The Opera House was seething with people. Bret and Sheila wedged their way through a dense skirmish-line of prominent actresses selling programs printed free with illustrations designed free. Bret had bought five for ten dollars before Sheila restrained him.
The bill was a reckless hash; everything was in it from a morsel of tragedy to a bit of juggling and repartee. The vast planes of the auditorium were crowded with people. The dean of the dramatists announced from the stage that the receipts were over fifteen thousand dollars and that a program autographed by every participant would be auctioned later.
Bret, in a mood of extravagance, determined to buy it for Sheila. It would show that he was not ashamed of her past or afraid of her future. During an intermission they promenaded the corridors thronged with notables. Sheila bowed her head almost off and was greeted with an effusiveness usually reserved for long-lost children.
At length Sheila heard her name called, felt a hand plucking at her elbow. She turned and faced Dulcie Ormerod, who gushed like a faucet:
“How are you, Sheila dear? I haven’t seen you for ages. How well you look! Isn’t this wonderful? Our play is in Trenton this week, so Mr. Eldon and I just ran over to take in this show. And is this your husband? Mayn’t I meet him?”
Sheila made the presentation helplessly, and Dulcie gushed on:
“I’ve been dying to see you. You remember Mr. Eldon, don’t you? Where is that man? Oh, Floydie dear, here’s an old friend of yours.”
To Sheila’s horror and Bret’s she turned and seized the elbow of a man whose back was turned and whose existence they had not noted in the thick crowd. Dulcie dragged Eldon about and swung him into his place at her side. He confronted Sheila and Bret as by miracle.
CHAPTER XLV
Dulcie had plotted it all for her own personal entertainment. Like a mad King of Bavaria she commanded the actors before her. She had caught sight of Sheila, and she knew who Bret was from the descriptions of him. She had a grudge against Sheila on general principles and another against Eldon for not going mad over her.