Then they commiserated the purser, who
was an unpleasant little Jew of an envious turn of mind; and he, as I was
told, likened me to Sir John Falstaff. I was sensitive in those days, and
this annoyed me, particularly that I had had nothing to do with placing
Mrs. Falchion at my table. We are always most sensitive when guilty
concerning the spirit and not the letter.
One who has lived the cosmopolitan life of London should be quick at
detecting nationalities, but I found it difficult, even after I heard her
speak, to guess at Mrs. Falchion's native land. There were good reasons
for this, as may be duly seen. Her appearance in the saloon caused an
instant buzz of admiration and interest, of which she seemed oblivious.
If it was acting, it was good acting; if it was lack of
self-consciousness, it was remarkable. As I soon came to know, it was the
latter--which, in such a woman, increased the remarkableness. I was
inclined at first to venture the opinion that she was an actress; but I
discovered that she possessed the attracting power of an actress without
the calculated manner of one; her very lack of self-consciousness was
proof of this emancipation.
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