Page:Harper's New Monthly Magazine - v109.djvu/239

Rh Dean's wife; but both he and she listened most of the time to the sallies and the laughter of the circle where Kitty presided.

"My dear young lady!" cried the delighted Dean, "I never find anybody who can talk of these things,—it is really astonishing. Ah, now, we English know nothing of France,—nor they of us. Why, I was a mere schoolboy then, and I had a passion for their society and their books,—for their plays—dare I confess it?"—he lowered his voice and glanced at his hostess,—"their plays, above all !"

Kitty clapped her hands. The Dean looked at her, and ran on:

"My mother shared it. When I came over for my Eton holidays, she and I lived at the Théâtre Français. Ah! those were days! I remember Rachel in Hernani."

Kitty bounded in her seat. Whereupon it appeared that just before she left Paris she had been taken by a friend to see the reigning idol of the Comédie Française, the young and astonishing actress, Sarah Bernhardt, as Doña Sol. And there began straightway an excited duet between her and the Dean; a comparison of old and new, a rivalry of heroines, a hot and critical debate that presently silenced all other conversation in the room, and brought Lord Grosville to stand gaping and astounded behind the Dean, reflecting, no doubt, that this was not precisely the Dean of the Diocesan Conference.

The old man, indeed, forgot his age; the girl her youth; they met as equals, on poetic ground, till suddenly Kitty, springing up, and to prove her point, began an imitation of "Sarah" in one of the great speeches of the last act, after the entry of the husband and the discovery of the lover. She absolutely forgot the Grosville drawing-room, the staring Grosville girls, the other faces, astonished or severe, neutral or friendly. Out rolled the tide of tragic verse, fine poetry and high passion; and though it be not very much to say, it must at least be said that never had such recitation, in such French, been heard before within the walls of Grosville Park. Nor had the lips of any English girl ever dealt there with so dire a topic; Lady Grosville might well feel as though the solid frame of things were melting and cracking round her.

Kitty ceased. She fell back upon her chair, smitten with a sudden perception.

"You made me!" she said, reproachfully, to the Dean.

The Dean said another "brava!" and gave another clap. Then becoming aware of Lord Grosville's open mouth and eye, he sat up, caught his wife's expression, and came back to prose and the present.

"My dear young lady," he began, "you have the most extraordinary talent," when Lady Grosville advanced upon him. Standing before him, she majestically signalled to her husband across his small person.

"William!—Kindly order Mrs. Wilson's carriage."

Lord Grosville awoke from his stupor with a jerk, and did as he was told. Mrs. Wilson, the agent's timid wife, who was not at all aware that she had asked for her carriage, rose obediently. Then the mistress of the house turned to Lady Kitty.

"You recite very well, Kitty," she said, with cold and stately emphasis, "but another time I will ask you to confine yourself to Racine and Corneille. In England we have to be very careful about French writers. There are, however, if I remember right, some fine passages in Athalie."

Kitty said nothing. The Austrian attaché, who had been following the little incident with the liveliest interest, retired to a close inspection of the china. But the Dean, whose temper was of the quick and chivalrous kind, was roused.

"She recites wonderfully! And Victor Hugo is a classic, please, my lady!—just as much as the rest of them. Ah! well, no doubt, no doubt, there might be things more suitable." And the old man came wavering down to earth, as the enthusiasm which Kitty had breathed into him escaped, like the gas from a balloon. "But do you know, Lady Kitty,"—he struck into a new subject with eagerness, partly to cover the girl, partly to silence Lady Grosville,—"you reminded me all the time so remarkably of your sister,—your stepsister, isn't it?—Lady Alice? You know, of course, she is close to you to-day, just the other side the park, with the Sowerbys?"