Then the
whole family of the Rosenbaums, eight in number, demanded her services
for many cups of tea and as many plates of sandwiches and cakes, and
when their change was counted, the Countess Kate and her attendant
husband were leaving. The countess, however, called back over her
shoulder, "You are dining with me on Friday; the princess said yes for
you!"
And so it was that on the evening of the hunt Nina, alone with her
uncle--her aunt having stayed at home on account of a headache--found
herself entering a big new apartment house, and going up in an elevator,
quite as though she were at home in one of the most modern, instead of
one of the most ancient, cities in the world.
The Masco apartment was all brand-new--so new that there was still about
it an odor of fresh paint and plaster, and the pungency of raw textiles.
The Countess Kate, not to be outdone by her decorator, was as new as her
surroundings--in the latest style of sheath dress, of a brilliant blue,
which she wore triumphantly, regardless of the strain with which it
stretched across the amplitude of her bosom.
The company consisted of the Oliscos, Count Tornik, Prince Minotti,
Count Rosso, Prince Allegro, Eliot Porter, and John Derby. It gave Nina
a sudden feeling of satisfaction to see how attractive John was by
comparison with the others.
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