Armine, Chapter XV-XVII [pp. 685-708]

1883.] A~M!KE, 701
"I hope," he said, "that you do not regret having fbllowed it."
"Do you know me so little as to imagine that possible?
How could I regret finding myself in the most rarefied atmosphere I have ever breathed? I am inhaling it with delight."
"I thought that it was an atmosphere which would please
you," he said, with a smile.
"If you really thought so you paid me a compliment which
I appreciate. What an intellectual pleasure it is to listen to talk
such as I have heard on all sides since I have been here! And
as for M. d'Antignac~well, I have never before seen any one
in the least like him; but if yo~ hear of my sitting all the time
literally as well as metaphorically at his feet you need not be
surprised."
Egerton laughed. "I cannot imagine your sitting at the feet
of any one, either literally or metaphorically," he said.
"That is because you do not know much about me," answered
the young lady calmly. "I have a great capacity for heroworship, but I have never up to this time found the hero on
whom to expend it. But pray tell me who is the lady talking to
M. d'Antignac now? She has the air of a grande dame."
"She is a grande dame-Mme. Ia Comtesse de St. Arnaud,
sister of the Vicomte de Marigny and a cousin of the D'Antignacs. I have seen her here before."
"She has a striking air of distinction, and a charm of appearance without being at all beautiful."
"She is very like her brother. Perhaps if you saw him you
might find another hero to your liking. He is D'Antignac's
closest friend, and, I presume, a man after his own heart."
"He seems to have a great variety of very different friends,
this M. d'Antignac," said Miss Bertram. "By the way, did you
not promise that I should meet your Socialist if I came here?"
"Duchesne? Good Heaven, no! That would be a little too
much even for D'Antignac's tolerance. I only said you might
meet his daughter, but not on an evening when they receive
gene rally. I am quite sure that Mlle. Duchesne has too much
sense for that. The Comtesse de St. Arnaud, for example, might
be surprised to meet the daughter of the man who is at this
moment most vigorously opposing her brother's election."
"Really, this is very charming!" said Miss Bertram. "It is
my ideal of a salon, where people of the most different tastes and
opinions can meet on neutral ground, and where there is a central mind of intelligence high enough and sympathy,wide enough
to attract them all."