She had counterfeited the distresssed
queen by flowing robes and pearls strung through her yellow hair. She had
revivified and heightened the faded ideal of the oldtime artist, and
incidentally she had extinguished every other woman in the room.
But the difficulty would still have been avoided had not Belden himself
so far lapsed from discretion as to put himself forward in the guise of
Shylock. It mended matters little that he had abandoned the costume
within half an hour after donning it. Thus it was that Truesdale saw him
for the first time in four or five years; the young man had completely
disdained, thus far, to visit the store. With eyes freshened by long
absence, and wits sharpened by contact with the world, he saw his
father's partner in a dress which seemed to throw into greater prominence
every lineament of his face and every trait of his character. The young
man instantly doubted, mistrusted him. His Hebraic garments suggested
another character held in still lower esteem. Truesdale, at a certain
stage of the entertainment, observed his host and hostess in momentary
conjunction on the threshold of the drawing-room; it was then that he
uttered his little jest, whimsically careless of accuracy and loftily
indifferent to outlying ears.
"Ananias and Statira," he said, and his words travelled through the house
like escaping gas.
"They're awfully offended," said Gladys, continuing her confidential
tone.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190