Castle Craneycrow | Page 7

and I was nineteen. You are right, Lady Saxondale. I'll confess
to having regarded her as the fairest creature the sun ever shone upon.
For six solid, delicious months she was the foundation of every thought
that touched my brain. And then--well, what happened then? Oh, yes;
we quarrelled and forgot each other. So she's the girl who's to marry the
prince, is she?" Quentin's face was serious for the moment; a far-off
look of real concern came into his eyes. He was recalling a sweet,
dainty face, a girlish figure, and the days gone by.
"How odd I did not think of it before. Really, you two were dreadful
spoons in those days. Mamma used to worry for fear you'd carry out
your threat to run away with her. And now she's to be a real live
princess." Lady Frances created a profound sensation when she
resurrected Quentin's boyhood love affair with the one American girl
that all Europe talked about at that moment. Lord Bob was excited,
perhaps for the first time since he proposed to Frances Thornow.
"By Jove, old man, this is rare, devilish rare. No wonder you have such
a deuced antipathy to the prince. Intuition must have told you that he
was to marry one of the ladies of your past."
"Why, Bob, we were children, and there was nothing to it. Truly, I had
forgotten that pretty child--that's all she was--and I'll warrant she
wouldn't remember my name if some one spoke it in her presence.
Every boy and girl has had that sort of an affair."

"She's the most beautiful creature I ever saw," cried Lady Jane,
ecstatically. Dickey Savage looked sharply at her vivacious face.
"When did you last see her, Mr. Quentin?"
"I can't recall, but I know it was when her hair hung down her back.
She left New York before she was fifteen, I'm quite sure. I think I was
in love with a young widow fourteen years my senior, at the time, and
did not pay much heed to Dorothy's departure. She and her mother have
been traveling since then?"
"They traveled for three years before Mrs. Garrison could make up her
mind to settle down in Brussels. I believe she said it reminded her of
Paris, only it was a little more so," said Lord Bob. "We met them in
Paris five years ago, on our wedding trip, and she was undecided until I
told her she might take a house near the king's palace in Brussels, such
as it is, and off she flew to be as close to the crown as possible. She
struck me as a gory old party who couldn't live comfortably unless she
were dabbling in blue blood. The girl was charming, though."
"She's in London now," ventured Sir James. "The papers say she came
especially to see the boat races, but there is a pretty well established
belief that she came because the prince is here. Despite their millions, I
understand it is a love match."
"I hope I may have a look at her while I'm here, just to see what time
has done for her," said Quentin.
"You may have the chance to ask if she remembers you," said Dickey.
"And if she thinks you've grown older," added Lord Bob.
"Will you tell her you are not married?" demanded Lady Jane.
"I'll do but one thing, judging from the way you describe the goddess.
Just stand with open mouth and marvel at her magnificence.
Somewhere among my traps I have a picture of her when she was
fourteen, taken with me one afternoon at a tin-typer's. If I can find it,
I'll show it to her, just to prove that we both lived ten years ago. She's

doubtless lived so much since I saw her last that she'll deny an
existence so far back as that."
"You won't be so deuced sarcastic when you see her, even if she is to
marry a prince. I tell you, Phil, she is something worth looking at
forever," said Lord Bob.
"I never saw such eyes, such a complexion, such hair, such a carriage,"
cried Lady Frances.
"Has she any teeth?" asked Dickey, and was properly frowned upon by
Lady Jane.
"You describe her as completely in that sentence, Lady Frances, as a
novelist could in eight pages," said Quentin.
"No novelist could describe her," was the answer.
"It's to be hoped no novelist may attempt it," said Quentin. "She is
beautiful beyond description, she will be a princess, and she knew me
when I didn't know enough to appreciate her. Her eyes were blue in the
old days, and her hair was almost black. Colors still obtain? Then we
have her description in advance. Now, let's go on with the romance."