Anthony Hope

“ It lay in her hand, and she regarded it for a long while. At last she raised her eyes to the Duke's.
"It was a shame to make you risk it," she said. "Is anything else in the world blue—really blue—except this?" She held it out towards him on the palm of her hand.
"Just some eyes," said the Duke.
At this moment Frank entered. The Duke's air indicated surprise, if not displeasure. Frank carried a small antique leather case, open and empty, in his hand. He looked sadly flustered. The Duke turned to him, but Lady Anastasia's eyes were still set on the sapphire in the palm of her hand. ”

“ To the latter it seemed, somehow, as though a rigidity fell on all the three—nay, on all the five, for the Prince and the Countess sat motionless. The Duke eyed the red pepper. He had a queer feeling that a commodity possessing the properties of red pepper would be better in his own possession, but, fearing to create suspicion, he refrained from seizing it.
"Dear Anastasia said you were always so good-natured about showing it."
"It's no trouble to show a thing if you happen to have it with you," laughed the Duke, as he put his hand into his waistcoat pocket. ”

“ Perhaps the Countess was awake to that consideration. They passed through the drawing-room, followed by the second footman three or four paces behind.
"I'm afraid," said the Countess, as they went downstairs, "that you think very badly of us."
"I beg your pardon?" The Duke had been thinking, but not of the moral character of his hosts.
"I mean—that we should adopt this—this mode of life."
"Oh, on the contrary. It must be extremely interesting. I myself have always found a pleasure in evading the law—in the matter of motor-cars, for instance." ”

“ They reached Meldart Lodge—a house with which the Duke was well acquainted—at twenty-five minutes to nine.
"You needn't come back, Ferdinand. I'll find my own way home. Good night," said the Duke.
"It's sometimes convenient to have a car handy, your Grace."
"Yes." The Duke gave a smile of reminiscence. "Well, I may telephone," he conceded, "but not after eleven-thirty."
Monsieur Ferdinand drove off. The Duke watched him go, walked up the steps, and rang the bell. "Stasy will be before me, I expect," he said to himself.
He was received by a butler and two footmen, all very tall men. ”

“ The second footman—whatever might be the case with his associates—was not satisfied. Then he must tread very warily; he must, above all, show no eagerness and no anxiety.
"You look thoughtful, my friend," he remarked. As he spoke, the little Countess rose suddenly from her chair, came to the second footman, and put her arm through his. The next moment the butler and the first footman took the two empty chairs and helped themselves, the butler to an apple, the footman to port. The Duke looked at his watch. "Masks off at ten-thirty, is it?" he asked the Countess, with a smile. ”

“ After all, the thick-set gentleman with bluish cheeks, raspy hair, and twinkling black eyes, may have been right in thinking himself cousin to the Catholic King, and no mere desire for actuality must tempt us to risk giving pain in Exalted Quarters. Let us just call him "The Prince," or—as the Countess called him—"Monseigneur."
The Duke made his bow—a rather reserved sort of bow—to the Prince, who, gave his hand a hearty shake. ”

“ However that may be—and the Duke was not accustomed to claim credit undeserved—just as he had restored the revolver to his hip-pocket and had backed politely to the door, which the Countess still held open for him, the second footman raised his hands high above his head for an instant, uttered a loud cry of "By Heaven!" and hurled himself forward towards the Duke. ”

“ And—but there is really no need to multiply instances of his good-nature, carelessness, or caprice, excusable only by the reflection that man's well-being lies not in the multitude of his possessions, but in the free play of the human spirit. ”

“ That sounds a simple thing to do. But if his hand trembled, if he snatched eagerly, if his eyes lit up with premature exultation? The second footman was—or seemed—a long time handing over the revolver. ”