Upon
one cheek, a little below the outside corner of the eye she wore a
small black patch, according to a fashion of the time, by way of
heightening by contrast the delicacy of her complexion. The faint
perfume with which she had completed her toilet, seemed less a perfume
than the very breath of her beauty, the voluptuous effluence which it
exhaled. Having played and sung for some time she let her hands drop
by her side and raising her eyes to meet Perez' fascinated gaze, said
lightly:
"Do you like it?" The most exacting performer would have been
satisfied with the manner in which after a husky attempt to say
something in reply, he bowed his head in silence.
"I'm glad you came in tonight," she said, "for I want to ask something
of you. Since you are Duke of Stockbridge we all have to ask favors of
you, you see."
"What is it?" he asked.
"Oh, dear me," she said, laughing. "That's not the way people ask
favors of kings and dukes. They make em promise to grant the favor
first, and then tell em what it is. This is the way," and with the
words she dropped lightly on one knee before Perez, and with her
clasped hands pressed against her bosom, raised her face up toward
his, her eyes eloquent, of intoxicating submissiveness.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335