Barty was in attendance on his liege
lady, and when he saw how she admired Vandeloup, he foresaw he would
be off duty for some time. It would be Vandeloup promoted vice
Jarper resigned, but Barty very well knew that Gaston was not a man
to conduct himself like a poodle dog, so came to the conclusion he
would be retained for use and M. Vandeloup for ornament. Meanwhile,
he left Mrs Meddlechip to cultivate the acquaintance of the young
Frenchman, and went off with a red-haired girl to the supper-room.
Red-haired girl, who was remarkably ugly and self-complacent, had
been a wallflower all the evening, but thought none the less of
herself on that account. She assured Barty she was not hungry, but
when she finished supper Mr Jarper was very glad, for the supper's
sake, she had no appetite.
'She's the hungriest girl I ever met in my life,' he said to
Bellthorp afterwards; 'ate up everything I gave her, and drank so
much lemonade, I thought she'd go up like a balloon.'
When Barty had satisfied the red-haired girl's appetite--no easy
matter--he left her to play wallflower and make spiteful remarks on
the girls who were dancing, and took out another damsel, who smiled
and smiled, and trod on his toes when he danced, till he wished her
in Jericho. He asked if she was hungry, but, unlike the other girl,
she was not; he said she must be tired, but oh, dear no, she was
quite fresh; so she danced the whole waltz through and bumped Barty
against everyone in the room; then said his step did not suit hers,
which exasperated him so much--for Barty flattered himself on his
waltzing--that he left her just as she was getting up a flirtation,
and went to have a glass of champagne to soothe his feelings.
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