The Glittering Lights (Bantam Series No. 12) Read Online Free PDF Page B

said.
    “These women are very astute!” her Aunt replied. “They make the men who pursue them so infatuated that they cannot escape from escorting them up the aisle!”
    “And you are saying that the Marquis of Charlbury is also ... interested in these ... actresses?”
    “They do not do much acting—not on the stage at any rate!” Lady Fladbury snapped. “But they are very gay, their faces are painted like a herbaceous border, and their jewels glitter as my old Nurse used to describe it, ‘like the devils eye-balls!’”
    She laughed:
    “Oh well, do not worry, my dear! There are plenty of other men in the world besides those who are dazzled by the glittering lights in the Strand.”
    She did not see the expression on her niece’s face because Cassandra had turned away, astonished and shocked by what she had heard.
    When she had the opportunity she talked to her father, knowing that Sir James would tell her the truth. She only half-believed the gossip which came so easily to her Aunt’s lips.
    “Aunt Eleanor says that many young men are actually marrying actresses from the Gaiety, Papa. Is not that somewhat ... unusual?”
    Sir James had glanced at her quickly before he replied: “Certainly not as many as your Aunt makes out. The majority of the men, Cassandra, find it amusing to take actresses out to supper and give them presents.”
    He paused to continue as if he sought for words.
    “A man disports himself in the company of these ladies with a freedom which would not be permitted by any Chaperon and certainly not by any jealous husband.”
    “Are they very ... pretty?” Cassandra asked.
    “Extremely!” Sir James replied. “And they are easy-going, which young men find attractive in contrast to the stiff formality of more respectable occasions.”
    He spoke lightly and then as if he realised why Cassandra was questioning him, he said with a perception which surprised her:
    “Have you been hearing stories about Varro Charlbury?” Cassandra did not reply, and after a moment he said:
    “I thought you might have. A young man, my dearest, has to sow his wild oats. In most cases he makes a better husband because of it.”
    “But... supposing he falls ... in love?” Cassandra asked in a low voice.
    “The word ‘love’,” he said after a moment, “reflects a multitude of emotions. What a man feels for an attractive woman of the type of whom we have just been speaking, is not really love, but desire.” He watched Cassandra’s face, and went on:
    “It gets dolled up in a great many pretty words, but he wants only to be amused by these women, but always to feel free, untrammelled, but unless he is very stupid, he has no wish to spend the rest of his life with a lovely face that has nothing behind it.”
    “Aunt Eleanor was saying...”
    “Your Aunt is exaggerating a few isolated instances where men have married what are known as ‘Gaiety Girls’ thinking that what they were doing was worth the cost.”
    Sir James paused a moment before he went on:
    “They pay a very high penalty for what you call ‘falling in love.’ A man who is in the Army must leave his Regiment. If he is in the Diplomatic Corps or in Politics, the same thing applies. His wife will not be accepted in most instances by his mother or by any of his relatives, and even if his men-friends visit him, their wives will refuse any invitation.”
    Cassandra gave a little sigh.
    “It seems unfair.”
    “Society has to have rules, and the rules where a man marries a woman beneath his station, or one who is notorious because she is an actress or has been divorced, are very, very stringent.”
    Sir James looked at Cassandra’s serious face and added:
    “Do not worry over the tales you may hear about Charlbury. I am convinced it is all a passing phase, and when he marries he will settle down and be an extremely respectable and respected Duke.”
    But things had not quite worked out the way Sir James had expected.
    When the new Duke of