Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team
A Novel
by E. M. HULL
1921
"Are you coming in to watch the dancing, Lady Conway?"
"I most decidedly am not. I thoroughly disapprove of the expedition ofwhich this dance is the inauguration. I consider that even bycontemplating such a tour alone into the desert with no chaperon orattendant of her own sex, with only native camel drivers and servants,Diana Mayo is behaving with a recklessness and impropriety that iscalculated to cast a slur not only on her own reputation, but also onthe prestige of her country. I blush to think of it. We English cannotbe too careful of our behavior abroad. No opportunity is slight enoughfor our continental neighbours to cast stones, and this opportunity isvery far from being slight. It is the maddest piece of unprincipledfolly I have ever heard of."
"Oh, come, Lady Conway! It's not quite so bad as all that. It iscertainly unconventional and—er—probably not quite wise, but rememberMiss Mayo's unusual upbringing——"
"I am not forgetting her unusual upbringing," interrupted Lady Conway."It has been deplorable. But nothing can excuse this scandalousescapade. I knew her mother years ago, and I took it upon myself toexpostulate both with Diana and her brother, but Sir Aubrey is hedgedaround with an egotistical complacency that would defy a pickaxe topenetrate. According to him a Mayo is beyond criticism, and hissister's reputation her own to deal with. The girl herself seemed,frankly, not to understand the seriousness of her position, and wasvery flippant and not a little rude. I wash my hands of the wholeaffair, and will certainly not countenance to-night's entertainment byappearing at it. I have already warned the manager that if the noise iskept up beyond a reasonable hour I shall leave the hotel to-morrow."And, drawing her wrap around her with a little shudder, Lady Conwaystalked majestically across the wide verandah of the Biskra Hotel.
The two men left standing by the open French window that led into thehotel ballroom looked at each other and smiled.
"Some peroration," said one with a marked American accent. "That's theway scandal's made, I guess."
"Scandal be hanged! There's never been a breath of scandal attached toDiana Mayo's name. I've known the child since she was a baby. Rumlittle cuss she was, too. Confound that old woman! She would wreck thereputation of the Archangel Gabriel if he came down to earth, let alonethat of a mere human girl."
"Not a very human girl," laughed the American. "She was sure meant fora boy and changed at the last moment. She looks like a boy inpetticoats, a damned pretty boy—and a damned haughty one," he added,chuckling. "I overheard her this morning, in the garden, makingmincemeat of a French officer."
The Englishman laughed.
"Been making love to her, I expect. A thing she does not understand andwon't tolerate. She's the coldest little fish in the world, without anidea in her head beyond sport and travel. Clever, though, and plucky asthey are made. I don't think she knows the meaning of the word fear."
"There's a queer streak in the family, isn't there? I heard somebodyyapping about it the other night. Father was mad and blew his brainsout, so I was told."
The Englishman shrugged his shoulders.
"You can call it