the company in general, "and I wanted to introduce my friend, Cyril Grey."
Every one was amazed. They only then perceived that a second man had
entered the room without being heard or seen. This individual was tall and
thin, almost, as the pianist; but he had the peculiar quality of failing to attract
attention. When they saw him, he acted in the most conventional way
possible; a smile, and a bow, and a formal handshake, and the right word of
greeting. But the moment that introductions were over, he apparently
vanished! The conversation became general; Amy Brough went to sleep;
Blaustein took his leave; Arnold King followed; the pianist rose for the same
purpose and looked round for his friend. Only then did anyone observe that
he was seated on the floor with crossed legs, perfectly indifferent to the
company.
The effect of the discovery was hypnotic. From being nothing in the room, he
became everything. Even Lavinia King, who had wearied of the world at
thirty, and was now forty-three, saw that here was something new to her. She
looked at that impassive face. The jaw was square, the planes of the face
curiously fiat. The mouth was small, a poppy-petal of vermilion, intensely
sensuous. The nose was small and rounded, but fine, and the life of the face
seemed concentrated in the nostrils. The eyes were tiny and oblique, with
strange brows of defiance. A small tuft of irrepressible hair upon the forehead
started up like a lone pine-tree on the slope of a mountain; for with this
exception, the man was entirely bald; or, rather, clean-shaven, for the scalp
was grey. The skull was extraordinarily narrow and long.
Again she looked at the eyes. They were parallel, [14] focussed on infinity.
The pupils were pin-points. It was clear to her that he saw nothing in the
room. Her dancer's vanity came to her rescue; she moved in front of the still
figure, and made a mock obeisance. She might have done the same to a stone
image.
To her astonishment, she found the hand of Lisa on her shoulder. A look, half
shocked, half pious, was in her friend's eyes. She found herself rudely pushed
aside. Turning, she saw Lisa squatting on the floor opposite the visitor, with
her eyes fixed upon his. He remained apparently quite unconscious of what
was going on.