The Project Gutenberg EBook of Orpheus in Mayfair and Other Stories and
Sketches, by Maurice Baring

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Title: Orpheus in Mayfair and Other Stories and Sketches

Author: Maurice Baring

Release Date: April 3, 2006 [EBook #2492]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORPHEUS IN MAYFAIR AND OTHER ***

Produced by Dagny; Emma Dudding; John Bickers

ORPHEUS IN MAYFAIR AND OTHER STORIES AND SKETCHES

BY

MAURICE BARING

TO ETHEL SMYTH

NOTE

Most of the stories and sketches in this book have appeared in the
_Morning Post_. One of them was published in the _Westminster Gazette_.
I have to thank the editors and proprietors concerned for their kindness
in allowing me to republish them.

CONTENTS

Orpheus in Mayfair
The Cricket Match
The Shadow of a Midnight
Jean Francois
The Flute of Chang Liang
"What is Truth?"
A Luncheon-Party
Fete Galante
The Garland
The Spider's Web
Edward II. At Berkeley Castle
The Island
The Man Who Gave Good Advice
Russalka
The Old Woman
Dr. Faust's Last Day
The Flute-Player's Story
A Chinaman on Oxford
Venus
The Fire
The Conqueror
The Ikon
The Thief
The Star
Chun Wa

ORPHEUS IN MAYFAIR

Heraclius Themistocles Margaritis was a professional musician. He was a
singer and a composer of songs; he wrote poetry in Romaic, and composed
tunes to suit rhymes. But it was not thus that he earned his daily
bread, and he was poor, very poor. To earn his livelihood he gave
lessons, music lessons during the day, and in the evening lessons in
Greek, ancient and modern, to such people (and these were rare) who
wished to learn these languages. He was a young man, only twenty-four,
and he had married, before he came of age, an Italian girl called Tina.
They had come to England in order to make their fortune. They lived in
apartments in the Hereford Road, Bayswater.

They had two children, a little girl and a little boy; they were very
much in love with each other, as happy as birds, and as poor as church
mice. For Heraclius Themi