CHAPTER II.
“I consider him,” said Mrs. Strong, wife of Gerald Strong the banker, “I consider him, Kate, the handsomest and most attractive man I have ever met. Everybody on the steamer was charmed with him. Even your father, who is not impressionable, was fascinated by Count Szalaki.”
“His name sounds like the toothache,” remarked Kate Strong, gazing at her mother with an unbending countenance. They were seated in the drawing-room of one of the most luxurious homes in upper Fifth Avenue, half an hour before the time set for dinner.
Kate Strong resembled her mother in face and figure. They were tall, graceful women, with clear-cut, patrician features. The difference in their ages was not strongly marked. Mrs. Strong often remarked playfully that she and her daughter had grown up together. But, while Mrs. Strong’s hair had begun to turn white beneath the touch of advancing years, the golden glory of youth still rested upon Kate’s head. Furthermore, there was a great contrast in the habitual expression that animated their respective faces. There were firm, almost harsh, lines around Mrs. Strong’s mouth that told of a strong will and indicated a set purpose in life. Kate’s face, beautiful in contour and dazzling in the freshness of its tints, betrayed a rebellious, restless nature that had not yet found in existence an ambition that fully satisfied her soul. The mother’s lips seemed fashioned for command, the daughter’s for something they had not yet tasted.
“You are so flippant, Kate,” remarked Mrs. Strong, reprovingly. “I am sure that when you see the count you will not feel inclined to joke about anything connected with him—not even his name.”
“He seems to have hypnotized you, mamma. Tell me about him. Is he very high in rank?”
Mrs. Strong smiled at her daughter’s show of interest. It pleased her.
“We really don’t know, Kate, just how prominent he is in Rexania. It’s a queer country, you know. They’re always having outbreaks there, and the kings and nobles have to go armed most of the time. But your father says that the count, although he is very reticent about his country and its affairs, seems to be on intimate terms with all the crowned heads of Europe.”