The Whirlpool

Alma lazily avoided German, they conversed in different languages, each with a sprinkling of foreign phrase. The English girl might have allied herself with a far worse companion; for, in spite o

omance to the sympathetic Alma. Sympathetic, that is, within her limits; for Miss Frothingham had never been in love, and rarely indulged a mood of sentiment. Her char

its reward of noble outlook, and the easier Gebhardsberg, with its hanging woods; there was boating on the lake, and rambling along its shores, with rest and refreshment at some Gartenwithschaft. Miss Steinfeld, whose rea

enjoy this kind of thing-a

ed her friend

rather interesting. I've a good mind,' she ad

your

n't care for that. A v

address she could not remember, but the club remained in her mind from Sibyl's talk of it. When the packet was gone, of course she regretted having sent it. More likely than not, Mr. Rolfe considere

as tired of everything, wished to go away, thought longingly of England. It was plain that Mr. Redgrave would not come; he had never seriously meant it; his Auf Wiedersehen was a mere civility to get rid

met them. He was dressed as she had never seen him, in flannels, with a white necktie loosely knotted and

arrived early this morning, had put up at the Oesterreichischer Hof, was already delighted with Brogenz. Did Miss Steinfeld devote herself to landscape? Had she done anything here? H

Miss Steinfeld afterwards. 'I think I should have

, with assumed indifference. 'Ten t

Lieber Himmel

N

ament, I

N

hat does

uses hi

were so agreeable, that Miss Steinfeld, observi

Frothingham alone. He overtook her next morning, soon after she h

e began at a favourable moment. 'I've

o your place

in order. I hope to be there again befo

t it unc

be said about going in for music as a profession. You have the talent, you have the physical strength, I think.' His eye flattered her

lau

is your receipt for

, he gave a twist to his moustache,

. Let us say the character; and that is

getti

rience means emotion; certainly, for a woman. Believe me, you haven't begun to live yet. Y

hered notions. When preparing to escape from England, she had used much the same language. But, after all, what

ew opportunities. True, thanks

for society,'

spect. It's easy, of course, to defy the laws of a world one doesn't belong to; but you, who are a queen in your circle, and may throne

oke with an ease, a self-command, which to older ears would have suggested skill rather than feeling. He had nothing of the ardour of youth; his poise and deliberation were quite in keeping with the two score years that subtly graved his visage; the passions in him were sportive, h

ing but cold and conventional art. You left England, broke away from the common routine, from the artificial and the respectable. That was an indispensable first step, and I have told you how I applau

ma, moved to familiar frankness. '

lmost as though he would touch her with reassuring k

long. You may have profited by it; it is an experience. But now-Don't let us walk so far as to tire you. Ye

hin my reach?' she asked

question-'your friend, Mrs. Ca

es

lma walked with her eyes on the

aste for travel. But you know

ying herself

asure one gets from scenery in different parts of the world. I have seen the tropics; they left me very much where I was, int

say tha

mong the vines and the olives one hears a voice. I must re

tedious; alluring, yet without enthusiasm-a dre

ilt by an Englishman. Charming place, and so entirely off the beaten track. Isn't there a fascination in the thought of living near Antioch? Well away from bores and philistines. No Mr

mon things in unemotional language; and when Alma parted fr

urning over this and that ambiguous phrase, asking herself whether he meant much or little. It was natural that she should compare and contrast his behaviour with that of Felix Dymes

e world as Alma Frothingham, and to

upon 'bores and philistines'. Why should the fact of his wealth interfere with her progress as an artist? Possibly, on the other hand, he did not intend that she should follow a profes

d made an advance in self-esteem. She could await the next meeting with a con

our, and take his chance of finding her at home. When he presented himself, Alma was sitting in the common room of the pension with two German ladies; they in a few minutes withdrew, and fam

ith no Auf Wiedersehen. He smiled, he murmured civilities; Alma

from the polite world; none the less did she imagine herself still illumined by the social halo, guarded by the divinity which doth hedge a member of the upper-middle class. Was she not a lady? And who had ever dared to offer a lady an insult such as this? Shop-girls, minor actresses, the inferior sort of governess, must natural

This she might have applied to the grotesque proposal (as it seemed to her) of Felix Dymes, or to the risk of being tempted into premature publicity by a business offer from some not very respectable

Miss Steinfeld. The only retreat was her bedroom, and here she secluded herself till dinner-time. At this meal she must needs face the company or incur remark. She tried to return her frie

s gone-he called

S

erpretation which would injure her vanity, though it was no

guess?-Yes, a

t she had thought it beyond doubt that Alma's heart was engaged. Here, it had seemed to her, was the explanation of a mystery attaching to this o

ma went on. 'It had to be got ov

hand, for the German girl looked at her with a new interest, a new sympathy, which Alma readily construed as wonder and admiration, if not gentle envy. To have refused a

of the world. 'You can absolutely trust me; I am discretion itself. All resources are at my command.' Why had she rejected with scorn and horror what was, perhaps, her great opportunity, the one hope of her struggling and sinking ambition? She had lost faith in herself; in her power to overcome circumstanc

as a great and a fatal oversight. He went far in his calculated appeal to Alma's vanity; had he but credited her with softer passions, and given himself the trouble to play upon them, he would not, at all events, have suffered so sudden a defeat. Men of Redgrave's stamp grow careless, and just at the time of life when, for various causes, the art which conceals art has b

ave been made without one word of tenderness (for Cyrus Redgrave was another than Felix Dymes), and she had not felt it impossible to wed this polished capitalist. Out of the tumult of her feelings, as another day went by, issued at length that one simple and avowable sense of disappointment. She had grasped the prize, and heated h

From Munich she proceeded to Leipzig, and there entered again the family circle of the Gassners. She had no intention

r, Mrs. Frothing

if I am right. Odd that he should write to you, if it is he. You have not told me yet whethe

France, chiefly by the Dordogne, and through a strange, interesting bit of marsh-country, called La Double. 'I hardly know how I got there, and I shall not worry you by writing any account of the expedition. But at a miserable village called La Roche Chalais, where I had a most indigestible supper and a bed unworthy of the name, I managed to fa

's letter, and in quite a playful vein. She had no time to correspond with people who 'wasted their lives'. To her, life was a serious matter enough. But he knew nothing of the laborious side of a musician's e