Matters stood thus when a new suitor appeared in the person of Sir
Lucien Pyne. When his card was brought up to Rita, her heart leaped
because of a mingled emotion of triumph and fear which the sight of
the baronet's name had occasioned. He was a director of the syndicate
in whose production she was playing--a man referred to with awe by
every girl in the company as having it in his power to make or mar a
professional reputation. Not that he took any active part in the
affairs of the concern; on the contrary, he was an aristocrat who held
himself aloof from all matters smacking of commerce, but at the same
time one who invested his money shrewdly. Sir Lucien's protegee of
today was London's idol of tomorrow, and even before Rita had spoken
to him she had fought and won a spiritual battle between her true self
and that vain, admiration-loving Rita Dresden who favored
capitulation.
She knew that Sir Lucien's card represented a signpost at the
cross-roads where many a girl, pretty but not exceptionally talented,
had hesitated with beating heart. It was no longer a question of
remaining a member of the chorus (and understudy for a small part) or
of accepting promotion to "lead" in a new production; it was that of
accepting whatever Sir Lucien chose to offer--or of retiring from the
profession so far as this powerful syndicate was concerned.
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