There was a
sense of some hidden excitement, which formed an uneasy background to the
spasmodic general conversation. The men especially seemed uncomfortable
and ill at ease.
"Poor father," Adele whispered to me, "he would give a good many of his
dollars not to be in this."
I glanced across at our host, who had come down from New York specially
in his magnificent private car, which was now awaiting his return on a
siding of the little station. He was a hard-faced, elderly man, with a
shrewd mouth and keen eyes, sparely built, yet a man you would be
inclined to glance at twice in any assemblage. He wore a most
unconventional evening suit, the waistcoat cut very high, and a plain
black tie. Two footmen stood behind his chair, and a large florid lady,
wearing a crown of diamonds, and with a European reputation for opulence,
sat on his right hand. Neither seemed to embarrass him in the least, for
the simple reason that he took no notice of them. He drank water, ate
sparingly, and talked Wall Street with a man a few places down the table
on the left.
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