her he ties a bell to a cow's 3%?.'/'''^^ ^f ^ ^^^"^^^ ^^^en fences and getting aTay" ' *' ^''^ '^ ^^'^'^ J"'"Pi"g -u.d:juX^tcTs,'t;r^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ sp^ng " No," said Mr BrnTn ,1 "7"^'^^^' ''''^^' « ^^ile. Wainwright's shoulder im/ I, ' P"^^\"^ ^^"^ ^^-'^ "Pon ear that a' bristle o his cot e liH? '' '^''' '? '^' ^^'''^'^ -" no ; she only thru ts her hi 1"'°"'^"^ '^'^''^ ^^' and then, if they're a Lf! r? ^^""""^^ ^^^ ^^rs, now low chuckle afS he had tid U^""/?"'''' «^ ^^^^ - wa^, his hearer caught TnTt V -n ""^ ^- ''^ ^'^ '^^^ «°""'J meant vengeance for Mrs Sm-in •" 'P'^^*^''^'^ P^'^sibly tack. ImrSediately afterwi^^S "^!/'^ ^'- ever, and went on in a 'Xnfn! J '"^'"^ ^'' *°"'^' ^o^" onough little womaMn 1 e? wfv ?F7i " ^^'''' ' »^«« hit of harm. Now and thl\ f ^' '^ ^ ^^"^ ^^^^^ her a hut she knows th^t 1 know shel''^'^ '^^' ''""^« ^^ "'^' hardly ever o-ets un pnv?i • '"^.^,^e«^^ ^ mean them. She «he wouldn't'n L"^l S'""«,J""^. ^^^^^^0"^ having me -ore than on ^good t irn a^' h^ '"%"'' ^'^'« ^^^ ^^^ others. Our ifttle talk' S f ?""*^' °" ^»« *« ^o her you're a social observer^ Wrp"f ^'l .^^"^i"^^'^ me that a family g.,up that ; 1 C; lotTo^sf f'% ^^^^ '« ^« a horrid cad, but a conSp f '? '-^^ Townsend anything more perfect of itsKl ^'h '" ^7 """-^"'^ ^^^ the club, now • he's np«rh i . ^ Playing cards at . nes ncailj always playing caids at the r:-v. Ik %^: A oentlkman of lkisure. 43 blub-exccp, wl.en gainl.ling in Wall street. Lyddy. w t <,^oose; shcs on the verp of a great scandal, and she las 1 1 brains enough to discover it. You see that man nt . a dark complexion and a stoop ? His name is Aber- ietl)y; hes here morning, noon, and night, always dan- jng aiter Lyd.b' He's a married man, with the sweetest ittle^ wife in the world, who adores him. Of cour e here s no real harm in Lyddy, but there's a lot of harm in hnn.^ His morals are as dark ,i« his complexion anny .spring will send him off some day, but then it will be too late, and that poor fool of a Lyddy will be ro.indlv L-ompromi.sed. Now just glance at Ruth Cheever I su,,- JK.se you nuLst have noticed her before. Isn't it absurd ^hat she shoul.l be Mrs Spring's own sister? She's one pri m ten thousand. There's a vacant chair near her take It ; and have a talk with her. She isn't appreciated by half the prattlers whom she's forced to mec?t^nd oh hhZ^V ' ^»«^\»»a^^"i«cently she despises most of Itiue. She doesn t expre.ss her contempt ; it escapes her unconsciously^ She's one of my beliefs^hat gir , hou-d II m not one of hers, and don't deserve to be. I'll lav vou KInT.t'' 'v'T^^y "f^^P''^- ^y Jove, she's^good ..uk.vble faimly. ..I „uist be off; it's past my time la eady. I m promised at three more places to-ntht- know ^'l^n?'"'"^''^^! • ' '" ^"^^ ^ c-onfounded gadabout, you Know. lake my advice concerning Ruth Cheever, old fel- gret it." "" '^'''*^ ''''^^' '^""' 5 ^'""'l^ "'^t re- A moment later Mr. Binghamton was making his adieus everybody. He first shook hands briefly'with Aliss U eever inlHs i^stive way, and then said good-night to o wl^ol r''- ^T]^ ^^''' process a iight^'clamor'aro.se, 'ai S Is " """T"'^ '^f "!";'^^^"^ ^^'J^^t While careless Ift^ hovn ^^1"S. leveled at him, he bowed himself liom the room, with little abrupt pauses, fitful flashes of u A CE.-T(.r:.MAX OF I.KISUnE. repartee shrufp of the shouWe,-, an,) one or two null, ■„ his moustadio. Mea„wl,il., the .seat beside Mi™U eelv vanced, and sank into the e„,p^ "hah- "■""""«'" "''"I yon'Mi:rcCe';- L'tZn' """' ''''■'■ ''"' '''"^' "'l •sh: a"s.'i'in:™.' '° "■^°^"'' ""■'■"'^°™'= "-"• '-"th ' for"„™t"ed" *'//•'"'•." I ">" T'ito willing to toko the.. with";^o!t"tion" *it ^'"' ^"l" "1 ''"-''-appointn.ent witn 1 esi"W ;'«li™cy of those more "ul^^Jf ;,"»"'.' ^'"« "ke tl„. hardihood with thoTn.ll^P f" "!"'■ >"' " ""'"'t «nd the.„„ii: th7wef?l th thk?''"' ''" ""^"'"^-l ^ by its rich, fleet bri.ditnes, •"""" ''"^''''^'' '"'" .even these few h'ef Momenta ^j'^'m-'' '"J''" ">""' -"'' had sharpened his senseTf 1 ? , u " Well," he presently announced, " I concluded that you were a young lady dissatisfied with her surroundings." " Vou were perfectly right," .said Miss Cheever, with , calm emphasis. She hont her auburn head for a moment, and rearranged a knot of flowers at her bosom. Then she looked up at Wainwright with great steadiness. " I have not lived h. re very long," she went on. " It is only two years since 1 came. I used to live with my mother, Ml a simple Ma.s.sachu.setts town. It was not" far from Boston,— just near enough to be civilized." And then a touch of laughter broke her modulated voice. " Ah," said Wainright, handsomely, " it must have been a suburb." " It was very pleasant. A little provincial, perhaps but It had what you call a ' tone ; ' it was delightfully re- spectable. I left some dear friends there. When mother died T vva,s forced to come and live with r'anny, who liad nlready been married several yeai^ to Mr. Spring. The change was decisive. I don't think I have ever got u.sed k' I ! 48 A (GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. stolen ,nto the Jiqi d loJot t T'^ ^^^ somehow -ea an. out of p\tien?e ^th^^^^^, J ^/tn^- Miss Cheever clasnpr] 1,^. ? i^ ^^^^® of. er lap ' woman who wearies L^S riT' ''^°"^'^« >^«4 There IS so much more worlH)t • i^^"^'"®' ^"^ ^11 tha i best of things. A woln Iv "^ "^^'^""^ "^ »"akin ^"^ flie« from When lUxreTn th."'" f "f " ^", ^""^'^ '"^^^ ««»«ible. best InilZ " ' ""^'^ ^'^^^^ ^^y I ^"^tivate my ^^'^'^^:ix^is zi: --» -^ favor to a«k'of'you."' " " ^ ^''"- "^ ^»t^ve a A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 51 eads exchanired "What is it?" he inquired. " That you will not stay longer. I know it must seem very strange for mo to ask you this. . . But when we meet again— as I hope we shall— I will try to explain myself more clearly." " If your sister is rude to you," persisted Wainwright, " why do you not pay her back in her own coin { I°ara sure you are quite capable of it." f " Pray, hush !" murnmred his companion. " She is looking at us even while the others ai'e speaking to her." For a moment Ruth ^ 'heever's eyes wore an expression of surpassing me) oly. " You wish to hear my case de- fended. Yor >.'.iUt do so if you remained; "my sister could let you nn^o the secret of why my surroundino-s satisfy me so ill. But I would rather make the defense myself, at some other time." ^ • ;1"'S«.'"' '"'■• ^''-■"''"'y.-ho i' talking, I believe, to "Jim Abernethv ? Yes of rnnroo" ooM ti Sprin,. Ana then ho lool^e^i dlrCLom 'nt'^^TS^ kTed under his ample moustache a few brief words That we,-e flavored with a sullen hostility. Wainwithrnaturallv bethough ]nm,self of what he had heard Mr S^^^^^^ say regardmg the attentions of Mr. Abernethy tf IWn stanees, have telt a keener embarrassment if it had nr.f been evident to him that the man who thus spoke cm pl<>yed only the random force of clouded facultir seconds"'Hil.^f"f ' '"^'^'^ ^"dignation lasted but a few seconds. Hs attention was suddenly attracted bva t^sfr M lainp o stained glass that directly fac^Hlh Xnden^ "Well, by Jove," he exclaimed, staring at the lamn so Jannys done it, no matterwhat I said ! Just like ff tht We" Ive'f-t f'? f^^^ ^'"^^-^^ new thi.^^^^^^^^^ loot ng big bilJs Here the speaker shook his he-id -/h sently, with an air of doleful rumination Wainwright felt like shinmdno- his shmildovc ,'« 1 unconcern. But instead of S "ho oit^^^^^^^ ?, T ^ a^.n, and cpiietly wished Townsend^^ go d" ^ 1 he latter once more grasped his hand and proposed fhat he should remain longer. But Wainwright with the most apposie excuse he could nuaster, presently secured an ex t from the house. He walked witli brisk ^~ severa blocks. _ He was thinking of all he had seen A girl ot fine mind and wholesome impulses" fan hi., roi"' Mr?s"-"^'"^'"''^ ''''''' l-opIeVuteh r in ! ois Mrs. Spring IS aggressive and imper inent • LycHa as vulgar and capricious ; Townsend Sprincr is fast and abominable. What an atmosphere to breathe b' A GENTLEMAN OF LEISUllK. 55 It is needless to sttite that he was thinking of Ruth Cheever. Some time after he had regained his^hotel that evening, and, indeed, while composing himself to sleep, he was haunted by the memory of two sweetly sombre eyes, and stirred with an unwonted |)ity for one whom fate seemed schooling to fortitude under needless r'urovs 0^/T>g If ■:! II) VI. A ^/"''''S«<>n. granting him access to the MetroDoli ,-fV n*"" '''"''■ """"'^<' Wainwright at liis loL '^nl" polite noteZ^M .ll^rc^^r^hXr'Th""'^ '^ " social authority in secu.ing tWs'pTivnt'e '' ^" '"«"'' in coTefs: Sl;iPi::;::,;^*^''"y"^ain„right wa. walking at the side of a sto„t el,™ Hv hiv nf*^^''"?"' aeUn,V5in/tS«tryiSri;n^Je'rtf';iet:,i!r Jn'^.r rt XT;!„^e"::ire,"S:r€pr sj;ir=j:-t^^'<;.-^^^^ Yes, answered Wainwrif],t « ^^l,-. k„ i , ., ing appearance." ^'™^&'>t- '^'^^ had a very strik- "01, of course. She looks like an English duchess A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 57 though I've seen English duchesses who were remarkably dowdy and dull. But it isn't only her appearance that makes one like her. Oh, by no means ! She's so con- toundedly bright. But she has her faults. They're im- mensely amusing faults. She's always asking favors of a fellow. It's extraordinary, the way that woman gets just what she wants out of society. Shes a type my dear Wainwright ; she would amuse you. I know of five separate female friends of hers from whom she habit- ually secures souie sort of distinct service once a month. Sometimes it is an opera-box ; sometimes a carriage to pay off her visits in. She has a vast amount of visits to pay off. She simply knows everybody and goes every- where. I'm not a circumstance to her, in that way. She was ill for several days last year, and on getting well she nioaned to an intimate, ' Just think of it ! I have missed eighteen invitations!' She is usually in perfect health, and so never misses anything. Her health is such a bril- liantly fine affair that I often believe she must borrow it from somebody, as she does all the fresh novels. She goes to every new play that appears ; somebody always takes her. I've taken her innumerable times; the first thing that I know she has contrived to make me ask her." "I am curious to -meet this extraordinary lady," said VVainwrifrht. Mr. Binghamton gave a short laugh as they walked on "Of course you will meet her," he said. " You could no more escape her than if she were a fate. Oh, she has al- ready heard all about you. You are doomed to be at one of her Saturday evenings." ^1 Ah." said Wainwright ; "then she entertains ?" Yes. I believe it is one Saturday every month. She gives her guests a pink drink that I have never been rash enough to taste. There is an ancient tradition that cochi- neal, not claret, is its chief ingredient. She is perfectly shameless about poking it at people and saying : ' My » ■ i i '4 Si I i I l! 58 A GKNTLEMAX OF LEFSI RE. punch has no to-morrow.' I always feel thif 7^«Km,ii have none if I ventured a glass ofT' ^^^^^ ^-^^^^W " onWirlo?'''"-^'',"« econo,Mi.s;' laughed Wainwright ought to unpaiv her i)opii1arity," ^ ' " Oh, she's abominated by a lot of nonnlo R.,+ ^ specially for that reason. It's 'because of Cr? leve. tot" e her ready w,t, her really st.perior „nnd. Al the fashfon able fools hate her, and it's her own f.nl/- .L i place among them. Why. that rjan has the tbi lit; to' orgam.e a scdon that n.ight become fan.ous But Sas ity TlTrir^t ''-''' "^^^^ ^^P-y tenduy vils andtnoi:: in;- 3^S^|!,'^ ^' '''^ «— ' ^a" this even- on" Is '"""'^i ^ ^^^ °*" °.tl'''' P^^'^^^ ^'^^o^-e Jt. She will have on .yellow dress garnished with red rosebuds. An unholy w,t whom I know said that it makes her look h k c a ttle^son'at all%f ' 1™ ^'^^ '^^'^ rigl^t" through tne sea,son at all the large entertainments There's a notorious parsimony about it. I forgot to tell you W the way. that her husband is a prosperous suglr^ie"^ wrfclu"^ "^ u^T"^ ^'- ^'"ghamton learned that Wain- Zt^'T^Uu" ^"^«"^the guests at the Grosvenoi"' oall J t ^v ill be a superb opportunity for you to see one of the patncum crushes," he .aid. He then proposed that they should dine together at the Metropoli an^cTub and attend the festivity later. " It's a wonder tl at Townsen fc^pniig remembered to write you down at thp Xk "T proceeded on hearing this faJt fr'r WWriiht ' " ? I rum awrullv d^^m^^rqli-'or! Tf- ii x i^ave imx, thino- Imw y /:-"•-'''*■'"- to sharpen appetite ; a little later they were taken up stairs to din- ner in an elevator with seats of crimson velvet and richly &': (jlO A GKNTLEMAN OF LEISURE. ^nlded panels. The dinin^.-room, situated at the top of nea,av « Hn?' 7.\^PP«>"**^^1 ^^^h numerous small tables, club ^ S vo7l- 1 '"'? now oceupied by members of the tlul . hilyer dishes gleamed a-ainst snowy linen • at- tendants m pK=tures'- " The Metropolitan has M tlS"" N^^ " ''■ '''' ^ ^"-^ --t or place S^ Metropolitan. Not long ago some of the men here .rot tt:^ "f ''Ir^r '' T^^ ^^^ ^lemocratic, and o gJn- zed an infernally select club which they called The Gramerey. But the Gramercy has been a failure No! body goe.s there. Its patrons belong to it, you un. a uictugijo oi tne exce lent tTrt:^fi^Tr ^'^'^P'^IJ^V-! -'PPHed, wiped his eondc •ibon T 1 "" ""^ darkening moisture, and locked' .bout the large room with little nervous jerks of the " I'll do what I can for you," he .said, with laughincr complaisance. " Upon my word, what an observer ;oS aie! If you preserve this inexorable spirit of inouirv you will attain a knowledge of your o4 count yS must do you shining credit." ^ " I should call it a creditable thing to know one's own „unu_^, „ai(l VVamwiight. As he thus spoke, the words somehow seemed to himself another's, not his. Only a A GENTLEMAN Of LttSUltF. 61 little tune ago he would never liave thought to frame a .sentence with even this moderate glitter of loyalty in it ; but now a sliglit stir of the blood wont with his speech • It was like a delicate thrill of self-gr . ^ ^ tion. "Do you see that fleshy man w tn th,. wide nose and sorrel whiskers ? He's one of ou. |:covornf ;g committee. He has an old Knickerbocker nai'Hj and v. great lot of money. In England he might be a ■«Jc.e or somethin«r in that line. There's very little of him, ^dt he puts on leally terrible airs." "^ " He appears a very gentlemanly person," said Wain- wright, with critical deliberation. " Oh, yes, confound it ! That's all he thinks about." "It IS a great deal to think about," said Wainwright, softly. "It is quite a comprehensive idea, if a man' chooses to give it full attention. I don't know that it would not last a life-time." "T^k^' ^'"g^^^™*^"" continued his airy specification.s. " The short man that our grandee is dinin^ with is a powerful banker. He's not like Bodenstein; he had an- cestors that gave tea-parties and stopped through cotil- lons, fifty years ago, in their prim lu^mes on Bowling Green or along the Battery. Now he's got a palace ip the Avenue, and a wife and daughter who rule society." Wainwright gave his vis-d-vis a surprised look. " En.r^,),,; unique frescoes or paperings, combined in the liappicSt effects of adornment and comfort. Wainwright noted everything with interest, but his mind dwelt sufficiently upon annf.h«r nia+ier r VsUr. f- j • '' :'. ^'^"''v inspection;-: "" ^" '^^'' ^"^'"'*'^ '''"« t"^»' ^^ A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. G5 ear, or en- r the most (leiitly at drank his slj a yard ist quitted ere quite nsevoort ; r replaced •th bowed iversation jdit couhl le, "that with the sh touffh I another uldn't be but dog- Jan whip ndedMr. " Won't little ? " ended a i visited cards, the ac- iimplete. ortleres, lappiest t noted ficieutly 1 tour of " I heard a few scraps of conversation among the men with whom Mr. Gansevoort was talking, down in the other hall. The party looked and spoke a good deal in the English manner, but their conversation was extremely muscular. Is it always like that ? " Mr. Binghamton turned quickly, and burst into one of his fresh, light-comedy laughs. " I'm afraid it is," ho said. " Those fellows are always talking like a lot of jockeys. They're immensely gentlemanly, however. I suppose their love for ail kinds of sporting matters natu- rally results from their idle lives. They nearly i UjO A GKNTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 69 most brilliant expectations. It lined itself with stately njansions of liberal front ; we are |)assing some of them at present. I can't tell you how many Stuyvesants, Livini^- stons and Van Rensselaers have lived and died here. A few of them are still living here. But Second Avenue is an embodied disappointment; it is a perished hope. Sud- deidy the patrician tide set in another direction. A few squares above us the Teutons and Hibernians throng their slatternly tenements. Not far below us the noble old dwellings have been turned into third-rate boarding-houses Avhere German ladies with big brummagem ear-rings live in splendid usurpation, the wives of prosperous clo- thiei-s, tobacconists, or beer-sellers on that horrid adjacent Eoweiy. But for some little distance Second Avenue still remains (though in a melancholy way) aristocratic. . . . Observe that old church which we are just now passing. You can see it only indistinctly. It is called St. Mark's. It is really a delightful relic. It is hideously ugly, but it has a little .space of gi-ound about it which is honey- combed with old family-vaults. I don't know how many deceased grandees slee}) there. I shouldn't wonder, my dear Wainwright, if you have some uncles and aunts hid- den away in those vaults." " It is certainly strange to be told this by an English- man," said Wainwright, quietly, from the darkness. His companion could not see how grave his face looked as ho thus spoke. " We are getting very near the Grosvenors," ])ursued Mr. Binghamton, while the cab rolled along. "Do you know, I always have an odd feeling when 1 come down here to this house ? I've lived long enough in New York to have got a certam fondness for it ; I detested it at first, but that has quite worn otf. The Grosvenors have en- tertained before. They have lived in their big, dingy mansion for an age. There is an ancient yellow grand- mother who does the entertaining. She has two or|)haned grandchildren, one of whom has been in society for two J ' 70 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. years or so and one of whom is 'brought out' in great state to-night. It seems so strange to meet all the na- bobs down here ... See the long line of carriages ; wo shall have to take our turn. A ball up town is ditterent ; there It IS o.ll brown-stone smartness; it is the natural home of wealth and fashion. But this eastern side of the city IS full of want, even squalor. On the pavement where Mrs. Bodenstein will touch her dainty foot as she trips irom carnage to doorway, many a weary work-girl has lately dragged her steps homeward. To-night the most imperious creeds of caste and pride will be aired in those perfumed rooms, while perhaps a stone's-throw away in some plebeian side-street, the O'Flanagans are deep in the mysteries of a ' wake.' I don't think that larg^ grimy Idea cal ed ' the people ' ever comes in closer contact with Its social opposite, the aristocracy, than when one goes to a ball here m this delightful old avenue." "Ah," exclaimed Wainwright, " shall I ever grow ac- customed to wonls like ' aristocracy ' or ' the people.' when spoken under ti-cinsatlantic skies !" Mr. Binghamton gave one of his jocund laughs just as their carriage stopped, ready to take its turn in the dark hie of others. " My dear Wainwright," he said, " if a man wants to see social distinctions expressed in their them .f°»''^''^*'''^ ^'''■'"' ^^*^ ^""^ come to America to find "I can hardly credit you," was the low reply Again Mr. Binghamton laughed. " You haven't met tlie American element in English life," he said " You are even more British than I at first suspected of you I begin to see that you are moderate in everythincr You have never moved in those gayer ranks of Englislfsocietv where Americans find such easy ingress. Had you done so you must have seen, long before coming to these shores, iiow Ainericans strive and push while in London to gain t.se aced ot titled leaders, how often they succeed, "and how both their efforts and their successes prove the ab- A r.EKTLKMAN OB' LElSUllK. 71 surdly unrepublican spirit which tradition has accredited them with." " I have known only English people in England," said Wainwright. " As I felt certain " was the quick answer. " Now I took a brief trip to E^ngland about a year ago. I fell in with a lot of Americans there, — many of them New Yorkers, whom I had known here. I found that they were mostly having a glorious time. They had got in with Lord This and Lady That. In their own country they were of no social importance whatever ; I don't specially know why, but they were not. Having money, expensive habits, and a taste for fashion, they were taken up by a lot of London celebrities. One day I expressed surprise to a fellow-countryman that this condition of affairs should exist. It was no doubt extremely bad taste in me, but I nevertheless committed myself so far. My friend was an enormous potentate ; I don't mind telling you who he was, — he was Lord Steeplechaser; I don't doubt you know him." "Yes," said Wainwright, " I know him. I don't like his form or his set, but I have met him ; and I admit as you say, that he is a potentate." " Very well," replied Mr. Binghamton, " this is what he answered me : ' My dear Binghamton,' he said ' you don't mean to tell me that you have social distinctions over there ? ' I endeavored to persuade him that we had very extreme ones ; but he would not believe me. And I sup- pose you, likewise, will nob believe till you see." "Oh, I have seen," said Wainwright. " But not enough. You will see more hereafter ; it is in the air, as one might say ; you are fated to breathe it in. . . . However, my dear fellow, there is one point re- garding ' viiioh I feel a deal of confidence." " You mean ?" . . ^ lid Wainwright, in soft interroga- tion. "Simply this," responded Mr. Binghamton, leaning » 72 A CLJSTLLMAN OF LElSLKil. sideways, so thatsuine effect of outward lani^.,..,.. nx.n.-iit a revealing gleam upon his quaint, small face: "that Jigl wrouglit notl ung on earth is easier than for an" American, j)rovi(led he liave money and a dcnxiit presentabilliy, to get hnnsek recognized in England. Over there they make the same mistake that you make,— pardon me, that you will be astonished at having made to-morrow They assume thai, everybody over here is of the same pattern, lliey can t conceive of any differences. Miss Smith of lopekr. run go to London and be received, if she possess wit wtalth, and good looks. Let her come to New York and she n,ight languish for years before she got a card to' the Bodensteins'--or the (Jrosvenors', where we are now going. This brings me back to our oiitrinal subject ; I'm such a rambler; I'm always getti ng away from origimil subjects. _ Well I've only to repeat myself: if you want to see social distinctions more marked than any imposed by the Duke of B. Igravia or the Mar,,uis of Mayfair, come to this leading city in the land of liberty, equality, and iraternity, that you may get a good look at them." Here the door of the cab was suddenly r.oened. " Bless me it's our turn to get out ! " said Mr. Binghamton. "T thouo-ht \ve had a good ten minutes yet, with ^his crush." And they both got out. The Grosvenors' hou, ,. was one of lIio early products ot rsew York architecture, and its present aged proprie- tress hatl always shown tl,c most conservative in-,Mncts in Its domestic management. She was a little wrinkled old lady, who dressed in scant robes of dark silk and a ruffled cap, after the fashion of fifty year .oo, witli larcje go d spectacles crowning her high,"-! rivele.i nose, and an antique vvatch-cbain descending i. i j, brooch at tho tliroat She was in perfect corr pon iice with the arched colonial-looking doorway, Hanked bv narrow side- ligUi s, that led you into her dull yet spacious abode, with Its heavy manogany doors and its slim banistered stair- case ; with the straight prevailing stiffness of its furniture A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 73 and the meagre riiniueil plainness of its mirrors, rising liere and there as if in puritan protest against the vanity to which they might minister ; with the dark, lofty clock, whose hlack hands had cre})t round its brass face for forty years, while its solenm, coffin-shaped case seemed huge enough to accommodate Father Time himself, scythe and all; and with the grim family portraits, mostly in tlie execrable method of primitive American art. She was a hater of all new iileas, and gossip a> ited that hei' two grandchildren had pertinaciously stiuggled before they had brot 'n loose fioin her rigorous tutelage But two years ago the eldest of these } oung girls had concjuered restriction and appeared triumphantl}'^ in society. The family possessed great wealth, and frequent satire was leveled by their guests at the continued primness of their resideiice. This was naturally a high source of amuse- ment t- hose Avho left Queen Anne mantels smart w ith blue China, or chambers modishly decorative witli Persian rugs and .1 ■ anesc screens. To-night the Grosvenor man- sion, as ^ aiiivvright and his new friend presently found, saw its dismal idity illuminated by a throng of the most brilliant-ci> merrymakers. The last insjiirations of Parisian millinery inundated these austere rooms in a lavish, rustling overflow. Mrs. Grosvenor stood at tlie door-way of the front drawing-room, furrowed, decrepit, and like a vivified figure from some portrait on her own walls. Her two grandeldldren were lose beside her, both of them burdened witli a fragrant load of bouquets, one being now the trained society belle, and one having the timid air of the new-fiedged ;' 'l^\'''''' ^^^^^-^ multitude be"; 7ond Ihere s not the slightest necessity for your know w^^ht'st r"°"sh; rff^'l ^ '''^r' ^^^«P- " ^ ^^i- wu^nts ear. fehe wouldn't remember your name thrpo SytLmTll th%'"^^^^'^"^ «^^ neverCrsty! on the mrt 'of i * '' 5.'^'T ^'^^^' Propitiatory riL on tne part of her granddaughter. Our hostess i^ thp most tiresome old person ; she'^ought to be fiamed in ma- hc,g.any and put up in the attic with her face tur'ed^to liklT. i; ' ■ ^^^'"®' anybody here whom you would like to know, my dear Wainwright. command me Ah, there is Mrs. Spencer Vanderhoff; I told you 'she would have on the yellow and red gown." ^ _ 1 .think it is quite becoming," said Wainwri-i-ht « Tf gives her an Oriental magnificence." '^'"^"-'^'^- ^^ Bincrlnmtor' «°^m'"'^\^'"'"^^^^^^^ ''^^"^ ^"^^'" laughed Mr. J^ingnamton. bhe s tremendously civilized." ,^ '^ A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 75 " I think I sliould like to know her," said Wainwright. " You say it is fate that I shall, and one had best accept fate philosophically." When he was })resented, a few moments later, to Mrs. Vanderhoff, this lady had just sunk with portly dignity into a chair ; two gentlemen were standing near her at the time of Wainwright's introduction, but she broke otf conversation with them on the instant, and gave her un- shared attention to the new acquaintance. Her face was faded, yet singularly vivacious ; its lines partook of the fleshy fullness that marked her figure, but it still preserved a delicacy that was altered though not spoiled by this ma- tronly change ; its expression was richly amiable, as you felt that it must always have been ; it was a face that suggested sweet decadence, like the falling apart and curl at the edge in the leaves of a rose too fully blown. " I am so delighted to meet you, Mr. Wainwright," .she said. " I have known a number of your near relations : your uncle, Colonel Wainwright, who brought back such a splendid record from Mexico; . . . your poor,dear mother, who left us and went to England while still so blooming and lovely a widow ; . . . your father, whose princely manners won all hearts, and whose sudden death was such a blow to hundreds of his friends; . . . your aunt Ger- trude, Mrs. Rivington De Peyster, who was my beloved friend from the days when we were at school together un- til her death in that beautiful home of hers on the Hudson. Ah, yes, I knew them all ! You are so like your mother. ... I suppose one should not deal in these sad memories at so gay a time as this. . . . But I cannot help it ; your face recalls my dear friends to me." . . . These words were spoken witiA mellltluous gentleness and an air of fascinating sympathy. One of the gentle- men with whom Mrs. Vanderhofi' had bcicn speaking now leaned forward and murmured a few words ttiat compelled her temporary heed. Just then Mr. Binghamton,'' wiio had effected the recent introduction and was stationed at 76 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISUKE. Wainwrighfs elbow, contrived to utter some quick ,eu you soon." n.i(>.,-will try and rejoin Mr. Binghamton slipped away. By this time Mrs Vanderhoff had once more concerned herself exdusiv.lv rutVlrnT^'^f ° "-.^'^^^--d ]reri:ulsu::^i aSn^^^diy^rs!:-"" " uT;r r^; 'r ^''^'^ *K„f T 1 .7 , -y', "^ ^^^^^- -It IS pleasant to be told "I trust the stakes are driven in deenlv u-p nnf +^ i puled up for a good long while," ^u'^Sr.,. "v rdl.tff ■With extreme cordiality. »'<'iutjnon, w,'ifh^r%"hin trf '-^.''f^ ^'''' ^°"-" ^^<^"»-"^^ Wain- 1 I ; Ihen he hesitated a moment, before addin.r " T Imd not thought that I should find any r^aLn ft"Say- "And you liave found a reason ?" Here Mrs VonrJ. ,. boff burst into a soft, full laugh. 'TletrtcH me what t sh^^tttu''''^ '''' "-^ '^^^^" °^ ^^-' -Aether tit enouth totn ^Tf ^"""'H^'*' "Ilmvenot been here long enough to fa 1 in ove, J mean the great surprise of it alP' ami;' .< t; ^y'^^'^nf^^^^' him- and suddenfy Ifti lU Wh hands It IS so different from what I exi.ected 1' . ^shouldnot be able to formulate what mre^ectau";; t stal apparel Iier mingled repose and spiihtliness thl large ,m,)eria grace of her posture, and n!o e tlmn al .somethiiiir in her coniitonpn- th-sf y- ]' ,^ ^^^' tivc, eonrUned to sive" he.: the^ttr oT™ eh,:^;! S> A GENTLEMAN 01- LEISURE. 77 :! ^uick sen- most cHs- less. But i's a luuii- '' doal that ind rejoin ime Mrs. s^clusively his usual far from ) be told )f an un- not to 1)0 indei-hoft; id Wain- Iding, " I for stay- Vandor- I what it ler it is ere lonor >f it all," ing both ■ J rue, ctations r. Bvv less, the ban all, siigges- foreigii peeress, Wainwright, as he watched lier, could scarcely believe that this grand creature borrowed other people's carriages and opera-boxes. " I fear that you are ashamed to tell what bad things you expected of us!" she exclaimed with a delightful smile. " But every day that you remain here shall disappoint you more and more agreeably. Oh, yes, I'm convinced of it. I have been abroad, Mr. Wainwright ; I have so- journed in nearly all the chief countries of Europe. But it has only made me a devout optimist regarding my own country. We have a great deal to learn, but we know many things that we might teach our wisest con- temporaries. Ah, I have an enthusiasm for America, and especially for American women. You have no idea what glorious, lovely beings they are. I know wives, mothers,, daughters, here, who ai-e shining models of their sex. They are good and true in such a spontaneous, untram- meled way. They are so much less conscious of their virtue than their sisters across the sea. Often the very acts by which they seem to shock European eyes are the result of a delicious innocence. They are industriously misunderstood by those who have seen womanhood grow up in hot-houses, and not spring with sweet vigor from our ni V,. rich soil." This in ly have affected Wainwright as the gush which Mr. Binghamton had cynically prophesied ; but in any case it interested him, after the previous expo.sition which he had gained from a similar source of the lady's rather salient peculiarities. He had already become skeptical of the Englishman's correct judgment. It seemed to him that thes(! candid and fluent ex|)ressions were not consis- tent with the marauding deliberation for Avhich his lato companion had so amply prepared him. He began to susi)e<^t Mr. Binghamton of being a merciless scandal- moniker ; he found liimself doubting the perpetuity of the redand-yellow gown, and di.ncrediting the feeble pinknesa of tlie Saturday-evening punches. 'M 78 'It A GENTLEMAxV OF LEISURE, hear -/« very nice to hear any one stand up so valiantlv for native insti utions," he said. " I have heard no sul clian able opinions uttered since my arrival.'' occupied mvnZr T"^ ^^""^ '''"' "^ °"^ *^^"« ^^"' ^^o Mis^VanZhnff I'^'Z ^' ''^^''^' American societv." Ms. Vanderhoff spoke these words while crossing her gloved hands m her lap and looking up at Wainwriiu w th a charming seriousness. " I go ?ve ywhrrrTlin fn all sets ; I observe the whole large social plan and I assu ^ you It is wonderfully interesting." ^ «,..'i^.'"" ^'i'^^^y^^?J^ .^Pl^^'»'« <^o find it wonderfully cold and formal," said Wainwright. ^ '^ Mr Binghamton sees it with English eyes" But he looks upon it from the same comprehensive point of view as yourself," said Wainwright wiUi slv sa^- ttpa abX'L'lr '^.'""^^"'^ ^ ver/e^tenteS: Jt is paiaDolic, as the astronomers sav " " Ah, do not speak of Mr. Bincrhamton ns if h^ « heavenly body''' laughed Mrs. VaXlioff ' '' Indeed "li^ IS a mos earthly one. He cannot see all our sunshine nor breathe m all our ozone. He thinks African lS shamefully immoral, he once told me so. Do vou know ^vlmt he bases his theory upon ? The harmlp.« fli^f r handkerchief-waving, oi^hLd-kisiig. oTw Rd IS I tie minxes whom one meets on the'ivenm ' ST o like nn Lnglishman ! Why. one might as well discover .son.ething improper in the frisk of a kitten. The too } don t doubt that the patrician element h re seems to 1 i.n an unwholesome sign." ^" """ "It is'neTttr "''l 'f^'J M^'"'^i" '^''^ Wainwright. It IS neither, declared Mrs. Vanderhoff' " T f i- o .splendid protest against the mere vulga ,W renuWi' amsm How monotonous society would bJif it werp «n of a piece, with no 'good,' 'better,' and ' bestM " ^"'" ^" you are truly an optimist," said Wainwric^ht " Vnn approve of evervthincr.'^ ^«"iwiignt. You " I am contented with everything except discontent." A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 79 valiantly i no such s far who society." ising her -in Wright ; I am in I assure ully cold "ohensive I sly sar- ve orbit. e were a deed, ho unshine, 3an girls )u know rtations, ydenish lat is so discover in, too, I i to him fight. It is a jpublic- vere all "You •ntent," smiled Mrs. VanderhofF, arranging a bit of trimming on her gorgeous gown. " I believe in my surroundings, and I enjoy them. . . . Upon my word," she added, with a still brighter smile, full of something that on childish lips might have been called sweet roguery, " I do not believe there is a woman in Christendom who enjoys herself more thoroughly than I do ! " "Ah," said Wainwright, " that is because you have the enviable faculty of being easily amused." He was inter- ested, as we know ; he regarded Mrs. Vanderhotf, at this moment, in a mood of studious coolness. Whenever she paused he felt toward her as though she were an orches- trion that required a stimulating rearj-angement of its mechanism. He had already told himself that she was indeed, in her special way, a type ; he was by no means sure if she were not the most purely American type that he had yet encountered. He could not resist a curiosity to witness, in some manner, the verification of certain hard statements which now rang in his memory with a cruel echo of injustice. " Easily amused ! " replied Mrs. Vanderhoff, with a soi-t of explanatory gentleness. " I can find amusement nearly everywhere. I have an abhorrence of loveliness. I like so very much to meet new people ; merely to watch new people is a pleasure. I can't ride in a street-car or an onmibus without finding somebody whom it pleases mo simply to watch and , speculate upon. I suppose that is the reason I rush about so much. I am never liored. There are many people here to-night, men and women, who are constantly bored. They mostly move in one s(^t, and grow weary of the same faces, the same manners, the same rounds of diversion. But I know so many sets ; I possess a kind of talisman against ennui." "Perhaps that is to be explained," said Wainwright, with complimentary nicety, " by your inability to bore otiier people. " Mrs. Vanderhotf 's smile deepened, and she scemtd about u 80 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. to reply.when suddenly her hand was extended toward a gentleman who was passing her, and whose shmkW she «;rot Tf:txt t^ds ttit ^^"^^^^' ""-■ '-^'-^ concett'^^shT 171^ °f,{«" ^osend me those tickets for the hTl \ J «aid,with glowing affability. "I wouldn't W asked you for them if I had not known that you and Madame J rancohni were so desperately intimate^ Prav tell her for me that she has a charmin^r voicrand tS «he will never he fully appreciated till s1,e ZX TLnnd Teve JrtlT- Jr'7'''^ ^''''-'' ^he lenlSs ' Tte7ell t ^'"' " ^^.^ '^^"^'^'-^^ thousand a" andlmll nt w trrueh'Stv" T"'^""^".' "°'^^'"^^ Mrs Van.wS'r, 1 S^'^f^'^y '^s he moved onward. raore. ^"""^^'^'^^ "°^ ^^^^^^d toward Wainwright once "I am afraid that I often bore other people," she said But I try to reflect my own good-humoi- upon everybody If I fail It isn t my fault. Not to fail, you know i^ the o T ,f s.r' ^"'?V"« '^"°"«'^ ^''''' ^l«vo'i/of incenTiv de- l^n'tvou think ^W ?"^^^1 "'^ '""y "^^"^ '^ «^«-<^ both. J^ont you think that is a discreet code of philosoohv ? Come, now, confess that you do " pnuosophy { oeiiveied with a f\imiliarity that was irresistibly winsome n,n,.o fiT vf ^^ »''f^ ^'^^^ ^«"'^ not have anythincr Jn ^^,.t^,^;*^ '"«' «he said, retaining the new co S Si; [::;tlu ^" ^'^^ "^^»^ cHrectsrandleani™ '' TZ "''^" " "'P'r*^ ^''' ?"'■««" thus addressed. her handsome smile. " But you ca^^tm^^^"^:^::;^ A (JENfLtlMAN OF LEISURE. 81 [ toward a 3ulder she m turned }. Vander- ;ts for the wouldn't t you and te. Pray and that • in grand ntleman's otain you Ifiingham thanks." nodding onward, ght once she said, erybody. w, is the titive de- Lire both, losophy ? that large public sort charmed my friend from the West. She had never seen anything like it before ; it was a pre- cious novelty to her ; and I so enjoyed her enjoyment ! Of course I could have bought tickets for us both, but then "... " Instead of that," was the gentleman's interruption, for which he seemed to have been given just the opportune moment, "you permitted me the pleasure of inviting yoU both." Here Mrs. Vanderhoff' made some response of which "Wainwr%ht could catch but fragmentary sentences. His attention, moreover, was now somewhat distracted by seeing Miss Ruth Cheever at rather a distance, upon the arm of a tall gray escort. He saw his chance of depar- ture, and seized it. Mrs. Vanderhoff was sufficiently ab- sorbed, in however transient a way, not to observe the retreat which he now accomplished, with a dexterity born of deft pi-evious practice. Wainwright had satisfied himself on one point. Scan- dal had not maligned Mrs. Vanderhoff. Then, too, he had seen Miss Cheever, and wanted, if possible, to secure a talk with her. appeal, winsome iderhoff, mything coiner's ing gra- 1. ? you to iopening 1 ball of i ^1 i VIII. rpHE drawing room had now become densely crowded tmin. ; f T ^ P"\^^^"-f ''• Wainwriglit found massive trams of s.lk or velvet obstructing his progress like head- ands to be rounded only with p?ril. Bu"t he had Z. ngo acquired skzll and alacrity in this species of locom^f- tion. He perceived that Ruth Cheever had paused near one o the n.ottled marble pilasters of a n Jtel not ?"• oH , she was smiling somewhat absently as the gray aen- leman ta ked to her. It struck Wainwright "that she not witliout becoming results. Her forehead woiv a pi^ Jip in a fitfuly stealthy way notwithstanding her smile ZihZr^'''7 she would give a nervoas, brushing wo in in hi, I'V^'^' w ^""S^l'-f^^ to the bunch of violets worn in her belt. Wainwright saw her ftice h^hten the moment she recognized him. The gray gentlem^an who iiad ^i very aristocratic way of treating his eyejrlasses and son.ething actually ducal about the lines of ^hi^s bade an sridH^'^'rl J?^ J-^-^-ri,hi for a moment, X be borni ,r '^".1 ^""t °^Y'^^ Cheever, and let himself be borne along on the sluggish current of the crowd. He pausrd however before he had gone many yards and Iooke,n.ac.k at the two young people whom he had M ^lltSr^^t^D '"^ "' '''""' '''' -^P^^"^^'^ ^-^ iiAiu.n. ine taJl, ^my gentleman sigiieii. No one hut liunself could possibly have heard the sigli, for a baud A GKNTLEMAX OF LEISURE. 83 y crowded, id massive , like head- Jiad long of locomo- lused near el not far- gray gen- tbat she lition M^as vori' a pi- ler nether her smile, brusl)ing of violets ghten the nan, who asses, and back and iient, ob- it himself >wd. Ho irds, and had left, red very ) one but a baud was play with its ' somewhere, and a great buzz of talk mixod music. He would not have cared to let the sitrh ])e heard ; he might have felt vastly loath to let its cause transpire. He was forty-nine, and a widower with six children. But he was in love with Ruth Cheever, and he wanted very much to marry her. This would make her no less a i)ersonage than Mrs. Beekman Amsterdam, sister-in-law of the great Mrs. Bodenstein; and moreover, since he was extremely wealthy, it would make her the mistress of many luxuries and splendors. But Mr. Am- sterdam liad already offeied himself three times to Ruth Cheever, and three times that young lady had refused him. He was considerably discourvaged, though not yet ((uite disheartened. The probability of his asking her a fourth time to be his wife was at present near if not pre- cisely imminent. " I am very glamnrlfnV>1\' /ilptmi. oJ- ryi-i-r-,- " • •• -■ - —■;.-■■ ,. • .s^Tvi ai, guessiiig tmngs. Ihere was a little pause before he spoke, "It did not A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 8.- sally extra - 'oke into a the knot of 3," she said, ■shan't be at with both -ned a little to-night ? " ly, into her vague dis- ^ to express he said. It 'casm. "My ' reform, — lasted but ;ly. "Tel! ruptly last ly midway face, said. " It 3al tender- averse to Irop it." negative, that you stand the convinced things." It did not require much cleverness," he presently said, " to convince me that your sister is capricious and cruel. " " I suppose that I ought not to let you say that," she murmured, looking down again, while a sensitive quiver stirred her lips. She raised her eyes the next niomont : her gaze was calm and direct. " Fanny is very merciless at times," she went on, " and last evening she chose to be specially so. I said, just before you left, that I would ex- plain matters. But really there is not much to explain." " Then it was only a stratagem to make me go ? " " Yes . . . and no Well, I will tell you all that need be told. Fanny and I are somehow of a different world. She cannot, or will not, understand me. I don't know that I require much effort for one to understand me. I can be read without the help of a glossary." " Except when you are willfully misunderstood." " You are right. I don't know whether you say that only with the pleasant motive of stroking my fur the proper way, or whether there is real .sympathy behind, your words. But all the .same, you are right." " Now you show a cruel enough doubt to make me re- member that you are Mrs. Spring's sister." " I thought you liked my sister." " I thought that I did, too," .said Wainwright, " though I was not sure about it. Last night made me sure, how- ever. I can't be undecided any longer." " There is a great deal to like in Fanny. I like her. I love her dearly. I can't help it." " You are very generous to say so." " No, — I am not generous. The tie of blood is strong. Besides, Fanny can be kind to those whom she approves of. But she does not approve of me." " I do not require to be told that. I am afraid tliat I should fail, if you won her good opinion, to ap|)rove of you myself. You decline to whirl through life like a hum- ming-top. You want to sit down on tlie road-side, now and then, and look about ^ little," I 86 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. W A spark left tlie soft eyes that were turn. 1 full ainwnght's; he hardly knew if it u pon or both. "Don't call it a roadside," she said were sad, or rnorr} The rural Curb-stone' would be much metaphor doesn't apply better." ' ^ He laughed gently. "I insist on my own met-iohor pusoridUties atter a short acquaintance " '^ .nl.fl. ""i '''''*' ^''^"o^"g, y«ur ground." sai.l Ruth with subtle deniureness. "I thought you considered m,r I. quaintance already an old one!" ^onsicJeicd oui ac- wli™-iil '"^^';'"'?;?'"f ''V^^^e ^^^st degree," laughed vainw ight. But his face innnediately sobered a-ain I '^hall resume my ...ndid attitude," he continued "You We reminded m- ^J ,.y ,ight to do so." ^"" bhall your ca--.. ^akc the form of advice ?" asked Kuth, naturally p| the g/and manner sh^ is t. ?rf f "\"^ '''''^'- ^'^^ '^^« patrician in all ^iys and netl ' ^^^V« ^^'^^P^ionally am not sure, by the w-W Tf it, • -/'? ^''^'"''^ ^<^ ^l^- I quality,-to'haCno bSn atl'T ' ^'"' "^^SP^trician the most admirable fi'^S.ead thlr/'^ 'TJ^' f ^' "^^^ possible to select" ^^ '*^ ^^^^^ ^^^^e been bad a JdSf^ o? t:o\rir"-'°i"""'^ "'™''^'-; «'>« features were cut witl fef, ti ' P'""^ ''"'™- •;ad haira.golden\rspZ'gdrLfin/ir;"''- ^"l chin wa almost cleft bv nnfrU i- ' ?^^ ^^^^ rounded mass of bouquets violpNvn rP ^'"J^'^' ^'^« ^^^^1^ a somowhatdrSV her., Therewa^si^nd^ a ;rio^^^^^^^^^^^ ' gn-r,s attitude ; and about w f*^ 5- ^f "«""'" ^" <^^^e mirth and bloonrhov.n. '''^' notwithstanding its which conies CV he atUe 7'^"'"""'" ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^-^ felt that with a s Stv if '""^ i''^" ^^^"^^^ight face; but he somehovv &/ t for b "°^'' an a,rog,?nt made even arrogance .l'^-,!^ ^"^ ^^'"^^ ^« ' '^' ^'^rcery i A OENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. n suggested f of some- i wealthy, either." lit, carinn; sr crown - iptability J or even As it is, She has ptionally it all. I )atrician e makes tve been nn with lispered, er; she 3. Her r head I swan- J. She ounded held a ' — in a '^earied in tlio ng its lisdain -vright ^ogant ^rcery " Ah, you may well ask who she is," replied Mr. Bing- hamton; and he repeated the young girl's name, whidi sounded to his hearer remarkably Dutch and quite un- familiar. " That lovely creature is the great belle of the present season," he continued. " Is she not delicious ? Watch how she treats that cluster of men ; they are some- times grateful even for her impertinences. She has made a tremendous success, that girl." Here Wainwright's associate burst out laughing. " By Jove." he proceeded, " what a contrast I . . . Only a yard or two further on stands our friend Miss Spuy tenduy vil " " Yes, I see her." " Note her mincing, priggish look, as she talks to that spare gentleman with the cur\'ed nose. Here is the pa- trician idea, presented in two opposite aspects. All that s attractive and picturesque in the idea is typified by that popular golden-haired belle ; all that's repelling, insolent, and unpalatable about it is to be found in Miss Spuytcn- duyvil, with her elbows as sharp as her social prejudices and her smiles as sour as her theories. Ah, there's noth- ing like looking at the same question from two sides. That exquisite damsel makes one think of the Petit Tri- anon and the Grand Monarque ; Miss Spuyte iduy vil re- calls the Conoiergerie, and is a mild justification for the Reign of Terror." Wainwright laughed ; he had begun to draw steady amusement from his, new friend's volatile exaggerations and extravagances, where so often slept a spark of rare sense, and not seldom of apt wit as well. " To whom is Miss Spuytenduyvil talking ? " he asked. He remembered that her present companion was the same tall, gray gentleman whom he had seen in Ruth Cheever's company on first joining her. " That is Mr. Beekman Amsterdam," was the reply ; and then followed a brief but graphic account of the gentle- man's high distinction in the way of cast€ and wealth. "Do you know," proceeded Mr. Binghamton, "it is a 92 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. it mbl petona'rr&et '•'=P''^'«"3;.-f'>-d 'hat eon- looks ; .h? isZXt CO i'T SreeUhlf T'-^"'7T" MilXr utSJe'l!'t::*ohafed M-^ "Is quite otherwise." ^ ^^- ^ '^^^^Id say " Oh, my dear fellow a ^ ■, feet fish of coursp f;i.^o' * ' ' „^"^s<^erdam is a per- it's widely alWeVtrCi ^^T"^^«' ^"^^^^ ^ut then mistake in refS. him ^ i^^f.?" "^'^^^« ^ g^'^^d in-law, Townsend^th,^l Recollect that horrid brother- with Jimrbret'hV.'atarredtLl^^^^^ ^""''t \''^' everywhere ^vou'Ilfinrii ™ ' ^o^^owmgher about to-night I don^ doubt at r 'VT' 'T'' ^^^^^^^r with so much stvle «lw. ' ""?? ^^^''' ^^""^ Spring, caring a firft Tone ' 7^' ^"!wl^^""* "^''-^^d not inistake,-depend uDon If ' rf ^ V'^''^'^" ^^« "^^^^ ^ Good heaveurr I E/.^; . ^"« ^ay she'll be sorry. any chance of .ettin^ofnfrV^" P?" ^''^ ^^«"ld take send will sml?h , ;i" tlav r'^^^^^""^^^^ T«-- Amsterdam woul^^irhertMAv 7 ^^^?,^ " ^^^ be? just for herself, if sEe^ Uket ui^'"'""''^"^ '^^""''^ ^ y^^^" The man had a colol.^ T "•"^?^''^,^"^ dull eye on mIss SuT ' •, '^'t^ ^' ^'-^^^ ^'^^d his down [helaw to h^ &^^^ '"^ "P^-^''^^"^ ^"^^"^ had a large cold ai^h of n '^^"^' ^H^'^^tic way. R% lip so grea? ast 'onveftrSerfl^t'hr'''! f T'^ sln-oudthewholelowernoi-tlnfl; 7^ "T^^ ^^ ^'^^ shorn, capacious expanse ^"' ^^'' ""^^^^ ^^^ «^«^"- himSr ^^.^i^^^^- -- t^^^ she shall take quers, in such cases " liI T.! . ^ "'''" usually con- r^JV A GENTLEMAN OF LEiSttRfi. 93 that con- jenduyvil is rebuk- Jsirable a im. " Is ould say is a per- but then a grand broth er- Lyddy, ?r about together Spring, and not made a 5 sorry, lid take Town- ihe be ? i a year Lmster- i-cloth. s:ed his laying y. He upper at will clean- " Oh, Amsterdam will get her," said Mr. Binghamton, off-handedly, " if he only perseveres." Wainwright turned suddenly toward the speaker. " Do you really believe so ? " he said. " Oh, of course. The pressure is too sti-ong, I don't doubt that the girl abominates him ; I should think she Tnight. But then, there are the reasons I've already told you of ; and besides, her sister, Mrs. Spring, keeps up an incessant persecution ; it isn't a constant dropping ; it's a sort of steady shower-bath. She thinks it preposterous that Ruth should refuse any such parti as Beekman Am- sterdam, and tells her so, with varied ornamentations of phraseology about seven times a week." " Poor girl ! " said Wainwright, under his breath. Mr. Binghamton did not hear the comment ; it was spoken too low. '''^i^^^m *f» 11 take y con- ash of IX. tropfc ImX tT' .T^ S'''''''^^' *''at UDfolds with •after methn?"',^^ himself ; ^o irritate y. Their 3 usually ► drive or ' occupa- >ng these 'he latter shly rai- ncy that ^ toilets y of his e adroit- cide just nsevoort ^ar, ancj A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 97 carried his umbrella precisely like an Englishman, and yet the trained vision of Wainwright saw that it was all spurious mannerism, and not unconscious habit The matter was there, so to speak, but the inspirino- soul re- mained absimt. He sometimes cruelly longed for a chance to let Mr. Gansevoort know that the truth continued patent through all his disguising tact. Once, while seated m tlie reading room, intent on a morning paper, he over- iieard a friend with whom Mr. Gansevoort was talking utter the following sentence, whose tone and manner were not at all according to the British pattern :~ T ^ x!^' ^. ^}^'^ '"^^'"^ '^^^"^ -^Po^'*^ on that lake last summer. 1 hshed with a pole for three steady hours." " Ah, yes," said Gansevoort. He had crossed his le(*s m an attitude of lazy grace; he had on a woolly sack- coat, extremely light in shade, and trousers of such dark iiue as to make the contrast especially striking ; he also wore gaiters, whose upper portions were of yellowish cloth, and dotted with little pearl buttons. He was smoothing his blond moustache gently with one hand ; the otlier held a half-burnt cigarette. " By Jove " he went on, " it sounds infernally odd, my dear boy, to'hear a man talk ot fishing with a pole. I suppose you mean "Oh, well, a rod, if you choose," replied ;.e other, in good-humored conciliation. " Any way, ■ caught four dozen fine trout." - Mr. Gansevoort laughed. He threw his cigarette amono- some big logs that crackled in ruddy turmoil under th? artistic tiled mantel. " Upon my word, I beg your par- don, old fellow,' he said, with enough politeness to blunt annoyance, " but it always amuses them so on the other side when we speak about catching fish. There they don t catch them, you know ; they kill them." Wainwright rose, at this point, abandoning his news- paj>er. It is true, he had finished a long editorial column on a political subject, and wanted to reflect over it a little. })8 A cieNtleman of Leisure. He ha(l of late read a number of found thfii'iZZ '^rr """'"''^' or similar articles, and to Mr. Binghirnton: ^ '^^'^'^- "^ '^'^ ^""^ ^ay tT'v ''A^^'^^ ^^'^ "^^" ^ere don't go into Dolitirs ? " - wh„ao,o.b„t not h:,fXH"i;ire„"-.s three large svouvs "DnJ ^"^.f""^' sat or stood " that all "the^er^en npvpr- ^ "'"^'I' '^'^^ Wainright, politics of thdr c'untiy r ''"'''" '^""^^^^^^ "^^h ^^^ " Oh, yes," laughed Mr. Bin^hamfon « Th^ ^ very^active just before the inTpriTele S" " '''"'*^^ " In making bets." Wainwright was silpnf *v... are our best citLens" L ^ ^ "".T^^^: ""^"^ ^^^se those who have the W f f^-'""?^ ^^^d- " i mean, breeding." ^'^"'^ ^^^^^ ^^ wealth, culture, and aze the men who would entertain any great , A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 99 icles, and isidemble ill as con- vened by ir several ask, re- was care- regretted id struck ley were ^ign that 1 heed to one day litics ? " ead, and 30 many —mores made a 'ig room of three or stood linright, i^ith the always 1 these mean, re, and lamton, '' great / foreign dignitary— the Prince of Wales, for instance, if he came to our shores ? " Mr. Binghamton nodded. " Some of them did entertain the Prince when he did come," was his reply. Wainvvright said nothing more; but he'iooked like a man whose thoughts are grave. While he stood with head momentarily drooped, a ycung man with a very un- unsucccssful drawl passed him at the side of a friend. " Every body laughed at me," said the young man, " for bringing over so many things. But I tind I didn't bring over half enough. One can't really get anything decent to wear here." (The speaker pronounced it " heah ") " Can one ?" ' ^ The valuable reply to tliis unpatriotic appeal was lost in distance. But Wainwright had little doubt as to the unqualified nature of its negative. He had already a secure private theory that something very scandalous must be said about America in the Metropolitan Club to elicit a contradictory retort. As Mrs. Spring had pro])hesied, he soon found himself the object of much social favour ; he was often asked to balls and dinners, and it is safe to say that he was flood- ed with cards for kettledrums. But contrary to Mrs. Spring's prophecv, on the other hand, he felt himself very far from disliking his new life. More than once he sus- pected that Mrs. Spencer VanderhofF had built her rhap- sody about American womanhood upon a solid basis of truth. To speak in general terms, most of the women whoni he had thus far met since his arrival impressed him as original, breezy, buoyant, exhilarating. They lacked the winsome constraint of their English sisterhood, and the tender, unconscious, prudery which so often, previous to marriage, among the latter, seems to partake of an effect as vernal and poetic as dew on young clover. But Wain- wright's vigilant observance had soon discovered that the self-possessioti of the American girl, her bold Hights of candor, her saucy assaults against conventionalism, and 100 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. ni her occasional trick of doing innocent tilings in a wise and worldly way were all resultant from an°educatiral Sr^ulit^ti:!]!"^^' '' ^^"^^"^^ ^"^ ^-''y ^^ -^ For several days after the Grosvenor ball he saw no !'l "^.'^^'k.""^?"/ ^'r""' ':' *^^i«« '»«t in the great lower hall of the club, at an hour verging upon midnight. rn , , ,, ■" . ^" -.«^«i vo-iMiij^ ui)(in mKinichf, lownsend,at these times, had usuall/just entere la d was on his way up-stairs to the card-room. Wa nwri^ who seMom played cards, refuse. 1, on each occasron'to join him in proposed deeds of hazard. Townsend SpHn" was profusely cordial, and quite as vulgar as evef ft ruck Wainwriglit that tliis gentleman presented the most repelhng personality that he had yet encountered He had already earned that Townsend pLed aZ ' as-' sociatesfor good-natured and harmless, but Warwri.^ht confessed to an uncharitable sensation that his crude facul ties, so often dul ed with drink, prevented him frcHn Sg eithet. He could ill connect a single chivalrous or ami- able trait with so much odious coar.s"eness. He had a se - tied belief in the noble worth of what are called met throuriifT J' ")""^'^ hhn that no one could "x through life at such a clumsy stumble without imcon- rrtC'""^. Y' ''' ^"^ ^'''''"^^ '^^-' lay alo'g his writ ^'™^"^«J^y« appeared delighted to see Wain- Wright. He wrung the hitter's hand on the occasion f heir last meeting and delivered a sentence ?n which devihsh glad and " old boy " were mingled with more leartmess than coherence. Underneath" WarnWht's staste for the man had always lain a secret doull e^t he did hin an mjust.ce by so roundly condemning, him This doubt deepened as Townsend's warm squeeze Sft^e hand ls;;t:;!;:;^E^sr ^ '-'" ^' ^^^ ^-^-^ "l^anny was talki no- about vn^^ vaaf<-. i, » -i ii husband of Mi-s Sm'ni^ <<^L^ -^ ! [ ''y' ^^"^ ^^'" mra, .>,j,i Jig. j5he s going to have a tea-fight A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 101 igs in a wise I educational y of motive I he saw no exception of ! great lower n midniglit. entered, and Wainwrifflit. occasion, to isend Spring as ever. It resented tlie mcountered. J among as- Wain Wright crude facul- froni l>eino- •ous or anii- e had a set- called mere could pass out uncon- y along his see Wain- occasion of e m which with more ainwright's 5ul)t lest he :him. This »f the hand raciousness ," said the a tea-fight m a day or two, and wanted to know where she should send you your ticket. I told her here : that was rifdit wasn t It ? She wanted to give a big dinner party, ^in- stead, but I said I'd be damned if I'd stand the racket" Here Townsend Spring looked at the marble floor with a sort of animal sullenness on his florid face. " Things are getting infernally panicky in the Street —and there^s that wite ot mine running up bills at the dressmaker's and flouncing into bric-a-brac shops, just as if I'd made a devil of a strike in something. Tell you what it '« Wain- wright, continued the speaker, elliptically, " doi narry Biggest mistake in the world for a man like you or my- self." . . Here Townsend tapped his companion's breast, and then tapped his own, as if to show their complete uni- formity of tastes and attributes. " Marriage doesn't help us a bit ; it wasn't meant for fellows of our stamp ; we ... we appreciate our liberty, don't you see, and know how to make the most of it." These later sentences quite destroyed Wainwrirrht's mood of tolerance. He had a sharp realization of liow much he really appreciated his liberty, and managed to end the present interview, for that reason, as speedily as possible. There was something about the inclusiveness of Townsend, when referring to "fellows of our stamp," that left a sharp sting ; although Wainwright soon charged himself, in amused soliloquy, with egotistic sensitiveness for so often remembering it. But those other words about the household affairs of the Springs— uttered aloud in what their hearer could consider only the most unpardon- able violation of all correct and reflned feeling— had like- wise left their echo in the young man's spirit ; and a melancholy echo it was. He could imagine liow at least one member of that household must tremble under the shadow of its possible ruin, and dei)loi'e the reck- less, unwifely follies that were bruited abroad, to become the gossip of club-cliques in their leisure for temptin^r scandals. *^ ^ 102 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. _ If Wainwnght had not gone to the Springs since the visit already chronicled, it was not becau.'3e Ruth Cheever had failed to occupy a good share of his thoughts It was clear to him that she held a strangely pitiable posi- tion m her sister's abode ; it was, moreover, clear to him that she was so high-strung and true-fibred as to shrink trom having the depth of her wounds even compassion- ately gazed upon. In thinking afterward of his own proffer to aid her, he had decided that it partook of an almost grotesque quixotism. Her answer had seemed to him both sensible and indulgent ; he could not leview the matter without concluding that she had criven his somewhat unwarranted advances considerably better treatment than they deserved. The invitation of which Townsend Spring had spoken arrived on the following day. It asked Wainwrioht's presence at a kettledrum and in due time he went He found the upper drawing-i ooms of Mrs. Spring's basement- house thronged with guests, who were mostly ladies and whose conversational clamor, as he crossed the main threshold, produced an effect of hysterical violence The ladies were all clad in bonnets and walking-suits except- ing Mrs. Spring, who shone resplendent in a costume of vari-coored silks; Miss Lydia, whom he afterwards dis- covered huddled behind the angle of a cabinet, with Mr Abernethy's olive complexion and black eyes only a few inches from her pouting, peach-hued f^ce; and Ruth OJieever, darkly attired, composed, exquisitely graceful and a little paler than when he had last seen hei-. " It is a great pleasure to find some one whom I know " he said, pausing at Ruth's side after he had shalcen hands with hor. "I am glad to relieve your discomfiture," she said smiling. " But I supposed that if you came this after- noon you would know a number of people." " Pj'ay, why ? " asked Wainwright. "Because you have been going about so much. We A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE, 103 s since the th Cheever •lights. It biable posi- lear to him 3 to shrink ompassion- f his own ;ook of an seemed to lot icv'iew his better lev given 'ly id spoken inwright's :v^ent. He basement- adies, and the main nee. The :s, except- ostume of yards dis- with Mr. nly a few -nd Ruth graceful, r. I know," :en hands she said, his after- ch. We seem to have missed each other, but then I have heard of you here, there and everywhere." Wainwright laughed. " I didn't know that I left any trail behind me," he said. " I have had so discouraging a time, between ourselves, that I imagined that nobody had given me a thought." " Oh, you are mistaken there. And why have you had a discouraging time ? " " Disappointment is always slow v/ork, \» lien it is pro- longed through a series of evening entertainments and afternoon teas." " Disappointment ? " " Yes. I have been looking for somebody whom I found it impossible to meet. But at last I have been successful. I feel very much like being congratulated." She fixed her eyes calmly upon his face. He thought that he had never known till then how blue they were, and yet how shadowy. " Let me congratulate you on your good fortune," she said with admirable seriousness. Again he laughed. " Oh, thanks ; you needn't. It would sound quite too vain, and I know you are not that." Ruth slightly tossed her head. For an instant he al- most thought she was displeased. " I am sure you can't have had a discouraging time," she said, " in your recent social movements. You must have found many chances to enjoy your own talent for saying insincere things handsomely." Wainwright took a very earnest air. "Upon my word," he declared, " I have wanted exceedingly to have another glimpse of you." " There was an easy way of securing that." Just behind Ruth spread a brilliant screen, where orange parrots, haughty in sewing silk, reared their crests against a sky of crimson embroidery. This vivid background gave her figure a sharp relief, clothed as it was in dark, trim vestments, and stole from it new graces of curvilinear litheness. Warm lights broke and changed in her auburn 104 A GENTLKMAN OF J.ElSUJJE. hair which had been so disposed about her mniU ch-,nn mg head as to make a ch.ster beliind of l^k oils and oops, whose density could not hide the wave runnin . through every tress. She had loosely folded her arms J tlmt they seemed only to rest upon her bosom an the lowing sleeves that she wore showed their wliWXe Imess. Her head was thrown sliw's;;f ^ ^"''^"^^ '^'^' ^-- ^^-' -^^ «Poke " Fanny left mother and me when she was a mere cri,.] and came here with her husband. Of course she lias n.ade most of her friends through him. I do^t ike the eCsttdo."'^ '''-'•' ^^^^^'^ ^^^^ ''^ things^/;^Lt "Both her friends and her doings seem rather pic uresque" said Wainwright, deliberately loLrin-'a htde over the last word. ' ^ iuicenng a A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 109 I am "Picturesque," repeated Ruth, with an intonation of bitterness. " Yes, — that is precisely what they are. The clique of persons who surround my sister are, for the most part, ignorant, — frightfully ignorant. They never read ; they never think ; they have a hunger for amusing them- selves, and that is about all. They are perpetually ' get- ting up ' things. It is either a dinner-party in a fashion- able restaurant, or a driving-party in an English drag, or a supper-party with a german afterward, at which they all romp about like so many school-children. Occasion- ally they go to the strangest places. Yesterday Fanny hmcheou%o a previous en^ra^rcnient. Now look me ri . ■ *^';?W .,/" ,P'^' ^^y'^r'-^ ''"y ^^-''^'tl'^^- you have or no/' KtalJy, said Wau.wright, "you act as if I were prejudice,! a^.nnst dining with you. This is han y ,t't'un5^" ''■"'" ^''^^ ^ '"^^ ^'"^"""^^^' '">^ »'^i^'^'» «P- Mrs. Spring had fixe.l her little black eves very watch- fully on his face. She seemed meditating for mHiX • then she started, and came to herself as it were 'Oh T -m ve tiiken a d.shke to me, for all that." She nearlv cosed her eyes snnled with firm-shut lips, and slowlv moved her head fmm side to side. " I am sure of i 7^ S u sn.; '"{ ''' ^ t"'.' ''' ^^'^^ «" ^^'-^rth IS the ma ter • She suddenly gave vVainwright a sharp tap on the arm with her fan. " We must have a talk^ about it Tl"e tlung will never do, you know, after our desperate inti- haven t time now ; I mu.st go and attend to people You 11 dine with us at seven o'clock ? " ^ ' "I shall be most happy," said Wainwright. Very v/eli. After dinner you can chat with my sister Ruth who IS not going to the Bodenstein's ball. I believe I shall retire and make my toilette, and you shall tell me how I look, a little later. I take great priJ. in my n"w newspapers. The newspapers gossip about everything nowadays; but they so often get the descriptions o^f d esses all wron..^ If they make a mistake about niy caiT^i7'Llf'^r f ^ ^^^''" ^''^ like publishing a corrective caid, in self-dfcffc.'. ^ • . . . There, good-by t You'll conie aMialf^pasi ^; >, ^^^.^ ? Don't foVSet/^ ^ Mrs. Sp 'ring ru5-;lc(; r . tinkled away from him, with A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 113 le peiceiveJ that lady. you unless c niu li^'lit e or no/' if I wt'ie is hanlly maiden op- rery watch - an instant; v^ero. "Oh, here, hut ^he nearly md slowly 3 of it ; you he matter." on the arm t it. The erato inti- i talk. I to people. 1 my sister , I believe, all tell me n my new out in the k^ery thing, iptions of about my corrective '! You'll him, with '4. short, trotting gteps, after having given him another fan- tap on the arm. Wainwright was r,ot loath to accept her invitation. He slipped fn-m (he '-oo-us, a little later, wont to his hotel, dressed for the evening, anil re-arrived at Mrs Spring's by the tiip.o that she had specified. He found the eharmi-jg little basement-house emptied of all its gay guests. Luth was in the reception-room below stairs as he entered this apartment. It struck him that she had a wearied and worried air, though lihe smiled on meetiii'^ him once more. ° ''I suppose you are prepared for me," ho said, sitting down' at her side on the lounge where she was already seated. "^ Yes. Fanny told mo you were coming to dine with '' You are not going to the ball this evening ? " "No. I have been graciously excused for another night ; my sister has let me off. She is so absorbed in the idea of having a particularly delightful time that the result has been a mood of great clemency." " Tell me," said Wainwright, after a little pause, " do you win no enjoyment whatever from society ? " Ruth shook her head, in slow negative. '' No " she answered, as slowly, " it is all very tame to me. I 'don't deny that the fault is in myself. I don't deny that my vision is perhaps crooked, jaundiced, unfair. But I see nothing except pretensions, frivolity and mannerism among the people who ma,ke uji what is called <*ociety I very off -.'n like the way in which they say and dothincrs out I grow sadly tired of the vacant, aimless things th^'at they say and do." You told me the first*night I met you that you were by no means a reformer," said Wainwright ; " and yet you rarely speak of your contemporaries, of the people amon^r whom ftite has thrown you, without making me fancy that you must havo some very stringent theories of social reform. 8 114 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. She aughed as he ended, but the laugh sounded to him more hke a sigh. She seemed to muse for a moment and then looked up quickly into his face with the eyes whose dark richness of tint had already begun to haunt his memory when he was away from her. " I am not a reformer » she said, "'l have no distinct theories, though a few decided instincts. I am only a non-conformist,~and sometimes, I fear, rather an ill- tempered one." Just then Mrs. Spring entered the room. She still wore the same noticeable costume in which Wainwrio-ht had last seen her. It was a commingling of silks each dif- ferent in hue ; it produced a tasteful, harlequin-like effect striking, though perhaps too violent. Wainwricrht could not resist the fancy of putting little visionary bells alona the edges of each silken segment, and having these nnsh instead of her jewelry whenever his hostess moved, after the fashion oi a genuine Folly. Mrs. Spring looked very much out of humor. It was not until Wainwright wa^ seated at the dinner-table with herself, Ruth and Miss Lydia, that the cause of her dis- content transpired. The guest had already perceived that she was distressed, and since he had noticed Town- send s absence during the afternoon, and now saw a vacant place opposite Mrs. Spring, the probable cause of this ir- ritated mood suggested itself to him. " I am having my nerves tried in a most dreadful way " Mrs. Spring suddenly declared. " I am in a fri^htfullv disturbed state of mind." '^ '^ "I hope your husband is not ill," said Wainwriffht tentatively. ^ ' Mrs Spring gave a laugh. « Townsend ? Dear me no ! He is as well as ever, I believe. I've not an idea where he is. Were very good friends, Townsend and I but it can t be said our acquaintance has yet ripened into 1 itimacy " -^ r As usual with the speaker of these words, their bad unded to him moment, and e eyes whose to haunt his 5 no distinct [ am only a ther an ill- he still wore n Wright had ks, each dif- n-like etiect, tvright could Y hells along these jingle moved, after lor. It was r-tablc with 3 of her dis- y perceived biced Town- aw a vacant e of this ir- 'adfiil way," frightfully Vain Wright, Dear me, lot an idea send and I, •ipened into s, their bad A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. II5 taste was not ghiringly manifest, from the peculiar trick of ckic tl)at accompanied their uttei-ance/ But Wa hi- wrigh saAv a pamed look cross Ruth's face before her SIS er had finished, while Miss Lydia burst into a shm^ bubbhng laugh immediately afterward "No, mdeed," continued Mrs. Spring, lettinrr her fork hover over a morsel offish, which was cooked,1ike every other detail ot the present repast, w^ith savory skill, ^^ll tiouble concerns the gross treachery of my dressmaker I foolishly allowed her to delay sending hLe my dress" for the Bodensteins- ball until the last moment. \tZ d spatched her three messages to-day, and the dress isn' Pon'f ^ -P •/ 1 ' ^'■^'^'"- ^'-^''^^■^"^^.>^ ^"'^io"'^ about it. I tan t go It It doesnt come, and I wouldn't miss that ball for anything in the world. I abominate the Bodensteias they are such horrid snobs that they've always exclu, ed ine trom their parties before.- Here Mrs. Sprin.. sh o a rapid look toward her .sister. " I don't mind tellint y', Mr. Wainwnght," she continued, "that Ruth's friend' Ml. Amsterdam, got us invitations for to-night Half the people who meet me there will suspect the truth so I have determine.1 to forestall impertinent lib s and allusions. They say the house is a^>erta p t and I ve a strong curiosity to see it, If that exasperating' Ludovici plays me false, I shall revenge myself in some terrible way .-I'm sure I shall." * ^ " Pshaw, Fanny ! " here exclaimed Mi.ss Lydia, "you've a if I we' e you " " '" '^""' '''''' ' ^--1^"'^ eare a pin " I'h^lt'^^' '^""i"'^ be absurd ! " retorted her si,ster-in-hw. I lave simply nothing that's fresh and you know it • Ihat atrocious green and yellow thing that Worth sent lustWoih again. He has lost all conscience. He .seems to „nk that Huything is good enough fur America 1 here s the bell. Hurry, Ellen, and see who it is " Ihis last remark was addressed with a pronouced ges- 116 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 1 ticulation to the white-capped servant in waiting, who immediately left the room. " I suppose you are too agitated even to care for sym- pathy," said Wainwright, choosing this mild sarcasm rather at random. " You don't say that as if you had much sympathy to offer," returned Mrs. Spring, somewhat tartly. She raised one linger and shook it at Wainwright. " I can't think what has got into you of late. Somebody has been setting you against me, J suspect. I hope it's not Ruth, there. We must have that little talk I spoke of, and find out." It was impossible to tell whether the crispness that went with these words had its origin in real or mock anger. But the reckless fling at Ruth made Wainwright feel a warmth in his cheek, and sent to his lips a retort that wore an arrow-tip. " I should have to forego the pleasure of that talk/' he said, " if it were to be a question of hearing your sister luijustly accused." Ruth turned toward him quickly ; he saw remonstrance in her look. Just then the servant returned, bearing a note. " Not my dress ! " almost wailed Mrs. Spring snatching the note from her who now proffered it. She glanceil rai)idly at the superscription. " Good heavens ! " she be- gan to nuitter, breaking open the envelope with fingers that actually trembled. " Suppose she has written to say that my ball dress . . is " . . . This sentence died away unfinished. Mrs. Spring was staring down at the open note. She had grown pale, and she looked woefully bewildered. The next instant she rose from the table. " Excuse me," she said, addressing no one in particular ; " I am unexpectedly called away — let dinner proceed — I may return l)efore desert." She p>a.s:seer. 1 hat chance was to marry Beekman Amsterdam. J he imagination sometimes puts things very picturesquely to us when it acts under command of the emotions, and It would not be sti-aying far from fact to say that Ruth was now imaged in Waiuwright's mind against a back- ground of lurid disaste.-, where Mr. Amsterdam's un- pleasantly tall figure loomed with spectral sharpness His rather doleful reverie was ended in the most un- foreseen way. He heard a sound of broken voices in the haJl outside,--two feminine voices, that seemed to clash with each other in excited dispute, yet were not raised much above a whisper. Presently, having risen and given clo.se heed to the sounds, he detected one or two sentences and was nearly sure that he recognized both voices as well. I,- " ^'^"./"y;'^*' "°* '^^ '^ ' " ""'^'"^ ^^'"^ ^'«ice which seemed to him Kuth Cheever s. "I shall!" replied that which he thought to be Mrs t^prlngs. "You've no right to try to prevent me. What business is it of yours ? " '' You made it my business. You consulted me about It. " I'm sorry I did. Let me pass, I say,— how do you dare act so to me in my own house ! " "I beg of you -come up-stairs for a few minutes— I have more to say to you— Fanny— please do— I "— These latter words were spoken in loud, implorin<^ ap- peal. Wainwright had no longer the least doubt ^who spoke them. The next instant Mrs. Spring came hastily into the room. Her face had two deep spots of color. She never expressed the idea of repose, even when most placid. But now there was something electric about her; she 122 GENTLEMAN OF LEISUltE. tering eyes on Wain W^t's fare tI t ^^^«"^a"> gHt- the hal/elosed door by which she hnrf" t' T"^ ^^'^ ^^ it- with a slam. After thi If. t i ^1*^^'"^^' and closed She had put bofhtntVel^rwS^ T'^'' there, and had dropped her head Wh.n^' I^T""^ ^'^^"' near to Wainwri/t she raised trl^ '' 'u^ ^''^ ^"^^^ •tears were falling"from her eyes '^' ""^ ^' ^"^ *^^^<^ " I have a great favor to ask of you." she said. ^*^ ! I 1 a snap if ' small, glit- ent back to , and closed vard again, sping then, d got quite le saw that XI. WAINWRIGHT was silent for a short time ; possi- bly surprise kept him so. " What is your favor Mrs. Sprmg ? " he then questioned. Q J "^^^ ^"^^ ^^"^ manner is ! " she cried impetuously, bhe threw herself into a chair, and covered her face for an instant with both hands. Wainwright did not seat him- self. He rested an arm on the mantel near which he was standing, and calmly watched her. Mrs. Spring uncovered her face. As she did so he si)oke. Her tears had somehow not touched him. He felt ex- tremely cold toward her. " I am sorry if my planner dis- pleases you," he said. " I have only to repeat mv former question." ^ l- j Mrs. Spring drew out her handkerchief, and began to dry her tears. She seemed nerving herself to be com- posed. " ]^^}!^ ^^ "ly ^^^0^'" sbe presently said, with headlong volubility :" I want you to lend me some money— a large amount." Then she named the sum that she required. It was indeed large. Wainwright turned a shade paler. He was thinkin^r of Ruth, and what a Avound must have been dealt her pride. Mrs. Sprmg did not wait for him to reply. She rose again and began to speak, rapidly and agitatedly :— "I know you \^ill think my request more than strai But ray dressmaker, that horrible Ludovici, has ju me the shabbiest of tricks. I had an account \ ranszo. 124 A gentlUmak op leisure. f tZ ^T '""."'"^ ^^^'"« ^'"" ■'^"^''''•''^' "'0"tl.,s. Of course ejeverith hour, the artful wretch springs a trap uDon me until Tn''\'' ''"'^ ^"y^^'-e-forthi^BodensteinV tHirt' untill pay her every penny of her bill. Naturally I P-Tn'f get the amount at such short notice." Ce W SnHn house, and 3 in coming )rrid expose it the affair )od-hearted Hy promise ^g had re- Ruth had ed straight t what my gathering ith a curl- said, and lied Ruth. fless face was with- ad an au- it it only )ther you I. " You lon't care wliere you go ; you shan't live with me and call me dis- honest." " You have not the money to repay this loan which you ask of Mr. Wainwright," said Ruth, still perfectly calm. " It is dislionest, therefore, to borrow from him." Mrs. Spring measured her sister with a scornful look. She turned toward Wainwright, while she pointed to Ruth. Her voice had the ring of desperation. " You have known me much better than you have ever known her ! " r.he cried. " Believe her if you choose, — but I don't think you will. I said she had tried to set you against me, and I meant it. She has always opposed suid defied me. She owes me everything, — I took her from a country village, and showered advantages on her. But she has always hated me ; there was never so un- natural a sister ! Even in the matter of marriage she has preferred to injure herself rather than gratify me." " That does not concern the present affair," broke in Ruth, with weary bitterness, as though brought to face an old detested accusation. The words seemed only to feed her sister's wrath. " I might not be as wretchedly embarrassed as I am," she exclaimed, " if you had not behaved with such cruel stub- bornness. You would marry Beekman Amsterdam to- morrow if you thought it would prove of no benefit to me ! " Wainwright's eyes met Ruth's for an instant. " I am very glad that your sister did not marr}? Mr. Amsterdam," he said to Mrs. Spring, in tones as polite as they were neutrally inexpressive. " If she had done so I could not have the pleasure of accommodating you this evening." " Do you mean that — you will — lend me the money ? " asked Mrs. Spring, moving a step or two nearer Wain- wright, with something as eager as greed in her little black eyes. " I will lend it to you if I can procure it at, th\s hour" he said ; " and I think I can." 126 A OENTLEMAN OF I.EISUKE. this." " ""■""•ss. 1 („„! ,t ,uj, j,,,.^ j^ ^^n ^^^^ Mi-». Spring hm-st into a Iiio-li ncrm„« l.„,„i, tr citement seemed ali.m.f t ,="' ™'TOiis> tough. Her e.'!- Imn.l between LoaherXn ^^""""'S'" "^ eaugl,t hi., knew you Jl do U I iri!.''""" T 1\»'=""°™"- I "lt'^tt^:^^,^y '»"; l-'uptunu,l faee. "ot s„,,,We thariVailTo mdt'S Z" V "''I- ," '>" you to indulge a whim, a eapri"e^lt^„ ^r: '"'''"" personified Conscience iZ,° If" ■""""'"^ " ™'-' "' against the falsity and m-ete„%inrl '." ™'™" P™'"^* He felt that she spoke bei,?f ^ ^'^ ■"un-ounded her. knew that in speaki,"rshetS,»f^""'^f speak, and he As he looked at her hi W ,f " m "f J' '""rtification. fectly understood her no fve t ^'/""""■' «" Per- noble and womaniv imn ?li *i, , "^""''^y "^""^rf the More than th he saw with ^"^ 1"'''^'='' ^"^ o^'ln^t. «I>ehadsuffered'a„dZVgM '"'"""™ '■^''--P^et. how The„"h~ke"'t: ?re7i}t!;,jf I''' ?-''-g ''^ -<•- Spring's a£t ears triverlla He h'^'n'T *" '^"'■ exact purpose stirred himwbf'l ?^ '"','•'">' '^■""'' "'hat -hich 'indeed seen d to have O'l^^ff r" "'" ™"- out any intervention of choice ^ Wore him with- Rufb. ." said tlie to tell you • Her ox- bounds of caught his ire says ! " tlomaii. I il distress. filed face, aid. "J)o u he] l)in< 'e. n," broke sustained f he over tbat was I sort of protest ded Iier. , and he ification. Ho per- iod the conduct, •ct, how er side, for Mi-s. \v what i course n with- A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. Leave it all to me," he whispered. "I b 127 irninir iisperet tio more. 1 comprehend thoroughly '" "^ :bis he recede.l several paces horn Ruth, again Oward Mrs. Spring. The latter wore a frown ot bewdderniont but lier anger had not abated as her hands, tightly clenched together, showed with distinct Rn'n?.^' •^f'' ^'^l P^-^^'-^^^ed you to refuse : " exclaimed Slw .wJi^you:?"" "^^^^"^^' '^^ '^'^''^''' ^- P- Wainwright took out his watch. "I will endeavor to leturn in less than an hour," he said to Mrs. Sprin<^ d ™Sr r "" ""' '^" '^^^••'^•^ "*' *^^^ P^^^-««"' '^- Mrs. Spring gave a start. " I have not been disap- pointed in you ! she once more cried. " You are n v fnend after all." Then she told Wainwright the Z quired address. "^ iC i ^^""^^^'^ can trust me," he said, moving toward the door. ' T promise to do all I can for you." He put out his hand involuntarily toward Ruth, as he passed I or She gave him her own hand. It was as cold a!s mari.le. ' hetd tJm^ tt::C^ '''' ''^ ^•^^"- ^ '''''' '^'''' As ho seated XII. IN less than an hour Wainwright returned entered the reception-room he saw Ruth there, beside a table on which a lamp was burnin,«„ u m all the gossips' mouths." L saw h ^ofi now U seemed full of pensive iirmness. "But I^wil nevrr'do that thing. I would not do it even if it shonM L Fanny and me from beggary." """^"^ '^''^ "You mean that you will not marry Mr. Amsterdam " Ruth slowly nodded. " Yes I mean fW - t • , under her breath. ' " ^^^^' ^^^ ^^^d. agail'" ^'"'* '"'' ^'' ^^«^^" q^^^tioned Wainwright inf out^ bnff { "^^''l'^ '"'^'^•^ ^^*^^ arm-chair, spread- ing out both hands for a moment with a very nmrked ^^^tiire of impatience. "Ah, what a question ! "The sof^y " My own impression is that one might as well cherish r'" : li i 11 1 1 130 A GKNTLEi/iAN OF LEISURE. a sentiment toward a piece of furniture. Still women are doing this sort of thing every day." " Thieves crowd our jails, Mr. Wainwright. I don't see why one should steal, on that account." "Do you believe in marrying only for love ?" " No. For love and respect." "You seem, however, to have a decided respect for love, said Wainwright, watching the lamplight deepen her pliant hair into warmer auburn. "I hope I may never lose that," she answered, meetinrr nis look again. ° A silence followed. " Twenty years from now," said Wainwright, breaking it, "you may repent this resolve." Jj'erhai)s. I suppose I shall ossify. Men and women are (lomgthat every day,— almost to quote your own words. But I have another reason for refusino- Mr Am- sterdam. I would not have told you this, except for what has just happened. Mr. Amsterdam may not be a ovable gentleman, but he is an eminently reputable and honorable one If I married him I should be forcing him into relationship with a woman whom I am sure he dis- ikes, whon. he would feel regret at placing among his he des is"""" ^ '"'''' '''^°"' ^ ^°' ^'l"'^^^^ sure that Wainwright felt a slight chill creep through him as these words were spoken. They put the speaker beside him in even a more generous and humane light than that ID which he had just been observing her. But they some- how put a certain sequence of p()ssibi::ties in a new lioht also. He started noticeably and scanned Ruth's face witli a keen look. "Good heavens !" he exclaime 'Joul't." stie returned the light i, best W- '«'" ""'' '•"'y- • ■ • I nm«= 'or w;;^hf;"ith "'vihein'r' ^^ ■" ^^^'--' «^-"- wo^au and I wish fS. of y„t"exr..r,re ^II^ was s-veepini over l,e,-?aee " ""'S" "^ '^^°' he^tlX' £;"«■" -^^ -'-'• *'"S ="-. -J placing again ."itlhan'o^.l^betoTee'/u" '"' "" ^"'"" -^"^ ansi..:d .':Lfi°:hS''be:iad'!?'i;/-? '™" p'^"--- ^"^ nffor, '• ix I ^*^" '* ^^ pleases you to pomo fu Iv ■« a f.l""''"T/'"'="*' w'^h wa-" wo'rn as gmce- ™li"='5^---Hrf;?ssl'^ ctf™t'ott'->^ • ■ • ^^-rnf dan^ef tlrr^^^ tin^efbetrBut'^hi" ""'' "*,' °^ *««>?»■•, a number of out of this hou e Shf" "°n'"«""' °' ''^■- "'"""8 "'« s'xrha-sTurd'-i"""'' ^o"- ^'"^»>"o'sr«ot! aiidnred uuvv that the blush had left it °' "" ^ " Do you ,„e„n that Townsend Spring has e.abezzkd 132 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. Ml j'i i' jl ii ,11 i;! t.1- ff' ;„ I Vl f money which you gave hkn in trust ? " asked Wainwright. He almost whispered the words. He wanted to get at the truth, but the truth had such brutality about it that he instinctively spoke it low. " Yes, I mean ;hat," said Ruth, slowly nodding her head. "I don't hold him as criminal; he took my money and his wife's with good enough intention, no doubt. But Townsend has been a gambler there on Wall Street for ten years. The air he breathes is tainced with temptation. His life is all risk and danger ; he is forever fighting chance. One day there was nothing left to fight it with 'out Fanny's and my money. I don't know if it all went ; he has not said so. 1 suppose he means to die ganr.e, as he would call it. But I believe that he tvill die, tinancialjy, and with a miserable crash, before many days. 1 gatiier chis from certain words he has let fall ; I have seen hiai alarmed before, but I have never seen him show desprdr t-'ll now." " 1 ou should have been harder upon him," said Wain- wright. He spoke with excessive solicitude. " My poor giri, you have let yourself be shamefully wronged !" He saw her chin quiver for an instant. Then she covered her face and sank upon a near lounge, buryino- her heal in one of the cushions. A storm of °sobs shook her frame ; the tempest had indeed followed the calm. Pierced vvith pity and surprise, Wainwright stood and watched her. He wonde ed whether his own commiser- ating words had thus shattered her tranquillity. In his confusion he could not recall them, but nevertheless blamed himself severely for having uttered them. Just as he was drawing nearer to the lounge — with what conciliatory intentions it would be hard to state — Ruth half raised her head, and he caught a momentary glimpse of her face. Tears were sti-eaming from her eyes and bathing her cheeks ; her pale mouth twitched once or twice as she strove to speak. She TirftSftntl'Mlid .speak and in gasping, half-coherent tones bade Wainwright A GENT.r.EArAN OF LEISURE. 133 leave her. As her head ,.nci • i T ",'''■ """^"^ ^''^' lorward once more uDon tJie cu hion, he s ovvly receded. Her behest carried w th it a pathetic sanctity ... He passed from the housTa i tie ater. As he set foot upon tlie lamplit pavernenls o t de t occurred to him that he was in anythincr but a mood lor the coming ball at Mrs. Bodenstein'.^ He took a lon^ wak ruminating upon the strangeness of recent even s^ and haunted by Ruth's wan face and passbnate sob ' Cu-cumstance seemed to have replaced the office of thne Z7rh ^f • ,-^^^ ^""^^ ^^' "^*^"'«. in its courao-eous and dutiful simplicity, as well as if they had been fnends for years. He thought that she had acted with a pnr tv of motive all the lovelier becaus. it had proved ineffbc af He saw how she had striven against a positive tvrann vnf misfortune, and that, i.oweveinhis ha.lVnt he "^^^^^^^^^^ one brave resolve remained unbroken. That last iVre pressible outburst had been a weakness that s^^ u I ow measured her past strength. She would not ma y 'Z tW 1 r- r^'^'^^ *^ wondering, as he walked onward through the dim city, whether she would have man-ied the man, even if she had really loved him. A matr monial spect. It has been said elsewhere in this chronicle t^ at Wainwright was of fastidious temperament. He brouo^ht to his mmd three^ images, or rather these imLes rTow etched themselves in strong lines of memory upoKis con sciousness. He saw Mrs. Spring, with her fe:verSh pu3s and^Li^Sfi l^" -f '---«. f--lous, bal mas.ue m'an nef and her selhsh antagonism against all domestic decorums He saw Townsend, her husband, treating life like a rou lette-board; smoking it up sensually like a quick con" sumed c.gar ; drinking it down, day after d^y li^e a sei'es" of heiy potions ; missing all its flne flavors n his l^e^ voluptuous haste to gain them ; and cuttin... as 1^1^!^! Died chrougii ills precarious career, a ti.r.ir« liffi,. i. ..:. Ii. .. socially ribald. Am] In^fK. u.. ^^w lastly. -Lyddy, bouncing, 134 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. pretty, under-bred, about as dignified as a bacchante, with the taint of commonness in both phrase and demeanor ; Ignorant that a life-long disgrace threatened her, and so self-assured, despite ail her volatile artlessness, th.it you marvelled if she really had enough innocence left to fail of viewing her folly in its true rash colors. _ A sense of these personalities, one after another, slowly visited Wainwright as he moved onward. The result was a vague disiieartenment ; he could ill account for the feeling. It seemed to follow him with the stealthy per- tinacity of one's own shadow. Of what account to him was the whole Spring household? If Mr. Amsterdaui had escaped the danger of marrying into it when he lost the happiness of marrying Ruth Cheevor, that was quite the patrician widower's own affair. Eleven o'clock found Wainwright at the Bodensteins' ball. He had finally decided to go, and remain but a brief time. _ The interest of watching closely for effects of in- ternational contrast had somehow fled from him, for to- night at least. He felt that he had had certain ' graver chords swept away with a heavy touch; they still vibrat- ed and tingled. He was in no mood to be played upon by lighter incidents of impression ; the treble allegros would seem thin after the bass adagio, ° Nevertheless, the scene about him was of unexpected splendor and beauty. " Say what one pleases," declared Mr. Binghamton, who had found Wainwright in the throng, and had linked arms with him, " there are no such balls in New York as these of Bodensteins'. I don't think that many more brilliant ones are given abroad." " I don't think so, either," said Wainwright lookincr about him. ° The immense main hall, with it , coil of balustraded stair- case, was draped and garlanded with the costliest flowers. Over each doorway, and beneath every chandelier, flow- ers were also hanging in fragrant, fanciful devices, like bells, crescents, or stars. All the splendor of the various A GfiJ^fLEMAN Of LEPStJRE. l35 chambers, that glimmered one beyond another in stately perspective, was brightened and enriched by the costumes of the ladies ; for they, it would seem, had worn their loveliest attire and donned their choicest jewels In the greatpicture-gallery,whose walls were lined with master- pieces of modern art, the youthful portion of the assem- blage waltzed to delicious music played by a full orches- tra in an overhanging balcony, midway between frescoed ce.lmg and polished floor. Supper in one apartment still waited unserved, but a glance showed how lavish and commendable were its viands, while the platen from which these would soon be eaten rose in massive piles of silver and the spoons and forks gleamed beside them of solid gold It always makes me nervous when I have to eat anything here, whispered Mr. Binghamton to Wain- wright, as they passed this regal board. " Why so ? " asked his companion. " I have a dread lest a spoon or a fork should accident- ally drop into one ot my pockets. It seems like a useless risk ot respectability. Mrs Bodenstein looked the fit hostess for so grand a festivity. She wore a robe that was a blending of purple velvet and pearly brocade. Her neck and arms^ were wound round with ropes of diamonds; aigrettes of bril- liants flashed in her close-ringleted blond hair like knots of fire-flies tangled .in a thicket ; her dress was literally strevvn with xai-ge solitaire diamonds, as though some ran- dom hand had flung them there, and they had remained, in sparkling adherence. These prodigal adornments only made her rare beauty more manifest; they suggested no 11-advsed display ; she was so exquisite a creature that the ghtterincr tnbute harmonized with her own personal radiance, and rivalled but did not outshine it. To-ni-at she was almost wholly speechless ; she had ceased even to be commonplace. Several gentlemen stood near her as if in mute devotion, with their chapeaux-sjibm held in one hand and their limp gloves grasped unworn in the other 13G A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. after some recent edict of fashion. A stream of people was constantly passin^r before the lady through the door- way near which she was stationed, and if her series of incessant bows above the mass of bouquets pressed against her bosom had something of mechanical inanity, it never- theless justified her statuesque silence, and gave this a sort of magnificent congruity. Wainwright found a number of ladies whom he knew and with whom civility forced him to hold conversation' It seemed to him that the imposing character of the ball weighed upon everybody's spirits; or were his own clouded by an unwonted depression ? . . . After the sup- per was served, and the genteel rush of black-coated for- agers had in a measure ceased round the bounteous table he went himself for a morsel or two of the edibles and a glass of wme. Usually moderate in the matter of wine- drinking, his mood tempted him to take more than a single glass. Mr. Binghamton joined him. and they once niore stood together, convivially sipping the fine dry champagne, whose foamy supply met the great polite thirst ot the guests with magic readiness. •1^'"',.!"^ ^^^ ^^'^ satisfies you," said Mr. Binghamton, with a little wave of the hand to left and right, while he he d his half-emptied glass a few inches from his short red moustache. "I'm sure you've no fault to find with It all Its so deucedly refined that even the worst grumbler couldn't be critical." " I am disposed to be critical," said Wainwright, looking about him for an instant. " I am disposed to find a good deal of fault. " " Oh, come now !" laughed Mr. Binghamton, " I don't like to hear that from you. I've formed a very high opinion of your taste. I never met a fellow, who had lived abroad for years, with so little bias in his views of things American You've been wonderfully refreshing to me my dear boy, after the surfeit I've had of dissatisfied foreigners A GENTLEMAN OP LEISURE. 13^ (Ikln't moan to indulge in detracting compari- W ainwnght. " Far from it." He took another "Oh, I sons," said swallow of win^-^Vh a^I^W^^ .^ITJTe^t n en wfll {"'"^"^er on Mr. Binghamton's coat-sleeve, as men will do when a flavor of admonition lurks in their coming monologues. "I haven't a word to say gat the charming way in which all this grandeur is managed " he went on. 'I object to it on other grounds. Most "pro- bably it is quite as fine a product of civilization aTEu o- pean ball-rooms could furnish, at their best. But There Ihotnt llV .*^^ T'^ ''^ ^^"^ '^^^^-"P^ languor about It. It sme Is of royalty, of imperialism, of anythincr that IS not republican. You would tell me, if I were to ask you, that here are the best people of th^ land,-tho e who possess riches and culture most equally combined! hke ifZlV'^' 'T' '^' ^''' ^''^^' «^ this land le Ike the slothful anstocracies of others. These splendors do not intoxicate me; they make me think. I ask myself f all history can parallel what I now see. WheTe^hi there ever been a country, just one century old, which dared to dream of a haughty plutocracy like this Kicor simplicity, and thrift are the milk on which younc^reatms are suclded. We seem to be dangerously ^irqueov"r here We are quite without precedents. When other countries have got to be a hundred years of aire their rulers have probably abandoned the habit of bi Jkfasting in a suit of armor, and the defensive soldiery has perhaps been reduced by a few thousands; but I don/believe these gent emen have given much thought to feasting their friends on champagne and terrapin^ or delighting them under canopies of roses. Altogether, we appear tS possess a wonderful national newness. With aZvem- HpH^ Jh '' «""«;^«ly/>^Perimental I find we unite a so- ciety that ..ecms already to liave hardened and stratified Ids A GENTLEMAN Of LEIsUKS;. itself as though it had passed tln-oucrh a do^^en developin-r periods. As 1 said, it makes one think." ° •• You began by seriously disapproving," laughed Mr. Binghamton, "and you end by satirizing. I fear that is a proof you are not in earnest." "I have grown to be very much in earnest," was the reply about every thing that concerns my country. And 1 wish that more of the people whom I have met at places like this would share my sincerity." _ Thus far Wainwright had esteemed himself fortunate in seeing nothing of Mrs. Spring; but he was destined soon to meet her, disinclmed though he felt for the en- counter. She passed him on the arm of a gentleman within a very short distance of where he stood. He bowed as their glances came together supposing and expecting that this would be all. But Mrs. Spring had evidently willed otherwise. She came to an abrupt pause, and made a beckoning motion with her fan for Wainwright to approach. This was of course an imperative summons. Just as he had obeyed it she turned to her escort, and re- quested him to procure her a glass of champagne and water. The gentleman departed, and Mrs. SpSng was temporarily alone with Wainwright. t & = She was looking extremely handsome. Every trace of agitation had left her face. Nothing but mirthful bloom remained there, and her smile did not at all diminish as she now began speaking, in low, rapid tones. Her dress rescued under such dramatic circumstances from the clutch ot her modiste, was worn with what struck Wainwrio-ht as a victorious aplomb. It seemed to his eye a dartng assortment ot hues ; there was something pyrotechni? about the way in which its reds and golds met without interblending. Still, it had what is^alled style to a marked degree, and suited the mercurial vivacity of its wearer; we can always tolerate gaudiness in a butterfly 1 m having the loveliest time in the world " said Mrs Spring. " Of course, I can't forget that I owe it ail to A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. idd loom ^fvir T^^ '^^"^ ""^^^ *^^ door of the next loom, It you haven t a partner, so I can see vou to take you out when my first turn comes. . . . Oh I Wot -vou of myself for behaving as I did this evenin/ I don't Strattuth''! • • • ''^ .'"^^' y^^ know;l-me;n m^ h f wonderf,illv '"PPP^^^^^ ™ right, after all. Ruth her Tcnn stm.^. ''"?')! '""^^^'^- ^^ ^ ^^"'^ understand iier, 1 can still resr oct her. You've no idea how cood and mtn t'o Turn n'^'' ''''' ^^°"/ *^^^ "^^^ ^^ ^o-mo-w' sS^^rthTtir^^^ think those horrid things sh: s"id ab^it'p" ol-^ToV^ie^^S' a..a.rs were true. Oh, not at all ! She's worried and nervous that he should be in any difficu ty But I've nTfew da'v^ \"" l'^ ""''^ ^'^- ««'" clear himself ThJ i^ ' • ^ ^I'^^y^ ^oes. Still, I forgive Ruth. There isn t a grain of real malice in that girl • h was onl v her sense of duty; she has such an enormous sense of duty you know Of course, it's a splendid Ting to havf and I ought to be ashamed ever to find it the least mono- tonous or tiresome. Ruth and I shall begin a grand re- conciliation to-morrow; you must come very soon and littri ^'"'''" i']^^^'^- • • • ^"^- ol/about that . . . little service you did. It shall be all right, vou dear M7^en"Evcr''^r^^^^^^^^^ • • Hercon's stte^^'cret^tiy^more"^ ^'^"^P^^"^' ^ ^ --'^^'^ talk bv M^i''^-"^'^ ^f ^^' ^^" '°°" afterward, accompanied ^oo^niSt"^^ "'"""•. :^,^^\^^^^^oihmingouv hostess when tfp v'lp. '"'^'^ , ^^' ^''^^''- " M^» seldom do it when they leave as early as we are leavino- We'll t7 l"l' ^ u vr^ ^'' " ^^^ "^i^^tes, if you say so. Bu first, I should like to show you a bit of social JonL«t T know you relish that sort of thing " ""' Mr. Binghamton's proffered opportunity was soon made IJO A OENTLEMaX 0^ tEtSURE. clear. After the troop of urbane footmen had bowed them out of Mrs. Bodenstein'.s n.ajestic hall, they walked for some httle distance throu.di the crisp night-air, and ?ron?li T" '° a dnn-lighted awning that extended from the door-way of a certain residence down over its stoop and across the near sidewalk. A number of car- nages were grouped close at hand. There had been a smn ar awmng m front of the Bodensteins' house, and a jmdar collection of carriages. There, as here, a smaH t rong of cabmen had waited on the pavement, and a tall policeman, too, with the usual gilt insignia of buttons and the astral decoration. Thus far it all ,^,peared very much ^LT"a"7T''':^^'' f/^^^^^ l^elLljust seen else- where. And when he and his companion shortly after- wards found themselves in a drawing-room filled with fha'tt'v'll' 7««"^bkn(3e still continued, though lacking to th! f^ ^- iTif* of space and splemlor which belonged to the festival they had just quitted. A compact had u27:l" ^'Tr ^---^?l^t -d his companWS th\ '^L^'"' ^? V« ^ ^ery brief one. " I don't see by what right you bring me here," he had pnzzledly said to at^v7t^''T\ C I ""l^'^f^'l^ ^^-t card> to balls must Engknd." beforehand of the hostess, here as in " Oh. yes, of course they must," said Mr. Binghamton as a usual matter. But my frieud Mrs. Doughty waives abou^T.' '"^'% /"^^^\I d«»bt if she knows anything about them. I fancy she has only a dim idea that therf IS any such person as Mrs. Bodenstein, and she will learn Mr. Binghamton presented Wainwright to their new hostess a^ " a gentleman from England'' Mrs DouS was a sto-. lady, with very beau^tiful teeth, which^ht^ large red-lippcd mouth made the agreeable backoround of one continual smile. She seemed "to have a i.a.s..lon f" , lutroducing her guests to one another. Wainwri.^ht found A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 141 latl bowed ey walked lit-air, and extended 'n over its l>er of car- ad been a Jse, and a e, a small and a tall ttons and ery much seen else- ■tly after- lied with 1 lacking belonofed ipact had lion that I't sec by y said to ills must tre as in ^hatn'on, J wjuves -nything at there ill learn )rrow in eir new )oughty ich her rground sion for t found himself presented to four ladies in about jus many mmutes. After favoring him with this signal attention. M.S. Doughty went elsewhere, doubtless to create new ac(iuaintanceships. VVainwright felt grateful when he was enab ed to leave the society of a certain youn- ladv who had been last on the list of the four; she callJIl him sir, and dealt in no conversation except that of acqui- escent monosylhibles. She had a dull face and verv lanre rosy ears, that projected themselves hopelcMsly bevond the reach of artful concealment. This peculiarity, com- bined with the iact of her silence, give Wainwright a sort of Darwinian fancy that she had come from a long ances- tral line of listeners. The chance of getting awSy from tins unprohtable damsel was given him bf the appear- ance ot a lank youth, who approached and diffi'lentlv asked her to dance. Wainwright observed that the lank youth was in evening costume, but that his crn vat, instead ot being the customary hueless caml wa, of violet satin. A little later, however, while sanding in a door- way with Mr. Binghamton, he mad. further observations ot a similar sort. " I begin to see what you meant by showing me a bit of social contrast," he said. " The young gentleman who .]ust passed us had a shirt-front tiiickly covered with em- broidery; {mother, who stands yonder by the mantel wears a white silk neck rie; and here is still another merry-maker, with one of white satin. This at least seems unconventional." " It might ^ cry well strike you as immoral," replied Mr. Binghamton, with a twinkle in his eye, « and I wonder it doesnt Let me elucidate a little. You alwavs look so interested when I am elucidating, and I enjoy it so much myself that I^ believe I was born to be a valei de place. Mrs. Doughty s friends are all a very colorless lot They are not snobs or fops : I only wish some of them were ; f"^, wuuiu give her assemblages a little character, at least. They dont know anything about the Spuyten.^ 142 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. duy vils, or the Amsterdams, or the Bodensteins, or even the bpnngs tor that matter. They are mostly Hchind hold their heads quite high, I assure you. Such S^ast^v deeds as putting on an embroidered shirt, or whitTsatk^ neck, tie are mcidentally committed by their men as vou couect taste This set has none of the airs and graces of the nabobs. Observe how unceremoniously Mrs gouSitv goes about introducing her gentlemen to her ladies ^She never thinks of asking Miss Smith's permission to pre! about it Shi'' tt' PT"J\^^- Jo"es,and tilt ifdl Doultv ^L\ ''"^ of hospitality, that same Mrs. IJoughty. She has none of the grand unconcern we have seen m other hostesses. She really is an enteTteiner she loves to see her guests happy • it would She; Demg bored . . . Confound her!" broke off Mr Bino- hamton in alarmed aside, " I think she's fixed her eye on us She 11 plunge us up to the neck in new introductions Let s slip away before it is too late " "ucuons. At the head of Mrs. Doughty's stairs, just as they were descending, wrapped in their great coats Wainwridit and YlMorTrt "° '''' ^P^^'^^^ "^^ Mrs. Spencer Vanderhoff. She had on a scarlet and yellow ff.,wn She looked charmingly fresh, though she had just come'from the Bodensteins', and was now about to go down into the drawing-rooms of Mrs. Doughty. ,., '• ?? "^*, ^°''^^*^ to-morrow evening," she said to Wain- wnght, in her august yet winsome wiy. " We are a^L o Mrs. Bangs s together, and you are^to call for xne a? half pa.st eight. Was not the Bodensteins' bal superb I felt proud to be there." Mrs. Vanderhoff was slowlv descending the stairs while she spoke thus, witThe hlid amiably turned sideways, and Wainwrigh and Mr Bint hamton were following " I told Mr. Bodenstein S'n^ht " %f:Ztt''t' ' T*'"'^' lumagreatVhrntt'o- pistto delight his guests m so refined and delicious a A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 143 way. I should like to have a medal struck in his iT".- ^\^^'^!^^^ «^«»W be on one side and hs wifes on the other, with all those glorious jewels about her neck Don't laugh at me, you scepticd Mr Binghamton ! You never did have any induLnce for my enthusiasms." *^ io«"^« lor .i."^''ii' ^^ '^'''''" l^'^y" exclaimed the Englishman as they all three reached the lower hall, " yo5 knX Von have so many enthusiasms!" .y u xnow ;you fi^T^r'^JT ^ ^]^^*^'" replied Mrs. Vanderhoff, arrano-ino. the folds of her dress with one or two stately iouchc"^be" fore she entered the drawing-room. " I cultivate them • I pick up all I can find, and 1 find a great many ; there is no monopoly, in this blase age of ours ^ "Den'tmind Binghamton," said Wainwright smilinng tTem."''' Jo^^ enthusiasms because he isn^" ir " ^I ^o V^^^ ^'^^ ^^ ^" *'^^^ "iee way," returned Mrs Vanderhoff, nodding to him across her shoulder " I shall be tempted to put you on the list. . . . Bv the bve pray remember that engagement of ours " ^ "What remarkable freshness that woman has! " said Wainwright to his compariion, a. they quitted the house. bl. Si ^ I. ^^Ti ^'- ^'"gl^an^ton, with his short bub- ble of laughter, " she is amazingly fresh. But she mnkp^ society use the watering-pot tolceep her so - " XIII. THEY went to the Metropolitan Club afterwards as Mr. Binghamton had sufrgested. Entering one of the spacious rooms of the lower iioor, they found a -roup ot members seated tosjether. Otherwise the club secerned quite vacant, though it was presumable that the cani-room on the floor above held its usual number of late game- sters. They joined this group, which consisted of gentle- men whom Wainwright was not specially desirous to meet. Me had already seen them all at the Bodensteins' Mr Gansevoort was one of them, and the four others were persons ot an extreme similarity to Mr. Gansevoort It was indeed the same groui), with one or two variations whose curiously sportsman-like converse he had over- heard on the evening of his first appearance withfe the club. The present talk, after Wainwright and his com- panion had seated themselves, was of a character wholly equine. Everybody appeared to disagree with everybodV e^se on the subject of certain horses possessed bv Mr Gansevoort himself. The speed, age, and general excel- lence of these animals had, for some reason, grown a sharp qui^stion of debate. Wainwright listened very languidly to the lively defence of their^^g^^ner, and once or twice felt bored enough to think J^parting before the con- sumption of his cigar. Bullllittle later, after several Jieavy bets had been exchanged between the disputanh the recent ball became a topic of discussion. Mr. Eingham- tun, wno looked to be on terms of the warmest intimacv rwards, as ing one of id a ,TOlip ub seemed car4-room ate game- of gentle- is to meet, iins'. Mr. ihers were voorjfc. It k^ariations, had over- vithia the his corn- ier wholly ! very body id by Mr. ral excel- n a sharp languidly or twice ) the con- )r several isputants, F?ingham- intimacy A GENTLEMAN OF tEtSURE. 145 Witi, all his siuTounders, chose to instigate this chano-e He he™e b'^rrTi: "^'1^ ""P"^^^"^ good-natur< tha they weie babbling like a lot of horse-jockeys and had • WWo'n'eS'\'"f T.^ ",f ^^^ *« qua^n-erabo^t "did nnn. J ' ' ^''''^^^' ^^^^essing Mr. Gansevoort, teins " T ^^ ^'"" r "°« '^^"^ '^^y iat'r at the Bodens- Srn an 1 kTiSn 1 ^v i" ^°"^^ '^^ ^-^"^'^^^ ^"^ ^ance the german, like respectable supporters of society " nhL^^\V''''''*'l^ ^r«^ ^^^^owed these words. It was Joined'inir"' '^ ^'- ^— -t' but his friends alo enouth fo?r„?''^ ^^'f '' '^' Bodensteins' was quite atonfof h.-r^' "' ersonagc, gazing attentively at one of his shoes, an , ...ving his foot to r!ght and left tLu.h??Hr"f?° l-.«««^e"flaw in its ra^diance "I teriSt ±t7, u^l"i*r^^f^>' ^,!^'g^r. It is difficult to ten just what it lacked, but it was" . , . (here the sneakpr «" ^^'^;^ir\'"1' ^^' ^^^^^^ iirecUy atTat Wainwi-ight felt an irritation prick every nerve He had been called upon, of late, to hear a good dedof Ian LTbKd^ I't^''^^- , ^''^' "^^^^ ^^« he wild not nave Del eved that it could ever wound him. He micrht ft wouldTnfl^^f ^' " '" '""^'^ "^^^ b^^« conceived that Z mV P "Po^^lVni any actual grievance. w,tl,f i. I'lf''''^'"*^ '^^^ appealed so clearly to Wain- wi ght, the latter .saw fit to answer him. This was done of the woT-dr ''' ^^°^"^- "^"'^^ ^'- deo^trth 'rut to-nlht'^wat''v^''7'''iJl'^'^'.' "^^'''^ '^' entertainment mXtbns.^, "^^^^ ^^^'^^'^ ^'' ^^^^^^'« better than T0i^\SnotT^ started and stared. If Wainwrighfs voice had^not been so hard, he might have suspected no 146 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. was, point of rebuke in what he had just heard. As it he slightly colored, and showed a painful uneasiness Outside his fiworite folly he was by no means a bad teilow, of equable temper, courteous instincts, and yet not at all slow to resent an affront. His amiable qualities made him justly popular, and he had many traits of true manlinesss. "^ " Our opinions appear to differ," he said, with an accent ot satire, entirely forgetting his English intonation. " But 1 suppose there is no harm in such disagreement, provided it s a civil one on both sides." Wainwright gave a cold smile. " Oh, certainly not" he replied, ''though the best of us are often liable to meet with views that rather try our tempers " Mr Gansevoort straightened himself" in his chair " I do not know that I have said anything to try yours " he retorted, with a distinct frown. y y^^^^ ^e "Frankly, I think you are mistaken, there," asserted ^Vamwright raising his voice a little. " I have not seen Z!!" T, . ^T^l^o^^try in which I was born as you have done. But I have seen enough to warrant my feeling some resentment toward those who affect the manner of constant idle sneers at her expense. And I consider that the man who enjoys her protection, both as regards life and property, might employ his time more profitably than m pelting her with cheap sarcasms » ^ -^ Wainwright looked about him at the whole group while he finished speaking. A dead silence followed He broke Its spell by rising, but at the same instant Mr. Gansevoort ros3 also, and faced him, flushed with anger "You are impertinent, sir!" he exclaimed, with blunt heat, and he made a step forward, as though bent upon striking Wainwright. But ii^diately several forms interposed between the two M Wainwright found himself gently l)ut firmly pushed backward by Mr. Bin^- hamton He was not at all angry; he had spoken with deliberation, and believed, whether rightly or wrongly As it was, neasiness, ns a bad d yet not qualities ts of true in accent •n. "But provided nly not," B to meet I air. " I ours," he asserted not seen ou have ■ feeling anner of der that ards life aly than ip while [e broke isevoort 1 blunt it upon I forms ■ found '. Bing- n with rongly, A GENTLEMAN OP LEISURE. 147 that he had admir ■D- , inistered a most deserved rebuke Mr lurthe end of the large apartment, and stood there hold EwhTle^r r*^' ''".""^^^ '^^- ^' '-^'' ten'minutet Meanwhile Mr Gansevoort, surrounded by his friends was expressing himself with rather excited gestures and either receiving the sympathy of those about hL or undergoing their efforts at pacification. ^ ihT, r^T'^I'i ^''^f'^".^ P^^"^*^'^^ ^« hi« fiend's suggestion that he should apologize to Mr. Gansevoort. " Of cfurse " Jie meiited. Viewed internationally, he is a donkev But then comes the unfortunate consideration that tS IS no law against the existence of that animal A re! signed endurance of nuisances is one of society's haithest biVtrob:;t"^^^^^ ^^" ^-'^^ ^-^^^-^ ^^^^ ^- - Wainwright smiled during the delivery of this counsel • was" hTs^idt^^^ ''''''''-' '''''''■ ^^' -'^ T hi ^Y^ ''''^ apologize to Mr. Gansevoort. Ever since Jim fl T'" 'r ""^ ^ ""'"b^^ °f "^e» ^vho resemble h m. they have been straining my patience. To-ni4t he made a ridiculous remark. I replied by a bit of honv that I couldn't resist, It did not then need much to make Wmandhis li ft *^^- ^^^^S^^^}''' I ^ave let off both mmandhis ittle popinjay constituency very easily in- deed^ I .shall remain here a short time longer, and if no new developments occur I shall go home to bed " Just then a member of the Gansevoort group was seen crossing the room. He presently addresse^l W^arnwrS with great poiteness. Mb said that the unpleasanTfee JnilS^^lir^^r-!l-»'^- do4tbeset^:!l \xr. a friendly way. Hs thought it quite possible that Mi Wright would admit, ou reflection, to having given 148 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. Mr Gansevoort good reason for annoyance ; and without doubt some message of apology would not, in that case, be ditticult of arrangement. This silver-tongued ambassador finished by saying that Mr. Gansevoort felt both wounded and amazed, a.s he had intentionally given no cause for the rather severe treatment which he had received Wainwright heard these diplomatic sentences through and then tranquilly replied to them. " I shall offer no apology whatever," he said. " if I told you why, It would doubtless be considered a further rude- ness on my part. But I have reasons which seem to me good reasons, and I prefer simply to stand by the opinions which 1 then expressed. He bowed to the person whom he had thus answered, and walked with leisurely steps from the room, Mr. Bino-. namton accompanying him. ^ "I am afraid there may be trouble about this affair," said the latter, when they had reached the hall. " Ganse- voort IS furious. • l?°»'*' T ^'V^ ^'^ ^''''y ^^" ^-ff^'ct me," replied Wain- Wright, unless he should make a personal attack on me at some time.-which might perhaps be a disastrous step for him to take. He paused, and a chill glitter disturbed his usually gentle eyes. " I may have been wrong from a certain point of view," he continued. " T can readily un- derstand just why you thinkj was wrong. There are of- ten several ways of viewing the same action, and all of them rational ways. But one fact remains: I have re- sented hearing a great country ridiculed by a small native A i ^f ^;\been shocked and disgusted by an arrogant dandy, and I have shown what seems to me admissible displeasure. . . . Shall I say good-night here, or will you go now ? ° ' J " I shall remain a little longer," replied Mr. Binghamton whose gossip-soul doubtless thirsted for the last intelli- gence irom the adjoining chamber. A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. [ without it case, be ibassador wounded cause for id. through, If I told ler rude- sm to me opinions nswered, fr. Bing- 3 affair," " Ganse- id Wain- k on me ous step isturbed y from a di\y un- e are of- id all of have re- II native irrogant missible will you 149 added W„i„| .. ,^^;Z;^ JZ I^Xto^oK p'?. By Jove, I hope it won't come fn fKof > " • ? I?' B.nghau,ton tu^ni^ away, wHh r o^hL'S^-olI X^. hamton, i intelli- XIV. DURING the next day Wainwright received no hos- tile communication from Mr. Gansevoort, though, judging by what he ah-eady knew of this gentleman's con- tempt for American customs, he would scarcely have been surprised if something as European as a formal challenge had reached him, arranged in punctilious conformity with " the code." While he sat in his room, that after- noon, however, and reflected with soft amusement on the course which it would be best to pursue under circum- stances of such grandiose importance, an envelope was brought him from Mrs. Spring. It contained some brief but cordial lines from that lady, and it contained several bank-notes, each of large amount, whose sum-total fully covered his loan of the previous evening. This event was a great gratification to Wainwright. It made him feel that his next visit at Mrs. Spring's house would not be paid with any feeling of awkward reluct- ance. Her late allusions to Euth had filled him with as- tonishment. He felt that he had no key to this woman's character. He could not decide whether the change was one of policy or impulse, but he found himself ardently hoping that it would be a permnnent change. To think of Rulh now was to weaken withi.i him a gnawing anxiety, i\nu as hy tragic position had become an almost incessant care to him, the fang of such discomfort was kept rather closely occupied. He resolved to go at once and person- all^ acknowledge the payment of Mrs, Spring's indebted- A QE^XTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 151 for': the^S^ her house not long afterward, he inquired tor the ladies^ and was shown into the small reception room. Here Ruth soon joined him. She looked even rou"ie";r%i'^" ^^^^^■^- "iwti^trogiito Sed ' TIC'^) ^ wan smile, when they we^e both '« rin'/ f ir'^ '^ '^T^^y' '"^ «hiWishly: last night." 1 cant at all agi-ee with you there," said VVainwrTcrht using a sort of kindly decision. " Let us drop that sub- ject, if you please. . . . I have just reneived a corn munication from your sister," he went on. " I hSpe it put' her to no inconvenience. Her promptness waslite it necessary. I suppose you know to 4hat I refer." Yes, said Ruth. She looked straight into his eyes ^estedTnT'' T 'T-''^'"'^ ^^°"^ her^worried face sug! gested to him the reticence and reserve with which she had abeady met his past efforts to secure her confidence But this expression was fleeting; if Wainwright had not learned to know her face so well he might not have ner ceived the subtle alteration. " Fanny pr^ocured the money from Townsend ; I am nearly sure that she did not S him for what purpose she required it. But her demand was very imperative. Townsend became enmged and ZfeZ'^^jr^^'"'. i^^"^' ' ^^'y " ^ "^i«^^-We scene !^fl /i. afterward he sent her up the amount from his place of business, with a really terrible little note. Oh dear, she broke off, suddenly, droppincr both hnnd« foi'met^'bl if "^ '""'V'^' ^'^-^' "it'ee^nis^fstra'ng lor me to be telling you all this ' " wriif'^' T^^*^ it seemed quite natural," murmured Wain- wiight. I want it to seem so. Ruth gave a mournful, tremulous laugh. " I have hid- den my distress from everyone in suchl jealous way till "By everybody you mean the people whom you have met since you came here to live ? '' ^ ies. You told me, the first time I saw you, that you had 1 K » A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. left sonic dear friends in the Massachusetts town. It might have comforted you to have spoken to them of your sufferings. Why shouldn't you make me a kind of proxy, and act just as if I had known you from child- hood ? " " f "\^y°^ ^o"'*^ remind me of those friends at all," said Kuth, shakmg her head, with a gleam of tender comedy in her seriousness. " They were very plain and simple people. Some of them write to me now ; their letters seem to come from another planet. I often wonder what their counsel would be if 1 had told them everything." " You are sure that they would not have counseled you to do one thing : they would not have proposed that you should marry against your will." Ruth's eyes filled with tears. Her voice shook as she said, " No, no ; I am sure they would not. And yet if thev knew how my sister had begged and implored that of me this very day, perhaps "... She paused ; she was resolutely choking back her tears. Wainwright at once spoke, with swift earnestness. " What do you mean ? Your sister has then been so cruel ? She assured me last night that she was to treat you with every sign of repentance. Can she have kept her word so ill ? " ^ Ruth seemed bewildered by the force and feeling with which he spoke these words. She wa.s silent for°a mo- ment, as if meditating. Then she slowly answered, " it was after Townsend had gone, this morning.' She made me a passionate, a despairing appeal. Her eyes are open at last : she has seen the truth ; it fills her with hor- ror. She is lying in her room now, with a blindin^r head- ache. . . . It is very pitiful." ° " And you ! " exclaimed Wainwright, carried away for the instant by severe indignation. " Can it be possible that the cowardly entreaties of this selfish woman will make you forget the magnitude of such a sacrifice ? " She turned to him with a flushing face, She had ap- A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. bown. It :> them of a kind of om child- all," said r comedy id simple iir letters (ler what ihinff." seled you that you 3k as she et if they lat of me she was t at once L been so 5 to treat ave kept ing with or a mo- ed, — ig. She eyes are riih. hor- ng head- iway for possible nan will ■e?" had ap- 153 iievei lorget that, she broke forth, plaintively "Tf T « tuldV' »"'' ''""' ^" '"" «- J-' •>- i,.rd" y must not!" he had leaned ve;v close to h!r T r^'?i! swept her cheek " Toll .„ » i/ • ? ' "'^ •"■eath are ^till &„, '• ' ^'" ""'■ '"' "'"'^■-" ">" !»« that you woiful in.eJoluti„rsp?ke in ?h nttett^ 're.'""' ' " no. ™ore about it," L present.;"fltd. i.'T ZTr^ "Which means that you may yield." it ^r^'/i!"'^ ^'^"^ ^''' ^«^« ^^'ile l^e steadily watched piration quicken. She had not been lookino- at him fnr iZ:^^^T' ^V*."«^. «« «^e turned her eye^s upo him unsi;ed1ts'^^^"^^ ''''' that seemed to ha^ve dS'thS almo^a Vai? ' 'f' " '^' ""'^^ ^^™ ' ^^^ ^^ --- was aimost a wail. Fanny says that I hold her life in mv hand.,. You yourself said to me. only a little while aZ tl^^y? ^''' .^'"^"^ themselv'es every day. No o^'ne seems to blame them. I suppose it is a ve^y pieasanl thing to have your diamonds and your opera-box " linf firThaTtrd •" ''" ^^f Pl-e' where^a crack- pollhed stM t ? '^'"^'^'^ ^^Sht the low trellis of .il 1A •• .^^? P^^^^^ o»e foot on the trellis and stared down into the fire, while its glow made a rnddv Wlnw i^^^^^^ ^^^^"^ ''A'^^^' «f^e" d^k^dr^f '^ wainwright also rose, and his eyes followed her He Tf ™'d^^^S^^ -^^^^<^ %- thus extemLl for «- lew secoras. it had flashed upon him that ^" lov--^' ^^Ar anu ne was indeed on the point of telling her this and of nsking her to b,com. hi. Vif,. But pfes^tlV^™ 154 A GENTLEMAN OP LEISURE. dropped at his >ides. She, meanwhile, had not seen his gesture, nor that lie had grown, (luring this brief time, ex- ceedingly pale. He went up to her, a little later, and put out his hand. " Good-afternoon," he said. " Give my thanks to vour sister." ^ "Must you go?" said Rutli, placing her hand a mo- ment in his. " I have not offended you with my worldly views," she continued, while another laugh, short and dis- cordant, left her lips. He stiove to retain her hand, but she drew it away. " Are you^ going to marry Mr. Amsterdam ? " he said. " I don't know," she responded, looking down again into the red heart of the fire. You told me that you would see yourself and your sister beggars rather than marry him." " I can't deny it. I didn't think, then, what a pressure circumstance can exert. It is crushing me down, I fear. Oh, we are so often sure of our strength till the time ar- rives for showing it." A reproachful answer shaped itself on Wainwright's lips, but it did not find egress. He somehow felt that he had no right to let it pass. A silence ensued. He was looking at Ruth, and she was looking directly down into the vivacious blaze of the fire. He never forgot these few minutes. He never forgot the mental conflict that so memorably weighted them. . . When, a short time afterward, he was out in the street, walking at a rapid pace, he could not recall whether or not he had said good-by a second time. His mood seemed very strange to himself. With enough heat to have kindled a flame of impetuosity, he denounced himself as cold-blooded. He was in love with Ruth Cheever, and he had had the chance of discovering if she would rebuff his open declaration. But a new motive had plucked him by the sleeve, and he had succumbed to its remonstrating whisper. He had thought of forming a hated connection ; seen his time, ex- his hand, to your id a mo- ^ worldly i and dig- it away, said, .gain into ,nd your pressure n, I fear. time ar- iwrifrht's t Ihat he He was own into :hese few that so he street, lether or d seemed to have mself as r, and he Id rebuff jked him istratinsf nnection A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 15;;; With the Springs and this thought had made him recoil Mli^^lt'rTf 't '?^ "^^^ '-'^ against air leDltiir tI V \''\'''^'^' l'« o^vnod her ?riun.ph. he Sr f I . ''"^ "^^V^' *^^^ ^"^^««^f that he lould niany, if he ever married, as much with his h , ? as with his heart. He had been reared to respect v hat is 'ormed caste ; his peculiar English surroundings, vnd L ™ ss of early educational n.axiins, had stamped bin vvi h con servatism. But he had felt the force of his c . J' as T^ grew older, ami had watched many green bei 4 wither into dryness, tossing them out of iclo^s and Wnd^ws so to speak, when they had grown futile encum ram4 ifphoistral^r^ """r'' '""^y ^»-^ '- '^^^^-^^ upholste.y, as it were, and scented it with an odor of the Kid a^ h-rown n- rf'r ^''^ '^ ^^^^ - ^^'^'^- scenf «n"- too errand Snmo ^f ' " ""tiu au, tnough. 1 hey re brea?h-I dectTif fhe^on'r Thit'^ ^^ .' '^^^'« "She means in a tea nn " ^f ^/^ Iikc a t, .npest." Wainwright emnlovinr.^ ' f f "'' }^''- ^^^^ghamton to tinned Mrs Brown wth'n ^ ^ /" ""^r^^n^." eon- her eulocry in wMoh Tp. i *'^ ^T^'^ ^^^^ «"^>Jecfc of mingled reproach and admiration w<. re coyly Ml La^e cleared his throat. It appeared to be . 162 A GENTLEMAN OF LEIsURE. ■ ^ WaiiWv'rio'ht, Vont throat that could not undergo this process without a cet* tain magisterial volume of sound resulting from the effort. " I am a pioneer, sir," he said, addressing He put one of his big, well-shaped han is into ih. of his close -buttoned coat, holding it there quite concealed, like the celebrated people in antique portraits. " I re- cognize that *:liere is a great work before me," he con- tinued, " and 1 am gohv^ to do it, if I can, in a manfu), earnest, honest way." Wainwright thought rhls wr-s a rather impressive mode of beginning to state a cas;\ bu.t he also suspected it to be by no means lacking in self-;X>nfidence. " Mr. liarge is writing tiie poetry of the future," said Mr. Bingham ton. "Andpray, Avhat is the poetry of the future?" asked Wainwright, with a civil interrogative smile. Mr. Large answered the smile with one of gracious com- miKv?i'ation. He again cleared his throat, of which a good deal was revealed to view, lifting its white, solid girth above an expansive turned-down collar and an ample cravat of black silk, worn with loose negligence, as though it had been tied in a strong wind. " The poetry of the future, sir," he replied, " is but a name given to that healthy impulse which would sweep away the rhyming pettiness, the sickly and hectic affectation, the absurd metrical restrainments, of the past." _" Mr. Large, you see, tumbles over all the old idols," said Mr. Binghamton to Wainwright. " He doesn't believe in the past at all ; do you, Mr. Large ?" There were two little vertical creases above Mr. Bing- hamton's odd nose, and a kind of quizzical sobriety all over his small, funny face. " I abhor the past," said Mr. Large. As he spoke, he passed one hand alon^ the dense backward flow of his hair, as if to see that it retained the proper picturesque disorder. He would probably l-.s . -> gone on speaking, bu just then a young man, who hb ■ jated himself at a nea. A GENTLEMAN Of LErSTTEE. >ut a cet-^ be effort, nvv'right, llio front oiicealed, " I re- he con- L manful, ive mode L it to be re," said ?" asked Dus com- h a good lid girth n ample 3 though y of the to that rhyming ! absurd d idols," fc believe [r. Bing- rietv all poke, he w of his buresque ing, b;^ t a near 1G3 piano, Ix-gnn to play, and a universal silence fell upon the company, " Hilw-r""? -T"" ^^ *J^' P'^"^ ^^"^ extremely slender. f^ n I i;: r^ ':r "f ^ ""^'''''^ ^'l^^^^- ^^'^^^^'^ upward horn h, head as though some acute galvanic shock had enelv '^;T*^ ^Y'^\ ^' ^^""y"^ ^i^l^ extraordinary mn.P'i r "l^^e <^he nistrument palpitate under the mos robust voume of sound. His while body also pal! evokpH' '""'^'y^^T' 'y'T^^y ^vith the strains which he ulf.r or rl- ""''* ."''^^ l^'? piano-stool appeared to exist under conditions of painful insecurity ; one miHit almost have behoved that the surface on wi;ich heTat had been heated beyond his powers of composed endurance. As ^le performance proceeded the frenzy grew more vehe- ment. You would have said that its method involved a destructive motive toward the instrument. Isn t It horrible ? " asked Mr. Binghamton, in the ear 's Jv ^r^?. ".^' V^°"'^ knowlhat one caricature IS any worse than the other. That Large fellow is mv special abhorrence. He, too, is a distinctively American creation^ I don't mean that we haven't vain^br ous jS' nL'him!" " '^"°^^^'' '"^ "^ ^^^'^ '^^^' ^' ^y^^ "^!''fj''\l''^'^^'^^^^S^y^^eV' inquired Wainwright. He calls them democratic chants. They are about bound ess prairies and brotherly love and the^gmnd eom- mg amelioration of humanity. Thev are CVIvIp nnH Emerson jumbled up together' in wfl^l parody '^He d^' cards rhyme he discards metre, he insults art.^ Of coui^i ne nas a little worshipping constituency: such poseurs always do have. They think he is a mighty organ-vo ce LTbt'l'"^^ everything that is rhapsodical, iScoher nt ^hn J. '^'' f '''I'^-^'y «°nn>a^-ed to an oratorio or a nr nTilTfu- K?"^""^'"' ^'^^ ^« ^^^^^ ^^^ book. It is punted at the author s expense ; its name is ' Earth-Clods and ..tui beams, ji Hmt is to be the poetry of the future Heaven have me.cy on our unborn generations ' " i 1G4 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. Not long afterward the gentleman at the piano Cfased his boisterous calisthenics. Another interval of conver- sation followed, during which Wainwright permitted Mr. Binghamton to take him by the arm and move with him among new groups of guests. They presently met a lady whose name was pronounced to be Mrs. Lucia Macintosh Briggs, — every lady present appeared endowed with a triple name, — and whose fair, ethereal face expressed tiie most amiable sweetness. But after exchanging several sentences with her, Wainwright discovered that her re- sponses were framed with great bashfulness and under the most stammering difficulty. No school-girl, fresh from rigid disciplines, could have shown a more distressing embarrassment or a more pitiable uncertainty of phrase. " She's the cleverest woman in the room," Mr. Binjrham- ton managed to tell Wainwright, as the latter turned to him with placid despair. " You wouldn't believe it, but she is. She can't talk ; she can't even think without a pen in her hand. But her tales are fought for by the magazines. She has the most enchanting style, — a sim- plicity and self-restraint that are phenomenal in this age of gorgeous rhetoric." A little later Wainwright was made acquainted with a small, nervous, keen-eyed gentleman, who charmed him for some time by a very brilliant tiow of talk. He had rarely heard a more delicious blending of nimble wit and solid wisdom. He seized the first chance that presented itself of asking Mr. Binghamton whether this nonpareil of conversationalists was also a writer. " Yes," replied his friend, " and a most miserable one. There you have the antipodes of Mrs. Lucia Maclnto.sh Briggs. Not one of his good things ever by chance gets into his dull, opaque treatises. He thinks he can write, — a delusion from which his friends are sometimes obliged to sunei- disastrously. But he can only talk ; his pen is a non-conductor." A very thin young lady, with high cheek-bones and a no Ct'asecl t conver- itted Mr. ,vith him et a lady [aclntosh 1 with a 3ssed tile ■y place, staring after him with a bewildered gaze tiiu fi re- at up to 3t accept still) of .1 en to her ipo.ssible. [lako this /^on't you m do no his tones, she said, retained d, plain- !,— " why must be '"6 steeled /"hat may y that I i-s full of had re- 1 hurried that you ys ! You going to A GExVTLEMAN OF LEISURE. I77 ^ He would have told her more, but he felt that he was anv fn 1 It' fl"^ ^' ^"^''^ l""^ ^^^^^« ^" her breast any tull riame of hope. As yet he had the right only to set a feeble spark there, ° ^ pressed t. Then irned, on the fire- 12 XVI. ON the former days of Wall Street, nearlj' a score of years ago, when war held the fate of our nation in its bloody balance, and the price of gold vibrated with heavy changes almost hourly, the fever of speculation passed all limits. Then it was not a rare thing for brokers to earn from eight hundred to ten thousand dollars a day in commissions. More than a hundred millions were realized in sales. New York never wore so opulent and festal an aspect. Luxurious carriages rolled through the Park; Delmonico's best resources were taxed in the giving of artistic dinners ; the city showed a ceaseless variety of balls and receptions. The mania of speculation I'aged in all departments of life. Brokers' offices were crowded with customers ; the clerk invested his precious salary ; the old man staked his slender annuity : the widow risked her all. Then darker times followed ; heavy de- falcations convulsed the Street ; periods of comparative quiet were succeeded bj' stormy episodes. Government, through the sudden sal(;s of millions, wrought havoc and dismay. The prices of bullion strangely vacillated ; loans would abruptly go up and stocks would fall with a crash. Then came throe years of dull monotony in the market, and at last the disastrous horrors of Black Friday. For some time previous to this woeful event, an approaching tempest had been observable, and thei'e had been evi- dences of a formidable clique movement. The clearances of the Gold Exchange Bank had markedly increased. A •^ A GENTLli.MAN OF LLfSURF. j-j) "men of Erie" wiHi fl„. ,. '^ ■^P^^."- ^hc indonntHl) c James Fix:i ^:^^iZ^ir^tT'r'''' ;nornmg gold .sl.ot irom Uo to ( n F l"^' ]•!" "''"' tlircatened. Men saw tl.eir \S uu'^' ^-'^ ^'^'' ^''^^ f«'ll at a ruinous rate. The dread Jl.Tl-u^ ^''''"''''^ g;>IrmZ ' "^"^^^ >^^'"/'^' l.ome almost lifeless from th; bui^tin" nf ' ^' '"'■'''^''' tl.is hour, too, when eve)Tl"dv% or v ? """ '"''■^"'■^ ' ^" his neighbor/old anlZ^':^^ Z TuTl ^' Wows. It was atime of anarchy eh '3 m ''^'^^^h'^^•'*■'^ pense. The stanchest men now ;ecal MoT'^^^^ ■'•'•^- a .shudder, and many will havl the mosf?,*''^'^'^ ^'^^'^ for remen,bering it t^o the cC of their t^^"^ "'"^"-^ wrathfu vent. Beinc tim ri;,Jr. A ^' " """''""nus mo-le of living, ouTfentnerto 21- fhrfri7"f ",{ Circumstance before th ox. ),o ^7 ^ ""'*^^ ^f all offers a constant intoxcTtli? '^"^' ^^ "^P^"^««' ^^ "^w best min' ^^ '^"^ of life, viti;ting and e^vVS^^^ 7'\'^'' ^^'^ serenity of occunatio, ,nS f '^^ '''V^'' ^ lienlthful ablean^ hStlZ^^^' iTLtT'''''^ ^"^^ -^"- love for this sort of o-nrninn- " ",""'^''" ^^«^^^' the ^pon Ordina^^otnSSf .S; ::^ Idlr'^V' '"'^ deed to those who have tasted 23L-,^1^^^,^"'« ^«- i^ven the eopardies of n miUfo -•"'^^"ff ^^--^L-ituments. their «ui4 -uitut ;Hh'it7i„r::,:t'te"cSir;:: I ''■"■•%AJ^ ■ „ 180 A GENTT.EMAN OF LEISURE. dreary fatigues, and its necessity for mechanical disci- pline. Nevertheless, if speculation be a disease, the disease is one worthy of close attention. Its workings certainly possess a morbid harmony by no means beneath the study of the analyst. The fatal effects of this overstrained life can be told by the dark experiences of many a ph ysician. Slow and noiseless are the casualties resulting from it ; but victims are forever fallinfj in this fiofht of tense-strunir nerves and rivalry-spurred brains. A mere walk through the streets thus devoted to the ceaseless struggles of game- ster against, gamester will impress one, whose scrutiny is on the alert, with a sense of some new malarial atmosphere. Those whom we meet often have a restless disquieted step. If one of them be an acquaintance, and we pause to greet him, the chances are that he vrW salute us with an absent, ilurried demeanor. We {;.'C s;\ >t of his hazardous and combative world ; we bel<;!i;4' {snong the more tranquil dwellers of earth ; we have not, been inoculated with his own goading distemper ; we iue mere lookers-on in Vienna, and V^ienna has something better to do than concern itself with our humdrum neutrality. VVainwright was filled with impressions more or less of this sort as he passed through a certain portion of Wall Street on the day that followed his last interview with Ruth. He had made an effort, during the previous after- noon and evening, to see Townsend Spring ; but two separate searches for this gentleman at the Metropolitan Club had ])roved equally futile. He had learned Spring's business address late the night before, and was now mak- ing practical use of this knowledge. It was a little after eleven o'clock when he entered a small office, where two cleiks sat at two desks, and a shabby, grisly man, in an overcoat that wanted several important butt(ms, stood cleaning his nails with a dingy penknife. One of the clerks, a thin, pale stripling, with an ink-spot on his cheek that made him look thinner and paler, answered Wain- wright's inquiry for Mr. Spring, stating that the latter t 1 1 V t^ a I'i A GENTLEMAN Ot^ LEISUUE. Igl fevoml win. T ,T '^^ found, and was immediately la^oled \Mth a hard stare from the other clerk who wore u dapper cravat in the shape of a large butterHv and h d aie^Th n^'th^' fr T'^ P'^^-^-^ a?eurately?n'tr mki' uie. ihen the two clerks momentarily r^azed at each other, as though this distressing b.tra^^ahfl.norance Not very long after this, he stood at a door-way open- ing dn-ectly ofi a narrow street, and reciuestod a portei- on I.i?h Af' f '■''"'''^ '^^••^"^' ^^"" ^'hire he coukl peak with Mr Spring. But before the words had pass.^1 his lips he became aware that a wild tuumlt wis takin place in an immense chamber bevond. Hundred? J" • voices seemed shrieking in furious concert, and 1 e 1 arl a vision of numberless male figures pressed tocrethe I ll^ sh^ok Ms head.!;&^tw::in;S inS^?li terms that he must "go up-stairs." A\^inwricd t went up-stairs, wondering. He soon found himself in a 'Xrv over ooking the mad turmoil of forms and vo ces " No'v and then one shrill, querulous cry would rise a bo vo the prevai ing bedlam, only to be drowned, a second kte' by that of some more stentorian shouter. The uproar md the insane gestures accompany ng it were mrt Iv rZ.'^,i toward a sort of presidential Lt?u^n wher^e at ,^^^^^^^^^^ uTmo^ciuTrof'rr^ ^^^^^^^ 'tuXltr tir he' S^c^l e 1 ,'P '"V^^^"^ ^'^^" making raps Mitnag.wel By degrees Wainwright grew accustomed to the noisy throng ; he separated one individuahty t™mn another; here and there he recognized the tVeZn ac- quaintance. But there were many whom he did not recognize, and among the excited bidders he began to ob IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. i.U I" * I.I 2.8 IM ■- Ilia 1.8 •^ i^ t m 6" }M IIIIIU. 11.6 =1 c 1 iluiugmpiiii Sciences Corporation \ '^ o ^ .V <^ 4^ ^ '^T^ % 0^ 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^^^ r o i/x H 182 A GKNTLKMAN Ot' LEISURE. serve all varieties of visage, the indices of countless dif- tering temperaments. Yonder was the fresh-cheeked beardless youtli. whom fate had snatched from the com- petitions of the colleo-e curriculum to waste his adolescence in these far more unwholesome contests, and make him old and jaded long before his time. Here was the shrewd- eyed, sallow operator, veteran of unnumbered financial trays, weary to the bone of this endless contention, vet remaining m it with souiething of that doleful pertina- city which makes the victim of opium still cleave to his pernicious " he exclaimed, vigorously grasping Wainwright's hand ^'Wlut "^'' nf V- .^VPP°«« it scared you at first/' Weli, it was rather frightful." «.?^y"'^i'!}*' ^""^^ ^"?' °" *^^ balustrade of the gallery and stared downwai^ for a moment. Then he turned to his companions with jerky suddenness, pounding with one hand heavily on the wooden railincr " % beavens, sir," he cried, " I'm the happiest boy in t to-day ! I m deuced if the luck hasn't gone dead wi h me this morning. It's made Towney Spring a man a^^ain The market s changed, and I've done one of the neaS operations this street has seen in ten days. Soine t me ago don t you see I caught a rumor that a pool was be W made on North West Common. I kept a .^larp looko^ ^ that stock, I was so certain it was bound to move. Mean- whi e It kept me poor for a devil of a time. Every dollar mfvo^Thr''^^' "''' \ 7''''''f^y '^'' ^'^''^ did b^egin ti move. Ihis morning it boomed, and now I'm in ctover 1 ve just sent a telegram up home to Fanny. She'll be aevihsh glad. Poor little woman. I left her half fright- ened out ot her wits. Things looke.l so infernally bh ck for about a week past that I thought it was all up with yours truly, --,1 d if I didn't f But now there'lTl^ p am sailing or a good while,-no more beating against .vfecan, wiJi a good stifi Hu,piu.s,_hanged if 1 don't ' " 1 congratulate you most heartily," said Wainwright. 184, A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURK. He felt a great inward thankfulness. He almost liked Townsend Spring at that moment. In imagination he could see Ruth's face brightening with infinite relief. Spring clapped him sharply on the shoulder. " Can I do anything for you, old boy ? " he said, cheerily abrupt. " I've got a heap of things to 'tend to, but I'd have come up here even if you hadn't beckoned. The fact is, Wain- wright, my man, I want to thank you for that little ser- vice you did Fanny. It was perfectly beastly in her to ask you ; it made me madder than blazes when I heard it. I gave her the tallest kind of a lecture, you can bet. But it was devilish kind of you to go and see that con- founded dressmf ker, and then do what you did." " Pray, think no more about it," said Wainwricrht. A little later he separated from Spring, an 1 went up town. His joy at Ruth's deliverance began to take tinges of melancholy during the journey. He had sought Tovvn- send Spring with the ardent wish to aid and save her ; he had had no other motive, and that had already grown a burning desire. He now felt that all })ond between himself and Ruth was suddenly shattered. It v/f '"ke the solid ground failing to bear his feet. What ^ er right had he to approach her now ? His past resoive Jose before him in stern requisition ; it imperiously demanded fulfilment. " And yet I will see her," he mused. " I must see her once again,— if it be for the last time in both our lives'" igj> XVII. TTE had to wait a brief while for Ruth before slie 11 f "I '^^ '" ^^'« ^'''"^'1 reception-room. The She ha sat ; on yonder lounge she had thrown herself, when he misery ot her coming fate had sent that un- wonted surge through mind and frame, leveling her like a broken reed. At yonder fire-place she had stood p^^fe m^ • a r> o?b T ^^"i^.t^^^'e ^^ had felt the part- ly clasp of her cool, smooth hand. The whols room si)r>ke to him, and in a silent dialect of reorot ' ^ She came in, presently. Ho was^urprised to see none 1 'mlen.^'""'"' '" ''''' ^'''^'''''''' '" ^^ -■^-rp" bni'l! ^^''^y^^^^^ri^he good news," he said, after they were has'givt^'me.'" ' '-^^' '''' ^^" ^''' ^^^^ ^^^^ l^^--- i^ heliltrng"!"'^ • • • '^^'"' '^"^"^^^^ '■ " '^'^ replied, .r Ii^^'f' 1 ^ '''''V"'' ,^''" ^^'''*^^*^ nO-<^ l«nS ago. He told mo of the telegram he had sent Mrs. Sprinr. " Ruth slowly nodded. "' It has quite e'xhilarated Fanny somV^hL^^f '"'"• ^^"J^"^ ^""^^ ""^'-I t^-k to biiV something. She generally buys something, in these cases It IS her way of showing her thanks to fate." ' And what will be Mine? your way 18G A GENTLEMAN OP LEISUllE. She had lifted her brow in " Yes, — at your escape." "I do not understand." surpris3. havP^i'^M '^"^^r i'^ Wainwright, " you can't mean that you nave nothing to be grateful for • " swered.^'"''^"'^ ""^ ^"" '"^'"^'^- " ^ ^^^^" nothing." she an- rn^n.!lf ^''- Ii^'^ ^''^''•- ^^." ^''^ ^"^^^^^^^^^ ^^'^"^ that hateful compact with your sister." " Oh, no," she said, meln r'^^'^'^^"'" '''^^'" "^"'^ Wainwright, " what do you His excitement seemed to make her calmer. « Town- send has gamb ed and won. How long will it be before he may gamble and lose ?-You donf know him-yo^^ ha fs^sJnV?f '''"'" ^* to-morrow's possible mis- haps She will hold me unrelentingly to my promise The danger that has threatened her will only make her more distrustful of the future " ^ aJCZf^ ^''' r' ""''y ^^'^ '"' ^'^ '^^^' quickly now rn L T^']'^ ^'°"'" '''^^'''y ^^'^"^ Townsend Spring M J^achusetr-''" ''""• ""' ^^ ^^"'^ ^^"^^ f"-' « "^ "UhinV'rnn' ^f\^r^',^ pained smile was on her lip«. 1 think I once told you," she said, " that in spite of all Fanny s faults I love her. She docs not care for me bu formltof'T; ''"^'^'"^^\^^ ^' v^metiines seems wrong Is nsH T l^f ^'^ ^' ^ i""- ^ know just how cold shS is,-just how selhsh. But when I picture the miserv thit nuiy come to her, I" . . She pausefl, and hei^dc: b^^^-ot^ WainW^f'^ -T /'""' ^^'"' «'^" ^'^'''" exclaimed VVainwiight, hnishmg her sentence, with a rin.r of intol- JuTthen n"r- "^^ ^^-^S^P-ng ^o his feet as°he spok . Just then a laugh sounded near the closed door In an- other ins ant the door was opened, and Mrs. Sprin" ^n- teied, tulluwed by Mr. Amsterdam. 'you A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 187 Mr. Amsterdam and I met in the Avptiup " «!,« the same impression mv^plf l.„+ ;+' i , Vl ? "ntie" have one's se^cret cS ons of ill ""7' '^'¥'^''^ ^« wa»givi„gr;erHureH^it„troftot/,Sri'r''" properly orderpd « Wi.,. f .."""^"V ' , ''^'^ *^'^*^* '*^ was was otherwise employed woias, his mind ti.e!rolS,^a^^ro;t^",,'-;fves an,, draw looking straight at heLiX" « we it™ ' be™\ ^ 1." **"'' great .leal about you. Mr Amster.l„Tl>. ."''T*'' " absurd idea I Heineiefthat y^^dt". likt- fl ™? toH st' ti?J- tee^r,?^" - o'""'"";;- it ■^;: a ...i»cl„-e™„s „lee SlJ"- 'y''' "'f" twinkling with m A GENTLEMAN OP LEISURE. come Lack ao-am with her sudden blissful sense of pros- perity. She had secure faith in her sister's promise • there could be no harm in trying her beloved trick of embarrassing people by bold thrusts at sensitive places fehe inwardly thought the man whom Ruth wasto marrv a gloomy, methodical bore of a person. She had always poked tun at him in her daring, jaunty way. What harm to indulo-e this sport now, when she need only raise a tingerand seal the precious engagement? "Don't deny that you mean to make an inquiry into the real state of Kuth s teclings, she galloped on, with another ripple of Mr. VVainwriffht We're laughter, addressing Mr. Amsterdam, and I will give you a lesson, if you're bashful, both practised teachers. We'll teach Ruth, too " Wainwright was listening now. He had grown pale, Ruth, however, had flushed deeply. She rose to her r^i. ^^"^' '^"^ exclaimed, " you are cruel ! " "Oh, pshaw!" retorted Mrs. Spring, shrugging her shoulders, but perhaps feeling that her recklJss tSn^rue had tripped too rashly. " You know I was onlv in fun You never could take a joke." '; Some of your jokes are not easy to take," said Wain- wright, measuring each word. He held one hand clenched beliind him, concealed from sight. Ruth turned and looked at him, briefly but meanin<^ly He read an actual desperation in her look. It seemed to say to him, "I have borne enough; I will bear no She again addressed Mrs. Spring. Her voice was full ot agitated throbs ; her bosom showed how quick her breath was coming, "Fanny," she .snid, "I will not endure this mockery any further. You know what I mean. I refu.se to be held, as you have, held me so long, the target of your im- pudent jests, o J Mrs. Spring was genuinely frightened. She laughed again, but the laugh rang false. " Oh, good heaveSs ! " A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 189 nothTng! " " ^ ^''^' ^'''' ^'^ """^ ^'"'"^ ^° ""'^^^ ^ ^^6"^ f^r Astefn rTff ^r ^"f^.t^^-^^"^ got up from his chair. As he did so the fact of his extreme hei.dit produced a sort of visual shock. He approached Ruth, fpeaSin nis precise, formal way. i '^ ^"o "^ ^ J Miss Ruth." he said, " I think your sister meant no ^„^"*f «^^" ^ scornful laugh. She had controlled her anger for so many montlis that now it seemed to have whirled away al prudence. Recent events had severe y unnerved her; for days past her life had been one n eessant crushing down of natural emotions. Her final vow of sacrifice Imd taxed heroism with wrench^, foic She had felt as though she were writing the vow out in he'- blood. Yesterday she had seen her sifter abject suppli catmg, blmded with h>-.terical tears. She had pitieTh r and yielded to her inhuman demand. Then in a few hours, the old insolent demeanor had returned' Bi^ there was still another reason for the girl's an-^er " Tlrit wSrw7i!Xt^^"""^'^^«^"'^^^"--^^^ t^- P—e^f spotTn'^'^SheVi?!.^'- ^'"^•^I"^" ^ «^^"^^ ^ft«^- l^e had spoicen. fehe kept her eyes fixed on Mrs. Sprino- " T will "peed' ^l^t ^"" '."r^^ ^°'" ^^^^ -^^' -^^ ^X Tm" Shpt«^ '^'"•''^^^ ^^^ ^^^^« ^«i^l Mr.Amstei^ \ A .u ! ^^^. ^"^ impetuous gesture with one hand toward that gentleman, who still stood at her s'le lank decorous, distressed, with his peculiar upper In 'set in streni"?H:;.V'f' an ui i tentfonally coiJlfc e Jlem of duct W w?'"'.!.^"^^' ^^"'^"^"^ °"' "-^ «^^'^ll ^^ my con- tate Oh ! ™ '•' JVr ^"7 yo^^-l^«artless will may dic- tate. Oh, be sure of this, Fanny ! I need say no more - you understand me." She now took severaMias y steps towards the doorway. ' P "Stop/' said Mrs. Spring, turning pale as she also rose I will go with you, Ruth. I do not understand you I 190 A GENTLEiMAN OF LEISURE. I wisli to ask wish to speak with you for a moment you '— ^ "I know what you wish to ask mo," cried .^uth, and I answer you ' no.' . . . No ! " .he repeated, witli a Hash in her eyes as they met her sister's. '= Is that T''r /.'^^^''^•^;,™y P^-o"»«c. I don't care-I break it." bne passed from the room. Wainwright instantly followed her. He overtook her jnst a,s she had [daced her foot on the first step of the Stan-case. She looked round and saw him. Then ho cau-ht her hand, and held it liard-so hard that she could not tree it if she would. disti™^"^' "'^ ^'^^'" ^" '^'^' ^''y ^"^^' y^"^ ^1"^^^ Ruth burst into tears. " Ah," she murmured, « you are asking me because you pity me ! " "I am asking you because I love you," he said Her cheeks had fired to scarlet. His clasp upon her hand was slackening a little, and she drew it away. Without another word she turned and went up stairs Wainwright sti 1 followed her. Knowing that he did so she loused m the small central hall, near one of the draw- mg-rooras, rich and dim with the winter afternoon licrht Let me speak to you a moment here," said Wain- wright, pointing towards this room. His voice was deeply tender as he faced her. ^ "^ " Not now, not now," she said. She had already placed lier hand on the banister of the next staircase. Acriin he put his own hand about hers, but this time with a soft touch. She did not resist him; she stood there tremb- mg, with the tears falling swift and large from her up- liited eyes. i " Yes,'' he said, " let it be now. I want you to sit down at my side and listen to me for a little while. It need only be tor a little whde, it you so wish. But let it be now " She yielded, and he led her into the quiet, vacant room. They sat down together on one of the sofas A GENTLEMAN Oi-' LEISUllE. IQ] Nearly an hour afterwards Mrs. Sprinrr can.c up-stairs thSld"^'^^ """" '' '"'" ^' ^^' ^^'^y ^^'^ "'^^^e-l the "Mrs. Spring" he said, " I have asked your sister to be my w,fe„ and she has consented " ^ Mrs. Spring remained porfeotly silent for -it lnn«f f «r^ nunutesjand two minuted of silen^ee, unlr iltm^tles like the present, form an appreciable interx'li" 1 am very much surprised," she nresentlv ^airl In o vo.ee so^on,strainedaa/g.-ave that ^itXl^otT n W own. But I congratulate you both." She went un to step, and shook hands with him. Some ado-nnZt on her person gave a tinkle amid the exti^me ^ti llnesVa ; be did so ; bu I was only a faint tinkle : its effect ha^ un uncharacteristic tameness he.'^^'-S-^.L''^-^^^^^^^ ^"^^'^-^"^^ .stood before Ruth rose and kissed lior a tl'in'?''"'"' ''!" f'is'>tf''"y * fro;.," she then said witi, a tl n, nervous laugh, moving toward the wide door^wav here '^:f^TTr-^"S ''"P"'^"' ^^'- be hap;^;.!™;',; as this" ''°' ""'^'^ '^■>y«'i„.,,uiteso'^Lni,o,Ct "What does it mean?" questioned Wainwri^ht ofR.wI, as tljey hoard her deseend'ing the stairs "'^ 'he !|ad''' t'^':^!^.^'- ""y- aU: i;resen\:'d°r of CTome t L ^n r '^^^ "^ ''<• •'«•■ She remained lor some time in close conversation with this "entloman At the eonclusion of their interview Mr. Amstel-^™; 192 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. bade her a courteous, exact f?ood-by, and left the liouse. Me left it for the last time in his life, and he went asvay to sutler. He was forty-nine years old ; ho was a wid- ower with SIX children; but he went away to suffer. * * ' • • ' • . Wainwright smiled to himself while he sat alone in the chamber of his hotel, rather late that same evenin.-- The scruples, prejudices, theories, which had dealt hun such distress but a few hours ago had vanished into air ; they had left not a wrack behind them. Beside the precious discovery of possessing Ruth's love, and the sweet reco'"" ^^'^^-Sht about indeed I" °^ ^°" ^^® ^n American " Yes, I am certainly an American." 194 A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE. 5 1 '., f A with you yet, by any means. You have shown me quali- ties that positively tempt further development. I mean, of course, in a purely national way. . . . You don't in- tend taking your bride to England, by the bye ?" " Never permanently," answered Wainwright, amused but with decision. " We shall live here." " I am glad to hear it. I thought as mucli. And now that you have acknowledged your c;nintiy, I want you . . . yes, by Jove, I want you to adorn it." "Ah, I wish that I could!" " Nonsense ! You can ! There is always something to be done for a land in which those best suited to ser\^- it serve it so ill." Here Mr. Binghamton seized Wainwricrht's hand for the third time. " Egad, old fellow," he cried, " you shall run for Congress ! " Wainwright was silent a moment. " I should like very much to run for Congress," he presently said. ) B