Kim watched us eat with pleasure and I knew he was puzzled about me. I sensed he recognized that he had met me before and was wondering where. I was delighted to keep him guessing.
"Look," he said as we sipped our mead, "here comes the Borgia boy."
I looked and saw him; he was dressed in black velvet, there was a little cap on his head and false mustaches. He looked at Mellyora and then at me. His gaze stayed on me.
He bowed and said in a theatrical manner: "Methinks I have met the fair Grecian in our St. Larnston lanes."
I knew at once that he was Johnny St. Larnston because I recognized his voice as I had Kim's.
"But I am certain I have never seen the Spanish beauty before."
"You should never be too sure of anything," said Mellyora.
"If I had seen her once I should never have forgotten her and now her image will remain with me all the days of my life."
"It's strange," said Mellyora, "that by merely wearing a mask you can't really hide your identity."
"The voice, the gestures betray," said Kim.
"And we three are known to each other," went on Johnny. "That makes me mighty curious about the stranger in our midst."
He drew his chair close to mine, and I began to feel uneasy.
"You're a friend of Mellyora's," he added. "I know your name. You're Miss Carlyon."
"You are not supposed to embarrass your guests," Mellyora told him primly.
"My dear Mellyora, the whole purpose of a masked ball is to guess the identity of your companions before the unmasking. Did you not know? Miss Carlyon, my mother told me that Mellyora was bringing a friend as her father could not come. A chaperone ... an aunt, I think. That was what my mother said. Surely you are not Mellyora's aunt?"
"I refuse to tell you who I am," I answered. "You must wait for the unmasking."
"As long as I may be at your side at that exciting moment I can wait."
The music had started and a tall handsome couple were opening the ball. I knew the man in Regency costume was Justin and I guessed the tall, slim, dark-haired woman to be his newly married wife.
I could not take my eyes from Judith St. Larnston who, until recently, had been Judith Derrise. She was wearing a crimson velvet dress very similar in color to mine; but how much richer was hers! About her neck diamonds glittered; they were also in her ears and on her long, slender fingers. Her dark hair was worn in pompadour fashion which made her look slightly taller than Justin, who was very tall. She looked very attractive but what I noticed more than anything was a certain nervous tension about her. It was betrayed by the sudden movements of her head and hands. I noticed, too, how she clung to Justin's hand and even in the dance she gave the impression that she was determined never to let him go.
"How attractive she is!" I said.
"My new sister-in-law," murmured Johnny, his eyes following her.
"A handsome pair," I said.
"My brother is the handsome member of the family, don t you think?"
"It is difficult to say until the unmasking takes place."
"Oh, that unmasking! Then I shall ask for your verdict. But by that time I hope to have proved to you that Justin's brother has other qualities to make up for his lack of personal beauty. Shall we dance?"
I was alarmed, afraid that if I danced with Johnny St. Larnston I should betray that I had never danced with a man before.
If it had been Kim, I should have been less afraid, because I had already proved that in an emergency one could rely on him; I was unsure of Johnny. But Kim was already leading Mellyora out.
Johnny took my hand and pressed it warmly.
"Spanish lady," he said, "you are not afraid of me?"
I gave the kind of laugh I might have given years ago. Then I said in my slow, careful way, "I see no reason to be."
"That's a good start."
The musicians, who were in a gallery at one end of the ballroom, were playing a waltz. I thought of waltzing round the bedroom with Mellyora and I hoped that my dancing would not betray my lack of experience. But it was easier than I thought; I was skillful enough not to arouse suspicion. "How well our steps fit," said Johnny.
I lost Mellyora in the dance and wondered whether Johnny had intended that I should; and when we sat together on the gilded chairs and I was asked to dance by someone else, I was rather relieved to escape from Johnny. We talked—or rather my partner did—of other balls, of the hunt, of the changing conditions of the country, and I listened, careful never to betray myself. I learned that night that a girl who listens and agrees, quickly becomes popular. But it was not a role I intended to play permanently. Then I was taken back to my chair where Johnny was impatiently waiting. Mellyora and Kim joined us and I danced with Kim. I enjoyed that very much, although it wasn't so easy as it had been with Johnny; I suppose because Johnny was a better dancer. And all the time I kept thinking: You're actually here in the Abbas. You, Kerensa Carlee —Carlyon for the night.
We had more food and wine and I didn't want the evening ever to end. I knew I should hate to take off my red velvet dress and let down my hair. I stored up in my mind every little incident so that I could tell Mellyora the next day.
I joined in the cotillion; some of my partners were paternal, others flirtatious. I managed them all with what I thought was great skill; and I asked myself why I had ever been nervous.
I drank a little of the dash-an-darras which Johnny and Kim had brought to our table with the food. Mellyora was a little subdued; I believe she was hoping that she might dance with. Justin.
I was dancing with Johnny when he said: "It's so crowded here. Let's go outside."
I followed him down the staircase and out to the lawns where some of the guests were dancing. It was an enchanting sight. The music could be heard distinctly through the open windows and the dresses of the men and women looked fantastic in the moonlight.
We danced over the lawn and we came to the hedge which separated the Abbas lawns from the field in which stood the Six Virgins and the old mine.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"To see the Virgins."
"I always wanted to see them in moonlight," I said.
A slow smile touched his lips, and I realized at once that I had given him a clue that I was not a stranger to St. Larnstons who had come for the ball, since I knew of the existence of the Virgins.
"Well," he whispered, "so you shall"
He took my hand and together we ran over the grass. I leaned against one of the stones and he came near to me pressing close. He tried to kiss me, but I held him off.
"Why do you plague me?" he said.
"I do not wish to be kissed."
"You're a strange creature. Miss Carlyon. You provoke and then become prim. Is it fair?"
"I came here to see the Virgins in moonlight."
He had put his hands on my shoulders and held me against the stone. "Six virgins. There might be seven here tonight."
"You've forgotten the story," I said. "It was because they weren't virgins "
"Precisely. Miss Carlyon, are you going to turn to stone tonight?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you know the legend? Anyone who stands here in moonlight and touches one of these stones is in danger."
"From what? Impertinent young men?"
He put his face close to mine. He looked satanic with the false mustaches and his eyes glinting through the mask. "You haven't heard the legend? Oh, but you don't come from these parts, do you. Miss Carlyon? I must tell you. If the question is asked 'Are you a virgin?' and you cannot answer Yes,' you'll be turned into stone. I'm asking you now."
I tried to wriggle free. "I wish to return to the house."
"You haven't answered the question."
"I think you are not behaving like a gentleman."