Part One
Chapter 5: Possibilities of a Pleasant Outing
(continued)
Lucy was recalled to her manners, and after a little exertion the
complacency of Mr. Eager was restored.
"Bother the drive!" exclaimed the girl, as soon as he had
departed. "It is just the drive we had arranged with Mr. Beebe
without any fuss at all. Why should he invite us in that absurd
manner? We might as well invite him. We are each paying for
ourselves."
Miss Bartlett, who had intended to lament over the Emersons, was
launched by this remark into unexpected thoughts.
"If that is so, dear--if the drive we and Mr. Beebe are going
with Mr. Eager is really the same as the one we are going with
Mr. Beebe, then I foresee a sad kettle of fish."
"How?"
"Because Mr. Beebe has asked Eleanor Lavish to come, too."
"That will mean another carriage."
"Far worse. Mr. Eager does not like Eleanor. She knows it
herself. The truth must be told; she is too unconventional for
him."
They were now in the newspaper-room at the English bank. Lucy
stood by the central table, heedless of Punch and the Graphic,
trying to answer, or at all events to formulate the questions
rioting in her brain. The well-known world had broken up, and
there emerged Florence, a magic city where people thought and did
the most extraordinary things. Murder, accusations of murder,
A lady clinging to one man and being rude to another--were these
the daily incidents of her streets? Was there more in her frank
beauty than met the eye--the power, perhaps, to evoke passions,
good and bad, and to bring them speedily to a fulfillment?
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