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"But of course you've not got it yet," she said harshly, with apparent irrelevance. Séraphine entered bouncingly with the tea. Lois regarded the tray, and remarked the absence of the strainer. "Et la passoire?" she demanded, with implacable sternness. Séraphine gave a careless, apologetic gesture. It was late in September, when most people had returned to London after the holidays.
She was looking along the serried ranks of youth and beauty to see if anybody's frock was smarter than her own. No. She could see nothing she liked so well as her brown satin and buttercups. She sat down in a perfectly contented frame of mind, pleased with herself and with Seraphine pleased even with Mr. Smithson, who had shown himself devoted by his patient attendance upon the empty chairs.
He seemed to think it beneath his notice; for, he only said "Thank you, Lorton!" and dropped back behind us again with Bessie Dasher, while Seraphine joined company with little Miss Pimpernell Min and I being still together in front. By-and-by our talk was resumed in the same strain from which the curate's interpellation had diverted it. I had just spoken of Gay the fabulist.
When anybody sees him, all is over, and that person has only a few moments longer to live. She then enumerated all those to whom the Devil had appeared that year: Josephine Loisel, Eulalie Ratier, Sophie Padaknau, Seraphine Grospied. Mother Bontemps, who had at last become disturbed in mind, moved about, wrung her hands, and tried to turn her head to look toward the end of the room.
He knew that she would begin weeping and wailing, with small André and Odillon as a puzzled, excited chorus, with 'Toinette and Seraphine adding those baby cries that made little Baptiste want to cry himself; with his grandmother steadily advising, in the din, that patient trust in le bon Dieu which he could not always entertain, though he felt very wretched that he could not.
Lesbia had a rather uncomfortable feeling about facing the fair Seraphine, without being able to give her a cheque upon account of that dreadful bill. She had quite accepted Lady Kirkbank's idea that bills never need be discharged in full, and that the true system of finance was to give an occasional cheque on account, as a sop to Cerberus.
'What does that mean? asked Lesbia, not at all approving of such cavalier treatment. 'Only that Seraphine will make your corsets the right size, answered Lady Kirkbank. 'What? Three inches too small for my waist, and six too wide for my shoulders? 'My love, you must have a figure, replied Lady Kirkbank, conclusively. 'It is not what you are, but what you ought to be that has to be considered.
"I did not suppose, Reverend Father, that it was to be of any advantage to the world, that Sister Seraphine should return to it. The advantage was to be to her, and also to this whole Community, well rid of the presence of one who finds our sacred exercises irksome; our beautiful Nunnery, a prison; her cell, a living tomb. She cries out for life.
"I wasn't laughing at you, heaven-born Jersienne. I wasn't, 'pon honour! I was laughing at a thing I saw five minutes ago." He nodded in gurgling enjoyment now. "You mustn't mind me, seraphine," he added, "I'd a hot night, and I'm warm as a thrush now. But I saw a thing five minutes ago!" he rolled on the stall. "'Sh!" he added in a loud mock whisper, "here he comes now.
There had been his cousin Amalie, whose marriage to another is said to have been the secret spring of sorrow by which Heine's laughter was fed. And there had been others, whose names imaginary, maybe, in that they were doubtless the imaginary names of real women are familiar to all readers of Heines poetry: Seraphine, Angelique, Diane, Hortense, Clarisse, Emma, and so on.
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