Page:The Portrait of a Lady (1882).djvu/195

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. 187 wards that the heavenly hosts conversed among themselves in a queer little dialect of French-English, expressing the properest sentiments, as when Edward told her that he was " defended " by his bonne to go near the edge of the lake, and that one must always obey to one's bonne. Ned Eosier's English had im- proved ; at least it exhibited in a less degree the French variation. His father was dead and his lonne was dismissed, but the young man still conformed to the spirit of their teaching ^ he never went to the edge of the lake. There was still something agreeable to the nostril about him, and something not offensive to nobler organs. He was a very gentle and gracious youth, with what are called cultivated tastes an acquaintance with old china, with good wine, with the bindings of books, with the Almanack de Gotha, with the best shops, the best hotels, the hours of railway-trains. He could order a dinner almost as well as Mr. Luce, and it was probable that as his experience accumulated he would be a worthy successor to that gentleman, whose rather grim politics he also advocated, in a soft and innocent voice. He had some charming rooms in Paris, decorated with old Spanish altar-lace, the envy of his female friends, who declared that his chimney-piece was better draped than many a duchess. He usually, however, spent a part of every winter at Pau, and had once passed a couple of months in the United States. He took a great interest in Isabel, and remembered perfectly the walk at Neufchatel, when she would persist in going so near the edge. He seemed to recognise this same tendency in the subversive inquiry that I quoted a moment ago, and set himself to answer our heroine's question with greater urbanity than it perhaps deserved. " What does it lead to, Miss Archer ? Why Paris leads everywhere. You can't go anywhere unless you come here first. Every one that comes to Europe has got to pass through. You don't mean it in that sense so much? You mean what good it does you? Well, how can you penetrate futurity ? How can you tell what lies ahead ? If it's a pleasant road I don't care where it leads. I like the road, Miss Archer ; I like the dear old asphalte. You can't get tired of it you can't if you try. You think you would, but you wouldn't; there's always something new and fresh. Take the Hotel Drouot, now ; they sometimes have three and four sales a week. Where can you get such things as you can here 1 In spite of all they say, I maintain they are cheaper too, if you know the tight places. I know plenty of places, but I keep them to myself. I'll tell you, if you like, as a particular favour ; only