a clot of topazes.
These jewels hid one ear, and their brilliant hardness cut against her
cheek. It is impossible to describe the strange allurement of the
glowing, yellow gems, thus pressed against the soft damask of the young
cheek. An Eastern woman gets this effect by wearing heavy bangles that
dent the flesh of the upper arm. Sophy could not explain why this
cluster of topaz over Belinda's ear seemed to savour of perverseness--of
an adroit and cunning perverseness. It was certainly charming--yet it
repelled her. She reminded herself listlessly that Belinda's whole
personality rather repelled her. It was a matter of temperamental
aversion--for she felt sure that she also repelled Belinda.

Perhaps for this reason they were particularly civil to each other. And
Sophy had certainly been kindness itself about this ball and the girl's
visit to her. She had even chosen her gown for the evening with
reference to Belinda's. She was all in black and silver. She looked
pale--not her best. Those warm, dusky stains were too marked under her
eyes. She felt at ebb-tide. But Belinda was like a great, joyous,
sunlit, inrushing wave.

"You are very beautiful in that gown, Belinda," Sophy said. "You look
like sunlight."

"And you look like moonlight--on lilies," said Belinda, who could say
very pretty things when she chose. Yet as she said it she was thinking
how glad she was that she herself was red-rose rather than lily! How
typically a splendid tiger-lily she seemed in her orange gown, she could
not have imagined. The black mole on her throat was just like the mark
on a tiger-lily leaf.

When Loring joined them, he said:

"What the deuce! You look like a mandarin orange in all that yellow,
Linda!..." But his eyes said something else. Belinda was quite
satisfied. When he added fretfully: "Why d'you stick that lump of jewels
over one ear, like that? This isn't Turkey or Hindustan...." she was
more pleased than ever. She knew that the hard glitter against her soft
cheek allured him, and that his pettishness only meant that he didn't
wish to be allured. But his reasoned wishes didn't matter in the least
to her. It was the unreasoning, uncontrollable wish at the depths of his
nature that she meant to call forth. "Love" she named this Wish. The
pride of the eye and the lust of life seemed the true glories of being
to Belinda. Her creed was simple. To love, to enjoy, to laugh with all
the strength of one's body--these were the exhi