"Where is Doreen? I do not see her," said Mrs. Caldwell; but a moment later the girl appeared on Mr. Brown's arm. Then, "What have you done with Mr. Ferrars? I thought you were with him?"
"So I was, mother, but he suddenly dropped my arm, and asked me to excuse him, and let Alan take me to the carriage. He looked so odd, quite ill, I thought."
"Certainly Mr. Ferrars is not fit for New York society," thought Grace to herself. "I don't believe he was ill a bit. It was one of his strange vagaries."
The ball that night, at one of the greatest and most exclusive houses in New York, will be best described in an extract from Grace's letter to her aunt, written the following day. It tells better than I could the fresh impressions made upon her receptive nature by the scene, the habits, and the actors in that drama of the New World in which she was now taking part.
"Thursday, January 24th.
"We were last night at Mrs. Thorly's ball. Everything was very splendid, the house, the dresses, the diamonds, the flowers, everything except the introduction to the fête, by which I mean that the guests, on arrival, had to struggle through the brilliant crowd in order to reach the staircase, and up to the cloak-room on the first floor. This strange anomaly, I am told, is almost universal here. It was snowing, and every one wore 'gums,' to protect their thin shoes. The men were, naturally, muffled in ulsters; the women swathed in veils and fur cloaks. Anything more incongruous than this unsightly procession, forcing its way through the bare shoulders and wreathed heads of those who had already discarded their wraps and were scanning each new arrival, can hardly be imagined. The ordeal of running the gauntlet through this crowd was most disagreeable to me. I should not have minded so much if I had been impenetrably veiled, as most of the women were; but I felt as if the snow-flakes were in my hair, and my cheeks a-flame, as I heard people whisper, 'That's the English girl, you know.' When I had smoothed my ruffled feathers, I descended with Mordy, and we made our way to Mrs. Thorly, who received me most graciously. As I looked round I was really dazzled by the general—more than the particular—beauty of the women, and specially by their toilettes. No one of them, perhaps, was really beautiful; but they were nearly all pretty, and, as a whole, better dressed than any collection of girls I ever saw. I had on that frock of Mrs. Mason's, which I had only worn once at Grosvenor House; and I flattered myself I looked so smart till I saw how much fresher all the dresses round me were. Well, it didn't much signify. There was a time when I should have been vexed, but now I don't much care. The married women's diamonds were amazing; many of them were tiaras, which I understand is an importation from England much reprehended by some. 'What business have republicans with crowns?' a man said to me. I replied that republicans had taken them off so many heads that I did not suppose they attached any importance to them as the insignia of royalty. I preferred walking about and watching the dancers to dancing much. The young men were indulgent with me; they showed me everything, told me who every one was, and were very nice and kind. Mordy divided his attention between Miss Hurlstone—who is certainly much taken with him—and a Miss Planter, a new beauty just arrived. She was the handsomest girl there, and I admire her more than any one I have seen. There is character in her fine, fearless eyes, her well-cut mouth, her firm, erect carriage. She is more like a married woman than a girl, and her very costly attire strengthened this impression. Mordy introduced us. Her voice is peculiarly pleasant, so rich and low, very unlike most of the voices here. She has a few American turns of speech (of which she is quite unconscious, of course, for her great desire, I am told, is to be thought English), but no twang, not the faintest suspicion of one. She talked of all the people she had known in London with a familiarity which was amusing. An English girl would have made a mess of it; but adaptability is essentially an American feature. She had fallen into these people's lives, for the time being, so completely that she may be said to have assimilated them. Of course, she is a flirt; all girls here are. On the other hand, married women are not; husbands would never stand their wives 'carrying on' as they do all over the continent of Europe, including England. We theorize about morality; but the variable laws which decree how much people may sin before they are excluded from society are much more lax with us than in New York.
"The supper was most picturesque. At a given moment any quantity of little tables were brought in by numberless servants and scattered through the rooms, and at these the whole of the guests seated themselves and were served. The feast lasted quite an hour, during which there was an entire cessation from dancing. To me individually this was a trial, for I had promised Mr. Gunning to go to supper with him, believing it would be an affair of ten minutes—I scarcely touch supper, as you know. Instead of that, I found myself wedged between him and a man I did not know; and Mr. Gunning was absurd enough, and tactless enough, to choose this moment to propose to me. Can you imagine a more irritating position? No escape. When I declined the honor he did me, hot cutlets were being handed over my shoulder; and there I had to sit while quails and lobster salads, creams and ices, came in slow succession, and still he poured out his persistent nonsense! I was so angry; I could have boxed his ears.
"January 25th.—Miss Hurlstone drove me out this morning in her pony-carriage. Of course, we discussed the ball, but had not got very far when she turned round and asked if I admired Miss Planter. I replied, 'Yes, very much.' 'So does your brother,' she remarked. Then, after a pause, 'Does he confide in you much?' I was rather taken aback. 'He does sometimes, I suppose, not always.' 'Has he ever spoken to you of me?' 'Yes, two or three times.' 'Do you think he likes me?' 'Certainly; why should he talk to you otherwise? But Mordaunt is a dreadful flirt. You mustn't take anything he says seriously, especially here, where he has been told you all expect to be flirted with, and attach no importance to it.' 'Well,' she said, as she flicked her ponies, 'if he thinks we all take it like that, he is mistaken—and I suppose, therefore, the less I see of him the better, for I never met any one I liked so much. That is just the truth, Miss Ballinger, and, until last night, I fancied—But when I saw how he was carrying on with that Planter girl—they are just nobodies, coals, or tallow, or something from Pittsburgh—I was so hurt I could have cried. I suppose you think it very undignified of me to own it? Mamma would be very angry if she knew that I said so; but it is the truth!' What could I say? I tried to console her by the assurance that Mordaunt was too volage to settle down with Miss Planter or Miss any one else just at present; and though I doubt if this carried much weight with it, the girl's worldly common-sense, so at variance, according to our ideas, with this expansiveness of sentiment, stopped her from saying more. I have given you the dialogue, as nearly as I can, in the very words used, because its directness—the way in which she went straight to her point without hesitation—struck me as very characteristic of the nation. She wanted to learn something, and she learned it. Most English girls would have died sooner than have made that confession. As to Mordy, of course, none of these flirtations mean anything; but he will be burnt some day if he goes on playing with fire. Miss Planter is really far above the common run. As I looked at Miss Hurlstone's pretty face, and recalled the other's fine classical head, I could not be surprised at Mordy's transference of his admiration. After all, if American girls choose to flirt in this way, and encourage men without any intention of marrying them, they must take the consequences if they are sometimes the ones to suffer. I cannot pity Miss Hurlstone very much. Some of the men here I like greatly. The women are superior in superficial qualities; they have more leisure to give to them. But among the men not devoted solely to money-making, among those who aim at raising the intellectual tone of the people, I have met some well worth cultivating. Mordy's friend, Mr. Reid, you would like—a shrewd head for business, with brains to spare for other things.
"But I must stop. Good-night. We are waiting anxiously to hear when you think you may be able to join us."