asked it as a humble petitioner: would they graciously permit Madame Zyszynski to visit him
in Monte Carlo if he would send his car for her and send her back? Beauty said: "Why,
certainly. That is, of course, if Madame is willing, and I am sure she will be."
"We got along all right this time," said Zaharoff. And Lanny, not untrained in observation,
perceived that the old spider, likewise not untrained, was watching for some hint of the fact that
Beauty knew of the earlier fiasco. Since Beauty didn't know what had happened on that
occasion, it was easy for her to appear innocent. Not that >t would have been difficult,
anyhow!
Lanny went down to the studio for the purpose of consulting Madame and found her pleased
with the old gentleman's new humility. She said she would be willing to visit his hotel, and Lanny
went back and made a date. Zaharoff excused himself from dinner, saying that he ate very little
and that his mind was full of the things he had heard.
He went out to his car and was driven away. Beauty said to Irma: "That poor old man! He has
so much money, yet he can't get the one thing in the world he wants!" After saying it, the
mother-in-law wondered if it mightn't sound a wee bit tactless!
9
I
IRMA had promised her mother to visit Long Island that summer and exhibit the new heiress
of the Barnes and Vandringham clans. Johannes Robin had said that they would make it another
yachting-trip, but now he wrote sorrowfully that it was impossible for him to leave Berlin;
financial conditions were becoming desperate, and he would have to be on hand every day and
perhaps every hour. With a princely gesture he offered the Budd family the yacht with all
expenses paid, but perhaps he knew that they would not accept such a favor.
Irma said: "We might rent it from him." They talked about the idea for a while, but they knew
the young Robins wouldn't come, they would feel it their duty to stick by their mother and
father. Freddi would prefer to carry on the school, for workers don't have vacations—when
they stop work, their pay stops, and this was happening to great numbers of them. Hansi and
Bess were helping by playing at low-priced concerts in large halls for the people. A violinist
doesn't promote his reputation by that kind of thing, but he helps his conscience.
There were plenty of persons who would have been pleased to be offered a free yachting-trip,
but Irma admitted that it might be a bore to be with a small group for so long a time; better to
be footloose, and free to change friends as well as places. The efficient Bureau International de
Voyage, which now consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Pendleton and nobody else, was happy to
supply them with information concerning steamers from Marseille to New York. There were
sumptuous Mediterranean cruises on which one could book for the return trip; there were
steamers making so-called de luxe tours around the world, coming by way of the Suez Canal
and Gibraltar to New York. De luxe was what Irma Barnes desired, and it was pleasant to learn
that the choicest suites of these floating hotels were vacant on account of hard times. Irma chose
the best for herself and Lanny, and a near-by one for Miss Severne, the nursemaid, and the baby;
also a second-class passage for her maid, and for the demoted Feathers, whose duty it now was
to run all the errands and accept all humiliations.
Early in May the party embarked, and Lanny found himself returned suddenly into that cafe
society from which he had fled a year and a half ago. Ten to twelve million dollars had been
expended to provide a sea-going replica of the Great White Way, and by expertly contrived
advertising exactly the right sort of crowd had been lured on board. This floating hotel included
a swimming-pool deep enough for high diving, a game room, a gymnasium with instructors, a
squash court, a playground for children, an arcade with beauty parlors and luxury shops, several
bars and barber-shops used mainly by ladies, a jazz band and a small orchestra, a motion-picture
theater, and a grill room where you could order anything you wanted if you became hungry in
between the elaborate regular meals. Here were people one had met at first nights on
Broadway, in the swanky night clubs and the Park Avenue penthouses. A sprinkling of sight-
seers and curiosity-seekers from the "sticks," which meant any place west of Seventh Avenue;
people who had "made their pile" in hogs or copper and put it into bonds, and wished to get
away from the troubles of their world. They had expected the depression to be over by the
time they got back, but they had miscalculated.
Before the vessel docked at Marseille word had got about that Irma Barnes and her husband
were coming on board; so there was a crowd lined up by the rail to spot them and watch them.
Once upon a time it had been rude to stare, but that time was gone with the daisies. Several old
friends rushed up to greet Irma, and to be introduced to the lucky young prince consort; so
