It seemed to Rachel that they were alone
and solitary in the crowded interior, and that they shared exactly the
same tastes and emotions and comprehended one another profoundly and
utterly; her confidence in him, at that instant, was absolute, and
enchanting to her. Half a minute later the emaciated man was in a
room and being ecstatically kissed by a most beautiful and sweetly
shameless girl in a striped shirtwaist; it was a very small room, and
the furniture was close upon the couple, giving the scene an air of
delightful privacy. And then the scene was blotted out and gay music
rose lilting from some unseen cave in front of the screen.
Rachel was rapturously happy. Gazing along the dim rows, she descried
many young couples, without recognizing anybody at all, and most
of these couples were absorbed in each other, and some of the girls
seemed so elegant and alluring in the dusk of the theatre, and some
of the men so fine in their manliness! And the ruby-studded gloom
protected them all, including Rachel and Louis, from the audience at
large.
The screen glowed again. And as it did so Louis gave a start.
"By Jove!" he said, "I've left my stick somewhere. It must have been
at Heath's.
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