“Those I got for you are good seats for gentlemen,” the clerk suggested, “and I think you can get two more.”
Gunther was so urgent that George, only by being very rude, could have declined making the exchange. There was nothing else to do but accept, order a carriage for eight o'clock, and then go up stairs to tell the ladies that they were to get ready for the opera.
“The opera! Why didn't you tell us before?” was Elvira's exclamation.
“Because I was not sure I could get seats,” was George's reply; and he then explained how he obtained their box by casually meeting Gunther, adding: “By the by, he introduced me to his brother Robert and those four admirers of yours, Mercedes, who dined at the next table. They are all of the same party. The young fellow of the little saffron whiskers, who stared at you so persistently, making Clarence's ears red, is a Mr. Selden, of New York; he and Robert Gunther have been in Europe several years. His father I know is a millionaire, and he is the only son. So he considers himself a good catch, I suppose, Señorita Mercedes.”
“Bah!” ejaculated Mercedes; “who cares!”
“Be ready with your hats and cloaks on at five minutes to eight. Clarence and I will come for you. I am going to look for him now, and see Gunther for a few moments,” George said, leaving the two sisters to go to their bedrooms to delve for their opera cloaks and white hats in the deep recesses of their Saratoga trunks.
“It is a lucky thing for me that Lizzie's aunt sent this pretty cloak and bonnet to her. Poor Lizzie! I am to splurge in her fine Parisian things, while she remains at the rancho, buried alive,” said Mercedes.
“She is perfectly willing to have that sort of burial as long as she has Gabriel near her.”
Mrs. Lawrence Mechlin had sent to Elvira and Lizzie their wedding trousseau, which she ordered from Paris. To do this was a pleasure to Mrs. Mechlin, which she could well afford, being rich, and which she delighted in, being devoted to her sister's children.
The theatre was filled to its utmost capacity when our four San Dieguinos arrived and occupied their proscenium box, which was on the left of the auditorium, very roomy and elegantly furnished. Elvira's seat faced the stage, and Mercedes' faced the audience, so that the perfect contour of her features was clearly seen when she looked at the actors. Between the sisters sat their cavaliers. The curtain rose as they took their seats, so that not one of them gave a thought to the audience, until the curtain fell on the first act.