His hair, as well as his beard and mustache, was coal-black; his eyes,
too, were black and sparkling, and his teeth remarkably brilliant.
He was rather carelessly but well and fashionably dressed, in a
summer-morning costume. There was a gold chain, exquisitely wrought,
across his vest. I never saw a smoother or whiter gloss than that
upon his shirt-bosom, which had a pin in it, set with a gem that
glimmered, in the leafy shadow where he stood, like a living tip of
fire. He carried a stick with a wooden head, carved in vivid
imitation of that of a serpent. I hated him, partly, I do believe,
from a comparison of my own homely garb with his well-ordered
foppishness.
"Well, sir," said I, a little ashamed of my first irritation, but
still with no waste of civility, "be pleased to speak at once, as I
have my own business in hand."
"I regret that my mode of addressing you was a little unfortunate,"
said the stranger, smiling; for he seemed a very acute sort of person,
and saw, in some degree, how I stood affected towards him. "I
intended no offence, and shall certainly comport myself with due
ceremony hereafter. I merely wish to make a few inquiries respecting
a lady, formerly of my acquaintance, who is now resident in your
Community, and, I believe,
largely concerned in your social enterprise. You call her, I think,
Zenobia."
"That is her name in literature," observed I; "a name, too, which
possibly she may permit her private friends to know and address her
by,--but not one which they feel at liberty to recognize when used of
her personally by a stranger or casual acquaintance.
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