She hesitated, then, with her hands full of letters and parasol, she crossed the hall into the reception room. She intended to let her caller see his mistake, so with her burdened hands avoiding a handclasp, she greeted him and stood waiting, with eyes of inquiry3 upon him.
The young man smiled secretly to himself. He was a young man not without experience in ladies' moods and he had a very shrewd idea that somebody had been making remarks, but he did not permit a hint of any perception of the coolness of her manner to impair4 the impeccable suavity5 of his.
"Will you accord me two moments of your time that I may give you two messages?" he inquired, and Arlee felt suddenly ill-bred before his gentle courtesy and she sat down abruptly6 upon the edge of the nearest chair.
The Captain placed one near her and seated himself, with a clank of his dangling7 scabbard. He was really a very handsome young man, though his features were too finely finished to please a robust8 taste, and there was a hint of insolence9 and cruelty about the nose and mouth—though this an inexperienced and light-hearted young tourist of one and twenty did not more than vaguely10 perceive.
"They are, the both, of the ball of the Khedive," he continued in his English, which was, though amazingly fluent and ready, a literal sounding translation of the French, which was in reality his mother tongue. "My sister thinks she can arrange that invitation. You are sure that you will be returned at Cairo, then?"
"Oh, dear, yes! I would come back by train," Arlee declared eagerly, "rather than miss that wonderful ball!"
She thought how astonished a certain red-headed young Englishman would be to see her at that ball, and how fortunate she was compared to his haughty11 and disappointed friend, the Lady Claire, and the chill of her resentment12 against the Captain's intrusion vanished like snow in the warmth of her gratitude13.
"Good!" He smiled at her with a flash of white teeth. "Then my sister herself will see one of the household of the Khedive and request the invitation for you and for your chaperon, the Madame——"
"Eversham."
"Eversham. She will be included for you, but not the daughter—no?"
"Is that asking too much?" said Arlee hesitantly. "Miss Eversham would feel badly to be left out.... But, anyway, I'm not sure that I shall be with them then," she reflected.
"Not with them?" The young man leaned forward, his eyes curiously15 intent upon her.
"No, I may be with some other friends. You see, it's this way—I didn't come abroad with the Evershams in the first place. I came in the fall with a school friend and her mother to see Italy. The Evershams were friends of theirs and were stopping at the same hotel, and since my friends were called back very suddenly, the Evershams asked me to go on to Egypt with them. It was very nice of them, for I'm a dreadful bother," said Arlee, dimpling.
"But you speak of leaving them?" he said.
"Oh, yes, I may do that as soon as some other friends of mine, the Maynards, reach here. They are coming here on their way to the Holy Land and I want to take that trip with them. And then I'll probably go back to America with them."
The Turkish captain stared at her, his dark eyes rather inscrutable, though a certain wonder was permitted to be felt in them.
"You American girls—your ways are absolute like the decrees of Allah!" he laughed softly. "But tell me—what will your father and your mother say to this so rapidly changing from the one chaperon to the other?"
"I haven't any father or mother," said the girl. "I have a big, grown-up, married brother, and he knows I wouldn't change from one party unless it was all right." She laughed amusedly at the young man's comic gesture of bewilderment. "You think we American girls are terribly independent."
"I do, indeed," he avowed16, "but," and he inclined his dark head in graceful17 gallantry, "it is the independence of the princess of the blood royal."
A really nice way of putting it, Arlee thought, contrasting the chivalrous18 homage19 of this Oriental with the dreadful "American goose!" of the Anglo-Saxon.
"But tell me," he went on, studying her face with an oddly intent look, "do these friends now, the Evershams, know these others, the—the——"
"Maynards," she supplied. "Oh, no, they have never met each other. The Maynards are friends I made at school. And Brother has never met them either," she added, enjoying his humorous mystification.
"The decrees of Allah!" he murmured again. "But I will promise you an invitation for your chaperon and arrange for the name of the lady later—n'est-ce-pas?"
"Yes, I will know as soon as I return from the Nile. You are going to a lot of bother, you and your sister," declared Arlee gratefully.
"I go to ask you to take a little trouble, then, for that sister," said the Captain slowly. "She is a widow and alone. Her life is—is triste—melancholy is your English word. Not much of brightness, of new things, of what you call pleasure, enters into that life, and she enjoys to meet foreign ladies who are not—what shall I say?—seekers after curiosities, who think our ladies are strange sights behind the bars. You know that the Europeans come uninvited to our wedding receptions and make the strange questions!"
Arlee had the grace to blush, remembering her own avid20 desire to make her way into one of those receptions, where the doors of the Moslem21 harem are thrown open to the feminine world in widespread hospitality.
The Captain went on, slowly, his eyes upon her, "But she knows that you are not one of those others and has requested that you do her the grace to call upon her. I assured her that you would, for I know that you are kind, and also," with an air of na?ve pride which Arlee found admirable in him, "it is not all the world who is invited to the home of our—our haut-monde, you understand?... And then it will interest you to see how our ladies live in that seclusion22 which is so droll23 to you. Confess you have heard strange stories," and he smiled in quizzical raillery upon her.
The girl's flush deepened with the memory of the confusing stories her head was stuffed with; tales of the bloomers, the veils, the cushions, the sweetmeats, the nargueils, the rose baths of the old régime were jostled by the stories of the French nurses and English governesses and the Paris fashions of the new era. She had listened breathlessly, with her eager young zest24 in life, to the amazing and contradictory25 narrations26 of the tourists who were every whit14 as ignorant as she was, and her curiosity was on fire to see for herself. She felt that a chance in a thousand had come her lucky way.
"I shall be very glad to call," she told him, "just as soon as I return from the Nile."
His face showed his disappointment—and a certain surprise. "But not before?"
"Why, I go to-morrow morning, you know," said Arlee. "And——"
"It would be better—because of the invitation," he said slowly, hesitantly, with the air of one who does not wish to importune27. "My sister would like to ask for one who is known personally to herself. She thought you could render her a few minutes this afternoon."
"This afternoon?" Arlee thought quickly. "I ought to be packing," she murmured, "my things aren't all ready.... And Mrs. Eversham is at the bazaars28 again and dear knows when she will be back."
Just for an instant a spark burned in the black eyes watching the girl, and then was gone, and when she raised her own eyes, perplexed29 and considering, to him, she saw only the same courteously30 attentive31, but faintly indolent regard as before. Then the young man smiled, with an air of frank amusement.
"That would seem to be a dispensation!" he laughed. "My sister and the Madame Eversham—no, they would not be sympathetic!... But if you can come," he went on quickly, leaning forward and speaking in a hurried, lowered tone, "it can be arranged in an instant. I am to telephone to my sister and she will send her car for you. It is not far and it does not need but a few minutes for the visit—unless you desire. I cannot escort you in the car—it is not en règle—but I will come to the house and present you and then depart, that you ladies may exchange the confidences.... Does that programme please you?"
"I—I don't know your sister's name," said Arlee.
He smiled. "Nechedil Azade Seniha—she is the widow of Tewfik Pasha. But say Madame simply to her—that will suffice. Shall I, then, telephone her?"
Just an instant Arlee hesitated, while her imagination fluttered about the thought like humming-birds about sweets. Already she was thinking of the story she could have to tell to her fellow travelers here and to the people at home. It was a chance, she repeated to herself, in a thousand, and the familiar details of phones and motors seemed to rob its suddenness of all strangeness.... Besides, there was that matter of the Khedive's ball. It would be very ungracious to refuse a few minutes' visit to a lady who was going to so much trouble for her.
"I will be ready in ten minutes," she promised, springing to her feet.
The forgotten letters scattered32 like a fall of snow and the Captain stooped quickly for them, hiding the flash of exultation33 in his face. He thrust the letters rather hurriedly upon her.
"Good!... But need you wait for a toilette when you are so—so ravissante now?"
He gazed with frank appreciation at the linen34 suit she was wearing, but she shook her head laughingly at him. "To be interesting to a foreign lady I must have interesting clothes," she avowed. "I shan't be ten minutes—really."
"Then the car will be in waiting. I will give your name to the chauffeur35 and he will approach you." He thought a minute, and then said, quickly, "And I will leave a note for Madame Eversham at the desk to inform her of your destination and to express my regret that she is not here to accept the invitation." His voice was flavored with droll irony36. "In ten minutes—bien s?r?"
She confirmed it most positively37, and it really was not quite eighteen when she stepped out on the veranda38, a vision, a positively devastating39 vision in soft and filmy white, with a soft and filmy hat all white lace and a pink rose. It is to be hoped that she did not know how she looked. Otherwise there would have been no excuse for her and she should have been summarily haled to the nearest justice, with all other breakers of the peace, and condemned40 to good conduct and Shaker bonnets41 for the rest of her life. The rose on the hat, with such a rose of a face beneath the hat, was sheer wanton cruelty to mankind.
It brought the heart into the throat of one young man who was reading his paper beneath the striped awning42, when he was not watching, cat-like, the streets and the hotel door. He dropped the paper with an agitated43 rustle44 and half rose to his feet; his eyes, alert and humorous gray-blue eyes, lighted with eagerness. His hand flew up to his hat.
He did not need to take it off. She did not even see him. She was hurrying forward to the steps, following a long, lean Arab, some dragoman, apparently45, in resplendent pongee robes, who opened the door of a limousine46 for her. The next instant he slammed the door upon her, mounted the front seat, and the car rolled away.
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1
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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2
overdoing
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| v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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8
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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16
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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17
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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18
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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avid
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| adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的 | |
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Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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26
narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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importune
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| v.强求；不断请求 | |
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bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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30
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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31
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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32
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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34
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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35
chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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36
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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37
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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39
devastating
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| adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的 | |
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40
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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41
bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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42
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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43
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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44
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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45
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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46
limousine
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| n.豪华轿车 | |
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