fire, others placed round tables, or in an intimate huddle in a corner of the room.
The coverings were silk brocade, in shades of pink that she had never seen before, and everywhere more glowing colour was provided by the silks and damasks of the cushions to be found on every seat and heaped on the floor—delightful, plump, soft cushions redolent of comfort and ease.
There were a number of people in the room. Mrs. Rowan detached herself from a small group gathered near the fireplace and came forward at once to greet her, both hands outstretched.
“How glad I am that you are come.” She laughed at the expression on Camilla’s face. “You are looking round with an air of astonishment at finding yourself in such strange surroundings! It is often so with people on their first visit. My father lived in Turkey when I was a child and I stayed there with him for several years after my mother died. I developed a taste for the furnishings and indeed for some of the customs of the Ottomans. Now, let me see, whom do you know?”
Pagoda Portal was there, together with a surprising number of other morning callers, although after a very few minutes Camilla found herself wondering only that Mrs. Rowan’s friends and acquaintances should choose ever to call on anyone else.
She was pleased to find that Sir Sidney Leigh was there, and gratified when he smiled at her and came over.
“Come, here is a sofa we may sit upon; let us take possession of it instantly, for I hear footsteps on the stairs, and Mrs. Rowan’s guests are often so numerous that one is obliged to stand, or to loll upon her cushions.”
“The cushions look very comfortable,” she said.
“Indeed, they may be, but I do not choose to loll. One may be very comfortable when down, but then one cuts such an undistinguished figure while striving to be up again. Let the young cubs have the cushions. One may grant the young suppleness of limb, if one cannot say as much for their minds.”
“I see no young cubs,” she said, looking around the room. She saw Mr. Wytton, caught his eye, received a cool nod. Mr. Layard was beside him, and he gave her a lively wave of greeting, accompanied by the friendliest smile.
“They will come later. I tell Mrs. Rowan not to admit them; what have we to do with these callow young fellows, some of them not even down from the university?”
“And what does Mrs. Rowan reply to that?”
“Oh, she says they must learn to be civilised, and if they do not begin at that age, they will be insupportable by the time they are six-or seven-and-twenty.”
“Mrs. Rowan is quite right, in my opinion. Young men must learn how to behave in society.”
“Young men may learn their manners elsewhere. There is no excuse for them now, they may travel abroad at their leisure, and get polish and address that way. Let the French and Italians give them their lessons and spare us the trouble.”
She laughed. “I believe you have travelled abroad a good deal, sir.”
“Yes, with interruptions for war; I consider it not the least of that Frenchman’s sins that he treated travellers so cavalierly.”
“Do not speak of the war, I beg you,” called Mrs. Rowan from the other side of the room. “It is a banned subject in my house; we are to be concerned only with the present.”
“Why, surely not, ma’am,” protested Mr. Wytton. “For here am I telling Pagoda all about the antiquities that have lately been shipped to this country and transported to the abbey—they are certainly not of the present, so must I not mention them?”
“Oh, classical subjects are all very well, and so fashionable that you may hear them talked of wherever you go. I will permit talk of antiquities, but not if you start upon Thucydides and how like some campaign in Spain was to how some Athenian general took on the Spartans or the Persians.”
“Antiquities?” said Sir Sidney, turning his attention to Mr. Wytton. “What does your shipment consist of?”
“Statues,
The coverings were silk brocade, in shades of pink that she had never seen before, and everywhere more glowing colour was provided by the silks and damasks of the cushions to be found on every seat and heaped on the floor—delightful, plump, soft cushions redolent of comfort and ease.
There were a number of people in the room. Mrs. Rowan detached herself from a small group gathered near the fireplace and came forward at once to greet her, both hands outstretched.
“How glad I am that you are come.” She laughed at the expression on Camilla’s face. “You are looking round with an air of astonishment at finding yourself in such strange surroundings! It is often so with people on their first visit. My father lived in Turkey when I was a child and I stayed there with him for several years after my mother died. I developed a taste for the furnishings and indeed for some of the customs of the Ottomans. Now, let me see, whom do you know?”
Pagoda Portal was there, together with a surprising number of other morning callers, although after a very few minutes Camilla found herself wondering only that Mrs. Rowan’s friends and acquaintances should choose ever to call on anyone else.
She was pleased to find that Sir Sidney Leigh was there, and gratified when he smiled at her and came over.
“Come, here is a sofa we may sit upon; let us take possession of it instantly, for I hear footsteps on the stairs, and Mrs. Rowan’s guests are often so numerous that one is obliged to stand, or to loll upon her cushions.”
“The cushions look very comfortable,” she said.
“Indeed, they may be, but I do not choose to loll. One may be very comfortable when down, but then one cuts such an undistinguished figure while striving to be up again. Let the young cubs have the cushions. One may grant the young suppleness of limb, if one cannot say as much for their minds.”
“I see no young cubs,” she said, looking around the room. She saw Mr. Wytton, caught his eye, received a cool nod. Mr. Layard was beside him, and he gave her a lively wave of greeting, accompanied by the friendliest smile.
“They will come later. I tell Mrs. Rowan not to admit them; what have we to do with these callow young fellows, some of them not even down from the university?”
“And what does Mrs. Rowan reply to that?”
“Oh, she says they must learn to be civilised, and if they do not begin at that age, they will be insupportable by the time they are six-or seven-and-twenty.”
“Mrs. Rowan is quite right, in my opinion. Young men must learn how to behave in society.”
“Young men may learn their manners elsewhere. There is no excuse for them now, they may travel abroad at their leisure, and get polish and address that way. Let the French and Italians give them their lessons and spare us the trouble.”
She laughed. “I believe you have travelled abroad a good deal, sir.”
“Yes, with interruptions for war; I consider it not the least of that Frenchman’s sins that he treated travellers so cavalierly.”
“Do not speak of the war, I beg you,” called Mrs. Rowan from the other side of the room. “It is a banned subject in my house; we are to be concerned only with the present.”
“Why, surely not, ma’am,” protested Mr. Wytton. “For here am I telling Pagoda all about the antiquities that have lately been shipped to this country and transported to the abbey—they are certainly not of the present, so must I not mention them?”
“Oh, classical subjects are all very well, and so fashionable that you may hear them talked of wherever you go. I will permit talk of antiquities, but not if you start upon Thucydides and how like some campaign in Spain was to how some Athenian general took on the Spartans or the Persians.”
“Antiquities?” said Sir Sidney, turning his attention to Mr. Wytton. “What does your shipment consist of?”
“Statues,
Similar Books
