United States or Kiribati ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
She frowned, and was about to speak, when: "Lola, my dear," came a distant, querulous murmur. "Give me another pipe." Sin tossed her head, turned, and went out again. Sir Lucien lighted another cigarette. When finally the woman came back, Cyrus Kilfane had presumably attained the opium-smoker's paradise, for Lola closed the door and seated herself upon the arm of Sir Lucien's chair.
Now you, my daughter" the lustreless eyes again sought Rita's flushed face "are vivid intensely vital. If you can succeed in resigning yourself to the hypnosis induced your experiences will be delightful. Trust your Uncle Cy." Leaving Rita chatting with Miss Gretna, Kilfane took Pyne aside, offering him a cigarette from an ornate, jewelled case.
Her bold good looks repelled Rita, but the knowledge in her dark eyes was alluring. "I arrange for you for Saturday night," she said. "Cy Kilfane is coming with Mollie, and you bring " "Oh," replied Rita hesitatingly, "I am sorry you have gone to so much trouble." "No trouble, my dear," Mrs. Sin assured her. "Just a little matter of business, and you can pay the bill when it suits you."
"Hello," said the baronet, "can you still get these?" "With the utmost difficulty," murmured Kilfane, returning the case to his pocket. "Lola charges me five guineas a hundred for them, and only supplies them as a favor. I shall be glad to get back home, Pyne. The right stuff is the wrong price in London." Sir Lucien laughed sardonically, lighting Kilfane's cigarette and then his own.
Mollie Gretna had run off to Kilfane, and could be heard talking loudly in another room; but, called by Mrs. Sin, she now returned, wide-eyed with excitement. Mrs. Sin cast a lightning glance at Sir Lucien, and then addressed Rita. "Which of these three rooms you choose?" she asked, revealing her teeth in one of those rapid smiles which were mirthless as the eternal smile of Sin Sin Wa.
"Oh!" cried Mollie Gretna, "how that made me jump! What a beautifully gloomy sound!" Kilfane murmured some inaudible reply, but neither Pyne nor Rita spoke.
Walk ahead, Kilfane, with Mollie. Rita and I will follow at a discreet distance. Leave the door ajar." Temporarily subdued by Pyne's icy manner, Miss Gretna became silent, and went on ahead with Cyrus Kilfane, who had preserved an almost unbroken silence throughout the journey. Rita and Sir Lucien followed slowly. "What a creepy neighborhood," whispered Rita. "Look!
Sin call it the 'House of a Hundred Raptures, after the one he have in Buenos Ayres." The voice of Cyrus Kilfane came, querulous, from a neighboring room. "Lola, my dear, I am almost ready." "Ho!" Mrs. Sin uttered a deep-toned laugh. "He is a glutton for chandu! I am coming, Cy." She turned and went out.
She twice visited the "House of a Hundred Raptures" with Mollie Gretna, and once with Mollie and Kilfane, unknown to Sir Lucien.
He glanced at Rita, who was standing very near him, surveying the evil little room and its owner with ill-concealed disgust. "This is merely the foyer, Rita," he said, smiling slightly. "The state apartments are upstairs and in the adjoining house." "Oh," she murmured and no more. Kilfane and Mollie Gretna were passing through the inner doorway, and Mollie turned.
Word Of The Day