‘Oh, I must read it all, every word, I can hardly wait.’
Lady Montdore was radiant. How many and many a time had she led her guests to ‘Pages from Our Indian Diary’, like horses to water, and watched them straying off after one half-hearted sip. Never before, I guess, had anybody so eagerly demanded to read it.
‘Now, you must tell us about your life, my dear boy,’ said Lady Montdore. ‘When did you leave Canada? Your home is in Nova Scotia, is it not?’
‘I lived there until I was eighteen.’
‘Montdore and I have never been to Canada – the States, of course, we spent a month once in New York and Washington and we saw Niagara Falls, but then we were obliged to come home, I only wish we could have gone on, they were quite touchingly anxious to have us, but Montdore and I cannot always do as we should like, we have our duties. Of course, that was a long time ago, twenty-five years I should think, but I dare say Nova Scotia doesn’t alter much?’
‘I am very very happy to say that kindly Nature has allowed a great sea-fog of oblivion to rise between me and Nova Scotia so that I hardly remember one single thing about it.’
‘What a strange boy, you are,’ she said indulgently, but she was very well suited by the fact of the sea-fog, since the last thing she wanted would have been long-winded reminiscences of Cedric’s family life in Canada; it was all no doubt much better forgotten, and especially the fact that Cedric had a mother. ‘So you came to Europe when you were eighteen?’
‘Paris. Yes, I was sent to Paris by my guardian, a banker, to learn some horrid sort of job, I quite forget what, as I never had to go near it. It is not necessary to have jobs in Paris, one’s friends are so very very kind.’
‘Really, how funny. I always thought the French were so mean.’
‘Certainly not to One. My needs are simple, admittedly, but such as they are they have all been satisfied over and over again.’
‘What are your needs?’
‘I need a very great deal of beauty round me, beautiful objects wherever I look and beautiful people who see the point of One. And speaking of beautiful people, Aunt Sonia, after dinner the jewels? Don’t, don’t, please say no!’
‘Very well, then,’ she said, ‘but now, Cedric, won’t you take off your glasses?’
‘Perhaps I could. Yes, I really think the last vestige of my shyness has gone.’
He took them off, and the eyes which were now disclosed, blinking in the light, were the eyes of Polly, large, blue, and rather blank. They quite startled me, but I do not think the Montdores were specially struck by the resemblance, though Lady Montdore said,
‘Anybody can tell that you are a Hampton, Cedric. Please never let’s see those horrid spectacles again.’
‘My goggles? Specially designed by Van Cleef for me?’
‘I hate spectacles,’ said Lady Montdore firmly.
Lady Montdore’s maid was now sent for, given the key of the safe from Lord Montdore’s key-ring and told to bring up all the jewel cases. When dinner was over and we got back to the Long Gallery, leaving Lord Montdore to his port, but accompanied by Cedric, who was evidently unaware of the English custom which keeps the men in the dining-room after dinner and who followed Lady Montdore like a dog, we found the map-table covered with blue velvet trays each of which contained a parure of large and beautiful jewels. Cedric gave a cry of happiness and got down to work at once.
‘In the first place, dear Aunt Sonia,’ he said, ‘this dress won’t do. Let me see – ah, yes’ – he took a piece of red brocade off the piano and draped her in it very cleverly, pinning it in place on one shoulder with a huge diamond brooch. ‘Have you some maquillage in this bag, dear? And a comb?’
Lady Montdore rummaged about and produced a cheap lipstick and a small green comb with a tooth out.
‘Naughty, naughty you,’ he said, carefully painting her face, ‘it cakes! Never mind, that will do for now. Not pulling your hair, am I? We’ve got to show the bone structure, so beautiful on you. I think you’ll have to find a new coiffeur, Aunt Sonia – we’ll see about that – anyway, it must go up – up – like this. Do you realize what a difference that makes? Now, Mrs Wincham, will you please put out the top lights for me, and bring the lamp from that bureau over here. Thank you.’
He placed the lamp on the floor at Lady Montdore’s feet and began to hang her with diamonds, so that the brocade was covered with them to her waist, finally poising the crown of pink diamonds on the top of her head.
‘Now,’ he said. ‘Look!’ and he led her to a looking-glass on the wall. She was entranced by the effect, which was indeed very splendid.
‘My turn,’ he said.
Although Lady Montdore seemed to be almost solid with diamonds the cases on the tables still held many huge jewels. He took off his coat, his collar and tie, pulled open his shirt and clasped a great necklace of diamonds and sapphires round his neck, wound up another piece of silk into a turban, stuck a diamond feather in it and put it on his head. He went on talking all the time.
‘You really must pat your face more, Aunt Sonia.’
‘Pat?’
‘With nourishing creams. I’ll show you. Such a wonderful face, but uncultivated, neglected and starved. We must feed it up, exercise it and look after it better from now on. You’ll soon see what a lot can be done. Twice a week you must sleep in a mask.’
‘A mask?’
‘Yes, back to masks, but this time I mean the sort you paint on at night. It goes quite hard, so that you look like
