Thus those guests for whom audiences were not
provided, could have the felicity of seeing the great ones pass across
the lawn on their excursions for food, and possibly trip over the
croquet hoops, which had been left up to give an air of naturalness to
the lawn. In the smoking-parlour an Elzevir or two were left
negligently open, as if Mr and Mrs Lucas had been reading the works of
Persius and Juvenal when the first guests arrived. In the music-room,
finally, which was not usually open on these occasions, there were
fresh flowers: the piano, too, was open, and if you had not seen the
Elzevirs in the smoking-parlour, it would have been reasonable for the
early guests, if they penetrated here, to imagine that Mrs Lucas had
been running over the last act of Siegfried a minute before.
In this visit of final inspection Lucia was accompanied by her Guru,
for he was part of the domestic _dramatis personae_, and she
wanted him to be "discovered" in the special tent. She pointed out the
site of his proposed "discovery" to him.
"Probably the first person I shall bring in here," she said, "will be
Lady Ambermere, for she is noted for her punctuality. She is so anxious
to see you, and would it not be exciting if you found you had met
before? Her husband was Governor of Madras, and she spent many years in
India."
"Madras, gracious lady?" asked the Guru.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142