O WICKED WIT AND GIFT
Hamlet, i. 5.
The brilliant glare of lights, the strident sound of dance-music, the enlivening sense of a living, vivaciously stirring company of gayly dressed merrymakers, assailed Maurice as he followed his guide across the anteroom. At the door of the ball-room he was for a moment hindered by a group of men who were lounging and chatting there. All his senses were keenly alert, and he perhaps unconsciously listened to hear if there were any comment on his appearance in such a place. He had not realized what he was coming into, and now that it was too late for him to withdraw without sacrificing his pride, he saw how incongruous his presence really was. Almost instantly he caught a name.
"By Jove!" one of the men said. "Isn't the Wilson in great form to-night! That diamond on her toe must be worth a fortune."
"She saves the price in the materials of her gowns," another responded lightly. "I never saw her with quite so little on."
"No material is allowed to go to waist there," put in a third.
"She has two straps and a rosebud," yet another voice laughed; "and nothing else above the belt but diamonds."
"Her very smile is décolleté" some one commented. "This is one of her nights. When I see Mrs. Wilson with that expression, I am prepared for anything."
Maurice felt his cheeks burn at this light talk. It seemed to him ribald, and he was outraged that the name of a woman should be bandied about so carelessly. He raised his head and set his square jaw defiantly; then began to push his way through the group, keenly conscious of the stare which greeted him.
"Hallo! What the devil's that?" he heard behind him.
"The skeleton at the feast," responded one voice.