No doubt Lady Maulevrier had saved money; yes, she must have saved
thousands during her long seclusion, Lesbia argued. Her grandmother had
told her that she was to look upon herself as an heiress. This could
only mean that Lady Maulevrier had a fortune to leave her; and this
being so, what could it matter if she had anticipated some of her
portion? And yet there was in her heart of hearts a terrible fear of
that stern dowager, of the cold scorn in those splendid eyes when she
should stand revealed in all her foolishness, her selfish, mindless,
vain extravagances. She, who had never been reproved, shrank with a
sickly dread from the idea of reproof. And to be told that her career as
a fashionable beauty had been a failure! That would be the bitterest
pang of all.
Soon came luncheon, and Heidseck, and then an afternoon which was gayer
than the morning had been, inasmuch as every one babbled and laughed
more after luncheon. And then there was five o'clock tea on deck, under
the striped Japanese awning, to the jingle of banjos, enlivened by the
wit of black-faced minstrels, amidst wherries and canoes and gondolas,
and ponderous houseboats, and snorting launches, crowding the sides of
the sunlit river, in full view of the crowd yonder in front of the Red
Lion, and here on this nearer bank, and all along either shore, fringing
the green meadows with a gaudy border of smartly-dressed humanity.
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