"He is more than attractive, he is positively FASCINATING," she said
to herself in the solitude of her room after the tete-a-tete over the
Welsh rarebit that evening. "I don't know when I have felt such a
pleasure in a man's presence. Not since--" But the Baroness did not
allow herself to go back so far. "If there is any fruit I DETEST, it
is DATES," she often said laughingly. "Some people delight in a good
memory--I delight in a good forgettory of the past, with its telltale
milestones of birthdays and anniversaries of marriages, deaths and
divorces."
"Mr Cheney said I looked very young to have been twice married.
Twice!" and she laughed aloud before her mirror, revealing the pink
arch of her mouth, and two perfect sets of yellow-white teeth, with
only one blemishing spot of gold visible. "I wonder if he meant it,
though?" she mused. "And the fact that I DO wonder is the sure proof
that I am really interested in this man. As a rule, I never believe
a word men say, though I delight in their flattery all the same. It
makes me feel comfortable even when I know they are lying. But I
should really feel hurt if I thought Mr Cheney had not meant what he
said. I don't believe he knows much about women, or about himself
lower than his brain. He has never studied his heart. He is all
ambition. If an ambitious and unsophisticated youth of twenty-five
or twenty-eight does get infatuated with a woman of my age--he is a
perfect toy in her hands. Ah, well, we shall see what we shall see."
And the Baroness finished her massage in cold cream, and put her
blonde head on the pillow and went sound asleep.
After that first tete-a-tete supper the fair widow managed to see
Preston at least once or twice a week. She sent for him to ask his
advice on business matters, she asked him to aid her in changing the
position of the furniture in a room when the servants were all busy,
and she invited him to her private parlour for lunch every Sunday
afternoon. It was during one of these chats over cake and wine that
the young man spoke of Berene. The Baroness had dropped some remarks
about her servants, and Preston said, in a casual tone of voice which
hid the real interest he felt in the subject, "By the way, one of
your servants has quite an unusual voice. I have heard her singing
about the halls a few times, and it seems to me she has real talent."