Prev | Current Page 134 | Next

Hichens, Robert Smythe, 1864-1950

"A Spirit in Prison"


Everything is made for love.--Look! There is a boat coming with women
in it!"
At a short distance from the shore a rowing boat was visible; and from
it now came shrill sounds of very common voices, followed by shouts of
male laughter.
"Perhaps they are beautiful," said the Marchesino, at once on the
alert.
The boat drew in to the quay, and from it there sprang, with much
noise and many gesticulations, two over-dressed women--probably,
indeed almost certainly, /canzonettiste/--and the two large young men,
whose brown fingers and whose chests gleamed with false diamonds. As
they passed the table where the two friends were sitting, the
Marchesino raked the women with his bold gray eyes. One of them was
large and artificially blonde, with a spreading bust, immense hips, a
small waist, and a quantity of pale dyed hair, on which was perched a
bright blue hat. The other was fiercely dark, with masses of coarse
black hair, big, blatant eyes that looked quite black in the dim
lamplight, and a figure that suggested a self-conscious snake.


Pages:
122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146