THE AWKWARD AGE
small intense faces, each, that happened in every case to be turned to the door. The pair of eyes most dilated perhaps was that of old Van, present under a polished glass and in a frame of gilt-edged morocco that spoke out, across the room, of Piccadilly and Christmas, and visibly widening his gaze at the opening of the door, the announcement of a name by a footman and the entrance of a gentleman remarkably like him save as the resemblance was, on the gentleman's part, flattered. Vanderbank had not been in the room ten seconds before he showed that he had arrived to be kind. Kindness therefore becomes for us, by a quick turn of the glass that reflects the whole scene, the high pitch of the concert—a kindness that almost immediately filled the place, to the exclusion of everything else, with a familiar, friendly voice, a brightness of good looks and good intentions, a constant, though perhaps sometimes misapplied, laugh, a superabundance, almost, of interest, inattention and movement.
The first thing the young man said was that he was tremendously glad she had written. "I think it was most particularly nice of you." And this thought, precisely, seemed, as he spoke, a flower of the general bloom—as if the niceness he had brought in was so great that it straightway converted everything to its image. "The only thing that upset me a little," he went on, "was your saying that, before writing it, you had so hesitated and waited. I hope very much, you know, that you'll never do anything of that kind again. If you've ever the slightest desire to see me—for no matter what reason; if there's ever the smallest thing of any sort that I can do for you, I promise you I sha'n't easily forgive you if you stand on ceremony. It seems to me that when people have known each other as long as you and I, there's one comfort at least they may treat themselves to. I mean of course," Van developed, "that of being easy and frank
414
