But his acquaintance with fashionable society had been severed so
completely that he was not aware of the new code which permits its
votaries to stare at a pretty woman; and a riding-habit offers sharp
contrast to a set of sables. He was passing, all unconscious of the
interest he had aroused in the lady, when he heard her say:
"Why, grandfather, there he is. Good morning, Mr. King. Mr. Fenshawe
and I were just talking about you."
Royson would have known her voice anywhere. It had the rare distinction
of music and perfect diction. Amidst the shrill vulgarity which
counterfeited wit in the average upper class gathering of the period
such a voice must have sounded like the song of a robin in a crowded
rookery.
The unexpected greeting brought a rush of color to Dick's face. But
yesterday's cloud had vanished, and his natural embarrassment was
obviously that of a well-bred man young enough to be delighted by the
recognition. Moreover, he was not covered with mud, nor had his
sensibilities been jarred by standards representing the hell and heaven
of modern existence.
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