1895. 



THE AMERICAN IIF. K-K F.KPKR 



291 



and to a consciousness of my duty. 



The first act had come to an end, and 

 a gentleman had just entered our box to 

 pay his respects to my chaperon, who 

 forthwith introduced us, "Mr. Venning, 

 Miss Ijinthrop. '' I bowed and felt very 

 sheepish. I had literally been caught 

 napping. Mrs. Waldo's explanation was 

 not soothing : 



"Miss Linthrop is unaccustomed to 

 late hours, Mr. Venning. This is her 

 first season, and her very first opera. I 

 wish for her sake thut it had been a 

 more amusing one. Va^ezzi has clearly 

 mistaken his vocation. He must never 

 attempt another opera, must he? This 

 one is deplorably dull. " 



"It is, as far as we have gone. But 

 still one's first opera is always — one's 

 first opera, and one is too well amused 

 to be hypercritical I'm sure Miss Lin- 

 throp wasn't bored, although she might 

 have beeu a little sleepy:" 



"I was not at all bored," I replied, 

 and then going straight to the point, as 

 has ever been my wont, I continued : 

 "Who are the people — the lady and gen- 

 tleman in the opposite box — the lady 

 with" — "With the primulas," I was 

 going to say. But, lo ! they had van- 

 ished, and so had she, and in her 

 place sat the tall dark woman in the 

 pink bi'ocade cloak with the diamonds 

 in her liair. 



"Tht? lady with the magnificent 

 cloak?" said Mr. Venning interrogative- 

 ly. "That is Barojiess Kurz, and that 

 is her husband with her — or rather he 

 was with her a moment ago ; but, as you 

 lee, he has just left the box. " 



"Who is Baroju. .Kurz?" as.ked. Mrs. 

 Waldo. 'T am perpetually hearing of 

 him. German, of course?" 



"Or T partly so," replied Mr. Ven- 

 ning. "He is the son of a Scotciiinan, 

 who made a good deal of money in Cali- 

 fornia, and I believe his mother was a 

 Pole. He was brought up by a German 

 grandfather, whose name he eventually 

 took. He is a clever fellow, but an un- 

 happy one, I always fancy. She was a 

 Miss Charcote, a daughter of Lady 

 Jane Charcote. " 



"But who was the other lady in the 

 box" — I inquired eagerly — "the lady 

 with the primulas?" 



"There was no other lady in Kurz's 

 box tonight. Miss Linthrop. You must 

 have been looking at some other box. ' ' 



Mrs. Waldo laughed. "My young 

 friend has been dreaming, Mr. Ven- 

 ning. " 



I scorned the imputation, but they 

 would not believe me, and they were 

 still laughing when the door opened and 

 old Lord Saintsbury peeped in. 



"Very merry here." 



"My friend Miss Linthrop declares 

 that she has seen a lady with primulas 

 in her hair — such a terrible decoration 

 — seated in Baron Kurz's box this even- 

 ing," said Mrs. Waldo in her loud, 

 clear, penetrating voice, that carried 

 farther than any voice I have ever heard. 



I noticed a shade flit across Lord 

 Saintsbury's face. He turned his head 

 sharply and glanced back. Then, step- 

 ping quickly into the box, he shut the 

 door behind him. 



"Why so mysterious?" asked Mrs. 

 Waldo, smiling. 



"Kurz was just behind me. He must 

 have heard what you said. " And the old 

 gentleman looked genuinely distressed. 



"But why not? We were only laugh- 

 ing at iny young friend here. Are you 

 going, Mr. Venning?" 



I began to be afraid that I had made 

 a goose of myself. And Lord Saintsbury 

 was looking so solemn. Perhaps that 

 was because he was in the ministry. 



"Mrs. Waldo," he began, as soon as 

 Mr. Venning had disappeared, "don't 

 repeat that little story about — the — the 

 lady with the primulas. It" — 



"My dear Lord Saintsbury, why 

 mayn't I? I love a little anecdote, and 

 this is such a thrilling one." 



"But you would not like to cause 

 pain, I am sure. " 



"And you think Miss Linthrop so very 

 thin skinned that she cannot take a lit- 

 tle chaff ?" 



"It is not on her account that I am 

 speaking. You may or may not have 

 heard that Miss Charcote was not 

 Kurz's first wife. No? Well, she was 

 not. His first wife was a girl of the peo- 

 ple — some said a nursemaid, some a 

 peasant. It really doesn't signify wh ich. 

 At all events, she was neither a lady by 

 birth nor a person of education. After a 

 time he grew tired of her. His father 

 died, and he came into money. He be- 

 gan to go in for society. He met Miss 

 Charcote. One night — it was at the 

 Grand Opera \\\ Paris — she was seated, 

 for some time in Ladv Jane Charcote's 



