Lady Dauntrey's efforts to make the drawing-room more habitable before
Mary saw it would have seemed almost pathetic to any one who understood;
and they had seemed pathetic to Lord Dauntrey. He was more or less in
her confidence, and still under her spell. It was for him, she had said,
that she wanted to secure a new paying-guest who had plenty of money to
put into the "system," and who loved gambling better than anything
else. He had helped Eve and the codfish decorate both drawing-room and
dining-room for Christmas, in order that Mary might take a fancy to the
place, and consent to come as a boarder. There were a good many pine
branches pinned on to curtains and stuck into huge, ugly Japanese vases,
a few wreaths hiding damp or dirty patches on the wall. Crookedly hung
pictures had been straightened; some Christmas magazines were lying
about, and bowls of chrysanthemums relieved the room of its wonted
gloom. It really had almost a festive air; and after her rather lonely
life at the hotel, the place and the people seemed pleasant to Mary. She
was so enchanted with a little shivering marmoset, which Miss Wardropp
had bought of a wandering monkey-merchant in the Galerie Charles Trois,
that Dodo forgave her the wonderful dress and filet, if she did not
quite forgive Lady Dauntrey the surprise. Then Mrs. Ernstein produced
two trained sparrows, which she called her "mosquito hawks" and took
with her everywhere. Mary told them both about an adorable blue frog
named Hilda which she had bought at a Mentone china-shop; and in
comparing pets the atmosphere cleared.
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