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Heterogeneous Media Local Fields Effective Properties and Wave Propagation Sergey Kanaun Full Chapter PDF
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9780128198803 | 152x229mm Paperback | Spine: 24.384 mm
HETEROGENEOUS MEDIA
ELSEVIER SERIES IN MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS ELSEVIER SERIES IN MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS
SERGEY KANAUN
MEDIA
LOCAL FIELDS, EFFECTIVE PROPERTIES,
This book outlines new computational methods for solving volume
integral equation problems in heterogeneous media. It starts by surveying AND WAVE PROPAGATION
the various numerical methods of analysis of static and dynamic fields
in heterogeneous media, listing their strengths and weaknesses, before
moving on to an introduction of static and dynamic Green functions for
homogeneous media. Volume and surface integral equations for fields
in heterogeneous media are discussed next, followed by an overview
of explicit formulas for numerical calculations of volume and surface
potentials. The book then covers Gaussian functions for the discretization
of volume integral equations for fields in heterogeneous media, static
problems for a homogeneous host medium with heterogeneous inclusions,
and volume integral equations for scattering problems, and concludes
with a chapter outlining solutions to homogenization problems and
calculations of effective properties of heterogeneous media. The book
also features multiple appendices detailing the code of basic programs for
solving volume integral equations, written in Mathematica.
About the author
Dr. Sergey Kanaun is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
Technological Institute of Higher Education of Monterrey, State Mexico
Campus, Mexico. His core areas of research are continuum mechanics,
KANAUN
mechanics of composites, micromechanics, elasticity, plasticity, and fracture
mechanics. Prior to his current teaching post, he was a Professor at the
Technical University of Novosibirsk in Russia and also Chief Researcher at
the Institute of Engineering Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Saint Petersburg, also in Russia. He has published over 140 articles in peer-
reviewed journals and two books.
ISBN 978-0-12-819880-3
9 780128 198803
SERGEY KANAUN
Heterogeneous Media
This page intentionally left blank
Heterogeneous Media
Local Fields, Effective Properties, and
Wave Propagation
Sergey Kanaun
Elsevier
Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher
(other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment
may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and
using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such
information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including
parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume
any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability,
negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas
contained in the material herein.
ISBN: 978-0-12-819880-3
Preface xi
Notations xiii
1 Introduction 1
References 5
Index 475
Preface
Heterogeneous media have been the object of intense theoretical and experimental
studies for more than a century. This interest is caused by the importance of hetero-
geneous materials in engineering applications. Strictly speaking, all materials used in
human practice are heterogeneous at some scale, and specific features of their mi-
crostructures affect a wide spectrum of the macroscopic properties. Composites and
nanomaterials, geological structures, metal alloys, and polymer blends form an inex-
haustive list of heterogeneous materials.
In the theory of heterogeneous media, two principal trends can be indicated. The
first one comprises approximate analytical methods for the evaluation of the effective
properties of heterogeneous materials. This trend has been extensively developed in a
large part of the 20th century. The emergence and development of the second trend is
related to the exponential growth of computer capacity from the second half of the 20th
century. Powerful computers and commercial software for the numerical analysis of
linear and nonlinear problems of physics and continuum mechanics provide efficient
tools for the solution of various problems of heterogeneous media. The background
of these programs is mainly the finite element method. This method allows evaluating
effective static properties as well as local physical fields in heterogeneous materials,
but its application to the analysis of wave propagation problems encounters principal
and technical difficulties.
Another branch of computational mechanics and physics of heterogeneous media
is related to the numerical solution of volume integral equations. It is known that the
principal static and dynamic problems of heterogeneous media can be formulated in
terms of volume integral equations. In this book, a universal numerical method for the
solution of the volume integral equations for static and dynamic fields in heteroge-
neous media is systematically developed. The method is based on the “approximate
approximation” concept introduced by Vladimir Maz’ya. This concept provides ro-
bust algorithms for the solution of volume and surface integral equations for fields in
heterogeneous media. For static problems, efficiencies of these algorithms and of the
finite element method are comparable. But these algorithms can be successfully used
for the solution of wave propagation problems. In this book, the numerical method
is applied to the solution of various static and dynamic problems of heterogeneous
media. Electrostatic and electrodynamic fields, static and dynamic fields in elastic and
poroelastic media, quasistatic crack growth in heterogeneous media, and the homog-
enization problems for static and time-harmonic fields in heterogeneous media are
considered. Computational programs for the numerical solution of the basic problems
are presented. This book is addressed to students, engineers, and researchers who use
numerical methods for the analysis of physical fields in heterogeneous materials.
xii Preface
The results presented in the book are based on the publications of the author
with his students and colleagues. The author thanks Professor Vladimir Maz’ya for
discussions, Professor Valery Levin for reading the manuscript and comments, and
Dr. Evgeny Pervago for the help in programming. The author thanks the Technologi-
cal Institute of Higher Education of Monterrey, State Mexico Campus, for the support
in the research activities.
S. Kanaun
Mexico
May 2020
Notations
where L(C) is a linear differential operator, f(x) is an external field source, and x is a
point of the medium. We introduce a homogeneous reference medium with a constant
property tensor C0 and present the function C(x) in the form
where C1 (x) is deviation of the heterogeneous medium properties from the properties
of the reference medium. In many important cases, the operator L is linear with respect
to tensor C, and we can rewrite Eq. (1.1) in the form
The inverse operator G(C0 ) with respect to L(C0 ) is defined by the equation
where I is the identity operator. Applying the operator G(C0 ) to both parts of Eq. (1.3),
we obtain the equation for the field u(x) in the form
then Eq. (1.5) is the volume integral equation for the field u(x) in the heterogeneous
medium
u(x) = u0 (x) + g(C0 , x − x )L(C1 )u(x )dx . (1.7)
The kernel g(C0 , x) of the integral operator in this equation is the Green function of
the differential operator L(C0 ). The volume integral equation (1.7) is equivalent to the
original differential equation (1.1). In the literature, Eq. (1.7) is called the equation of
Lippmann–Schwinger type.
Heterogeneous Media. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819880-3.00008-1
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 Heterogeneous Media
by Gaussian and other similar functions was developed in the works of V. Mas’ya,
V. Maz’ya, and G. Schmidt and presented in the book [8]. The principal result of this
theory can be formulated as follows. Any bounded together with the first derivatives
function u(x) can be approximated by the following series:
1 |x|2
u(x) ≈ u(h,H ) (x) = um ϕ(x − hm), ϕ(x) = exp − .
d
(πH )d/2 H h2
m∈Z
(1.8)
Here, ||u|| is a norm of the function u(x) and the constant C1 does not depend on
h. The second term on the right hand side of this equation is the so-called saturation
error, which does not vanish when h → 0. But for H = O(1), this term is small and
can be neglected in practical calculations.
Gaussian approximating functions are an efficient tool for solution of volume inte-
gral equations for the following reasons.
• Actions of many integral operators of mathematical physics on Gaussian functions
are presented in closed analytical forms and do not require numerical integration.
Thus, for these functions, the time of calculation of the elements of the matrices of
the discretized problems is substantially reduced in comparison with the methods
that incorporate conventional approximating functions.
• For discretization of the volume integral equations by the Gaussian functions, the
only required information is the coordinates of approximating nodes and material
properties at the nodes, but not detailed geometry of the mesh cells (subregions).
Thus, the method is mesh-free.
• For regular grids of approximating nodes, the matrices of the discretized problems
have a Toeplitz structure. Hence, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithms can
be used for the calculation of matrix-vector products in the process of iterative
solution of the discretized problems.
In this book, the numerical method of solution of volume integral equations based
on the “approximate approximation” concept of V. Maz’ya is systematically devel-
oped. Chapter 4 is devoted to numerical calculations of the volume and surface
potentials of the fields in homogeneous media. Basic points of the “approximate ap-
proximation” concept are formulated, and the results of action of various integral
operators of mathematical physics on the Gaussian functions are obtained. The com-
putational programs adopting the FFT algorithms for fast calculation of the 2D and
3D potentials are presented.
4 Heterogeneous Media
Notes for the reader. Chapter 2 presents a survey of Green functions of the differential
operators in the governing equations for physical fields in homogeneous media. Vol-
ume and surface integral equations for the fields in heterogeneous media are obtained
Introduction 5
References
[1] W. Chew, Waves and Fields in Inhomogeneous Media, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.
[2] A. Peterson, S. Ray, R. Mittra, Computational Methods for Electromagnetics, IEEE Press,
New York, 1997.
[3] A. Samokhin, Integral Equations and Iterative Methods in Electromagnetic Scattering, VSP,
Utrecht, Boston, Köln, Tokyo, 2001.
[4] L. Tsang, J. Kong, K. Ding, Ch. Ao, Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves, Numerical Sim-
ulations, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2001.
[5] H. Chang, L. Greengard, V. Rokhlin, A fast adaptive multipole algorithm in three dimen-
sions, Journal of Computational Physics 155 (1999) 468–498.
[6] B. Alpert, G. Belkin, R. Coifman, V. Rokhlin, Wavelet bases for the fast solution of second
kind integral equations, SIAM Journal of Scientific and Statistical Computations 14 (1993)
159–184.
[7] W. Dahmen, S. Proessdorf, R. Schneider, Wavelet approximation methods for pseudodif-
ferential equations II: matrix compression and fast algorithms, Advances in Computational
Mathematics 1 (1993) 259–335.
[8] V. Maz’ya, G. Schmidt, Approximate Approximation, Mathematical Surveys and Mono-
graphs, vol. 141, American Mathematical Society, Providence, 2007.
This page intentionally left blank
Homogeneous media with external
and internal field sources 2
This chapter is devoted to integral presentations of physical fields in homogeneous
media caused by external and internal field sources distributed in finite volumes or
on surfaces. For point concentrated sources, these fields are the Green functions of
the differential operators of the governing equations for the fields. The Green func-
tions of electro- and magnetostatics, electrodynamics, thermo-conductivity, acoustics,
static and dynamic elasticity, and poroelasticity are considered. The volume and sur-
face potentials associated with the Green functions are introduced, and regularization
formulas for potentials with singular kernels are presented. Discontinuities of the po-
tentials on the boundaries of the regions containing field sources are determined.
∂
rotij = ij k ∂k , ∂i = , (2.2)
∂xi
where ij k is the antisymmetric Levi-Civita tensor. Thus, the electric field Ei (x) in di-
electric media subjected to electric charge is rotor-free. It is known that any rotor-free
vector function can be presented in the form of the gradient of a scalar function, and
in particular, the electric field Ei (x) can be presented in the form
where the scalar function u(x) is called the electric potential. For the field Ei (x) in
this equation, the third equation of the system (2.1) is automatically satisfied. After
substitution of Eq. (2.3) into the system (2.1), we obtain the equation for the potential
u(x) in the form
The Green function of the operator Cij ∂i ∂j in this equation is a vanishing at infinity
solution of Eq. (2.4) with Dirac’s delta function δ(x) on the right hand side
If the function g(x) is known, a partial solution of Eq. (2.4) is presented in the form
u(x) = g(x − x )q(x )dx . (2.6)
Henceforth, we assume that q(x) is a piece-wise analytical function with a finite sup-
port or q(x) vanishes at infinity faster than any negative power of |x|. Such functions
will be called finite.
The electric field Ei (x) and electric displacement Di (x) in the medium with dis-
tributed electric charge are presented in the integral forms that follow from Eqs. (2.1),
(2.3), and (2.6)
Ei (x) = ∂i g(x − x )q(x )dx , Di (x) = Cij ∂j g(x − x )q(x )dx . (2.7)
Here, Mij is the tensor of magnetic permittivity of the medium and ηi (x) is the
so-called free current, which can be considered as a source of magnetic field in the
medium. Because rotij Hj is not equal to zero, the field Hi (x) cannot be presented as
the gradient of a scalar function. Partial solutions of the system (2.8) can be presented
in the integral forms similar to Eq. (2.7)
Hi (x) = sij (x − x )ηj (x )dx , Bi (x) = Mij sj k (x − x )ηk (x )dx .
(2.9)
In order to determine the kernel sij (x) of the integral operator in these equations, we
consider the identity that holds for any vanishing at infinity vector function Ai (x) [2]
If Mij = δij , where δij is Kronecker’s symbol, this equation is the well-known formula
of vector analysis
Let g(x) be the Green function of the differential operator on the left hand side of
Eq. (2.10)
Then, for a vanishing at infinity vector field Ai (x) we have the following equation,
which follows from Eq. (2.10):
Ai (x) = − g(x − x ) ∂i ∂j Mj k Ak (x ) − rotik rotkl Al (x ) dx . (2.14)
Changing Ai (x) in this equation to the magnetic field Hi (x) and taking into account
Eq. (2.8), we obtain
Hi (x) = − g(x − x )rotik ηk (x )dx = − rotik g(x − x )ηk (x )dx . (2.15)
Here, we overthrow the operator rotik from a finite function ηk (x) onto the kernel g(x)
using Gauss’ theorem and the equation ∂i g(x − x ) = −∂i g(x − x ). Overthrowing the
derivatives from a finite function on the kernels in the integrals similar to (2.14) and
(2.15) will be called integration by parts. Thus, the kernel sij (x) in Eq. (2.9) has the
form
Let us consider a generalized form of Eqs. (2.1) and (2.8) and introduce vectors
ui (x) and σi (x) that satisfy the equations
∂i σi (x) = −q(x), σi (x) = Mij uj (x), rotij uj (x) = −ηi (x). (2.17)
The functions q(x) and ηi (x) can be interpreted as sources of the fields ui (x) and
σi (x), q(x) is called the external source, and ηi (x) is the internal source. It follows
from Eq. (2.14) that a vanishing at infinity solution of the system (2.17) ui (x) is pre-
sented in the form
ui (x) = − g(x − x ) ∂i ∂j Mj k uk (x ) − rotik rotkl ul (x ) dx =
= ∂i g(x − x )q(x )dx − rotik g(x − x )ηk (x )dx , (2.18)
where g(x) is the Green function of the operator Mij ∂i ∂j . Here, integration by parts is
used. This equation defines the field ui (x) in terms of known distributions of external
and internal field sources in the medium.
The system of differential equations for steady electric current Ji (x) and electric
field Ei (x) in a conductive medium has the form [1]
Here, Cij is the tensor of electroconductivity. In this case, the sources of the fields are
on the region boundary or at infinity (for an infinite medium). Similar to the case of
electrostatics, the field Ej (x) is expressed in terms of the electric potential u(x),
and the equation for u(x) follows from the system (2.19) and has the form
For isotropic media, the tensor of electric permittivity Cij has the form
where c is a scalar. As a result, Eq. (2.5) for the Green function of electrostatics takes
the form
The 3D Fourier transform g ∗ (k) of the Green function g(x) is defined by the equation
∗
g (k) = g(x)eik·x dx, (2.24)
Applying the Fourier transform operator to both parts of Eq. (2.23) and taking into
account that in the Fourier transform space, the partial derivative ∂i is converted in the
multiplier (−iki ) and δ ∗ (k) = 1, we obtain
1
ck 2 g ∗ (k) = 1, g ∗ (k) = , k 2 = |k|2 = ki ki . (2.26)
ck 2
Application of the inverse Fourier transform to g ∗ (k) yields the explicit equation for
the Green function
−ik·x
1 e 1
g(x) = dk = . (2.27)
c(2π)3 k2 4πc|x|
Homogeneous media with external and internal field sources 11
yi = Aij xj , xi = A−1
ij yj (2.28)
∂i ∂i
g (y) = − det Aδ(y), (2.31)
where det A is the determinant of the tensor Aij . Here, the following property of the
delta function is used [3]:
det A
g (y) = . (2.33)
4π|y|
∂j σij (x) = −qi (x), σij (x) = Cij kl εkl (x), Rotij kl εkl (x) = 0, (2.36)
12 Heterogeneous Media
The tensor εij (x) can be presented as the symmetrized gradient of a vector potential
ui (x)
1
εij (x) = ∂(i uj ) (x) = ∂i uj (x) + ∂j ui (x) . (2.38)
2
For εij (x) in this equation, the third equation in the system (2.36) is automatically
satisfied [2]. The vector ui (x) is the displacement vector of a point x. The equation
for the field ui (x) follows from the system (2.36) in the form
The Green function gij (x) of the operator Cij kl ∂j ∂k is a vanishing at infinity solu-
tion of the equation
If the tensor gij (x) is known, the displacement vector and the strain and stress tensors
in the medium are presented in the integral forms
ui (x) = gij (x − x )qj (x )dx , (2.41)
εij (x) = ∂(i gj )m (x − x )qm (x )dx ,
σij (x) = Cij kl ∂k glm (x − x )qm (x )dx . (2.42)
Application of the Fourier transform operator to Eq. (2.40) results in the equation
for the Fourier transform gij∗ (k) of the Green function of elasticity
It is known [4] that for an arbitrary anisotropic homogeneous medium, gij (x) is an
even homogeneous function of the order of −1
1 xi
gij (x) = gij (|x|n) = gij (n) , ni = . (2.44)
|x| |x|
Explicit forms of gij (x) can be obtained for isotropic, transverse isotropic media,
and for media with hexagonal symmetry [4]. For of an isotropic medium with Lame
constants λ and μ, the tensors gij∗ (k) and gij (x) have the forms
1 ki k j λ+μ
gij∗ (k) = δij − κ 2 , κ= , (2.45)
μk 2 k λ + 2μ
Homogeneous media with external and internal field sources 13
1 xi x j
gij (x) = (2 − κ)δij + κ 2 . (2.46)
8πμ|x| x
Stresses in elastic media can exist without external sources qi (x) (body forces).
Such stresses are called internal, and their origins can be inhomogeneous temperature
fields, plastic deformations, phase transitions accompanied by altering of crystalline
lattices, etc. Let a finite region V in a homogeneous elastic medium be plastically
deformed, and let mij (x) be the tensor of plastic deformations. Because the region V
is constrained by the surrounding material, there appear stresses σij in the medium.
The corresponding elastic strain tensor εij e is defined by Hooke’s law: ε e = C −1 σ .
ij ij kl kl
The sum of elastic εij e and inelastic m strains composes the total strain tensor ε ,
ij ij
which should satisfy the compatibility equation
Rotij kl εkl = Rotij kl (εkl
e
+ mkl ) = 0 . (2.47)
In the absence of body forces, the stress tensor satisfies the homogeneous equilibrium
equation ∂j σij = 0 . As a result, the system of equations for internal stresses takes
the form
∂j σij = 0, σij = Cij kl εkl
e
, e
Rotij kl εkl = −ηij , (2.48)
where Zij kl (x) is the Green tensor for internal stresses. The explicit form of this tensor
for isotropic media is presented in [2], [6]. After taking Eq. (2.49) into account and
integrating by parts, the stress tensor in Eq. (2.50) can be presented in the form
σij (x) = S ij kl (x − x )mkl (x )dx , (2.51)
Substituting in this equation the left hand sides of Eq. (2.53) for qi (x) and ηij (x) and
integrating by parts, we obtain
σij (x) = −Cij kl ∂k glm (x − x )∂n σnm (x )dx −
− Zij kl (x − x )Rotklmn Cmnrs
−1
σrs (x )dx =
−1
=− Cij kl ∂k ∂m gln x − x +S ij kl x − x Cklmn σmn x dx .
(2.55)
Comparing the left and right parts of this equation, we obtain the identity
−1
Iij mn δ(x) = −Cij kl ∂k ∂m gln (x) − Sij kl (x)Cklmn , (2.56)
where Iij kl = δi(j δk)l is the unit four rank tensor. Thus, the equation for the function
Sij kl (x) takes the form
The temperature field T (x, t) in a homogeneous medium with heat sources of the
density q(x, t) satisfies the system of differential equations [7]
∂T (x, t)
∂i Ji (x, t) + cρ = q(x, t), Ji (x, t) = −Cij ∂j T (x, t). (2.59)
∂t
Here, Ji (x, t) is the heat flux, Cij is the tensor of thermo-conductivity, c and ρ are
heat capacity and density of the medium, respectively, and t is time. The equation for
the temperature field follows from the system (2.59) in the form
∂T (x, t)
Cij ∂i ∂j T (x, t) − cρ = −q(x, t). (2.60)
∂t
The Green function g(x, t) of the operator Cij ∂i ∂j − cρ ∂t∂ is a vanishing at infinity
solution of the equation
∂g(x, t)
Cij ∂i ∂j g(x, t) − cρ = −δ(x)δ(t). (2.61)
∂t
Homogeneous media with external and internal field sources 15
If the function g(x, t) is known, a partial solution of Eq. (2.60) is presented in the
integral form
T (x, t) = g(x − x , t) ∗ q(x , t)dx , (2.62)
where the symbol (∗) means the convolution operator with respect to time
t
f (t) ∗ u(t) = f (t − t )u(t )dt . (2.63)
0
yi = Aij xj , xi = A−1
ij yj (2.69)
For a symmetric positive tensor Cij , the tensor Aij in Eq. (2.70) is
−1/2 1
Aij = Cij , det A = √ . (2.73)
det C
Thus, for an anisotropic medium, the Green function g(x, t) of thermo-conductivity
in the (x, t)-presentation takes the form
√
cρH (t) cρ
g(x, t) = √ √ exp − Cij−1 xi xj . (2.74)
det C (2 πt)3 4t
The theory of fluid-saturated porous media of M. Biot [8], [9] is an adequate model of
mechanical behavior of many geologic structures. It is assumed in the model that the
medium consists of a solid skeleton and a porous space filled with fluid. The theory
provides a coupled system of differential equations for the vector of displacements
ui (x, t) of the solid skeleton and fluid pressure p(x, t) in the porous space. For an
isotropic homogeneous medium, the system of equations of quasistatic poroelasticity
has the form
Here, Ks and Kf are the bulk moduli of the solid and fluid phases, K is the effective
bulk modulus of the skeleton with dry pores, and φ is the porosity of the medium. The
coefficient κ reflects mobility of the fluid in the porous space, and
κ
κ= , (2.78)
η
where κ is the permeability of the medium and η is the fluid viscosity. The right hand
sides Fi and f of Eqs. (2.75) and (2.76) are the field sources. The stress tensor σij (x, t)
Homogeneous media with external and internal field sources 17
The system (2.75)–(2.76) follows from the complete system of equations of dynamic
poroelasicity (Section 2.9) by neglecting the inertial terms proportional to the densities
of the solid and fluid phases.
After application of the Laplace transform operator to Eqs. (2.75) and (2.76), we
obtain the system of equations of poroelasticity in the (x, ω)-presentation
(λ + μ)∂i ∂j uj (x, ω) + μ∂j ∂j ui (x, ω) − α∂i p(x, ω) = −Fi (x, ω), (2.80)
κ 1
−α∂j uj (x, ω) + ∂j ∂j (x, ω) − βp(x, ω) = − f (x, ω). (2.81)
ω ω
In these equations,
∞ ∞
−ωt
ui (x, ω) = ui (x, t)e dt, p(x, ω) = p(x, t)e−ωt dt, (2.82)
0 0
and Fi (x, ω), f (x, ω) are the Laplace transforms of the source functions. It is assumed
that at the initial moment t = 0, u(x, 0) = 0, and p(x, 0) = 0.
For finite functions Fi (x, ω) and f (x, ω), a partial solution of the system
(2.80)–(2.81) is presented in the integral form as follows:
1
ui (x, ω) = Gij (x − x , ω)Fj (x , ω)dx + i (x − x , ω)f (x , ω)dx ,
ω
(2.83)
1
p(x, ω) = i (x − x , ω)Fi (x , ω)dx + g(x − x , ω)f (x , ω)dx .
ω
(2.84)
Here, Gij (x, ω), i (x, ω), and g(x, ω) are the Green functions of poroelasticity in the
(x, ω)-presentation. Applying the Fourier transform operator with respect to spatial
variables xi to Eqs. (2.83) and (2.84) and using the convolution property, we obtain
algebraic equations for the Fourier transforms u∗i (k, ω) and p ∗ (k, ω) of the functions
ui (x, ω) and p(x, ω):
1 ∗
u∗i (k, ω) = G∗ij (k, ω)Fj∗ (k, ω) + (k, ω)f ∗ (k, ω), (2.85)
ω i
1
p ∗ (k, ω) = i∗ (k, ω)Fi∗ (k, ω) + g ∗ (k, ω)f ∗ (k, ω). (2.86)
ω
Here, G∗ij , i∗ , g ∗ , and Fi∗ , f ∗ are the Fourier transforms of the Green and source
functions with respect to spatial variables. Applying the Fourier transform operator
to Eqs. (2.80) and (2.81) and substituting u∗i (k, ω) and p ∗ (k, ω) from Eqs. (2.85) and
(2.86) into the transformed equations, we obtain the following system for the Fourier
transforms of the Green functions:
18 Heterogeneous Media
1 ∗ ∗ 1
(λ + μ)ki kj G∗j k Fk∗ + j f + μk 2 G∗ik Fk∗ + i∗ f ∗ −
ω ω
∗ ∗ 1 ∗ ∗ ∗
− α(iki ) j Fj + g f = Fi , (2.87)
ω
1 κ 2 1 1
− α(iki ) G∗ik Fk∗ + i∗ f ∗ + k + β j∗ Fj∗ + g ∗ f ∗ = f ∗ .
ω ω ω ω
(2.88)
In this system, the functions G∗j k , j∗ , and g ∗ are unknowns. Equating expressions in
front of Fi∗ and f ∗ in the left and right hand sides of Eqs. (2.87) and (2.88), we obtain
the following system of equations for the Fourier transforms of the Green functions:
(λ + μ)ki kk + μk 2 δik G∗kj − α(iki )j∗ = δij , (2.89)
(λ + μ)ki kj + μk 2 δij j∗ − α(iki )g ∗ = 0, (2.90)
κ 2 κ 2
α(iki )G∗ij − k + β j∗ = 0, α(iki )i∗ − k + β g ∗ = −1. (2.91)
ω ω
Looking for G∗ij (k, ω) and i∗ (k, ω) in the forms
k i kj ki k j
G∗j k = A 2 + B δij − 2 , i∗ = (−iki )C, (2.92)
k k
where A, B, C are scalar functions of k and ω, we find explicit expressions for the
Green functions in the (k, ω)-presentation:
1 (λ + μ) ki kj q 2 ki kj
G∗ij (k, ω) = δ ij − − , (2.93)
μk 2 μ(λ + 2μ) k 4 (λ + 2μ) k 4 (k 2 + q 2 )
iki 1 ∗ 1
i∗ (k, ω) = 2 2 , g (k, ω) = , (2.94)
αk (k + q ) 2 ω κ(k + q 2 )
2
α 2 + β(λ + 2μ) α2
q 2 = Q2 ω, Q2 = , = 2 . (2.95)
κ(λ + 2μ) α + β(λ + 2μ)
Application of the inverse Fourier transform to G∗ij (k, ω), i∗ (k, ω), and ω1 g ∗ (k, ω)
yields the (x, ω)-presentations of the Green functions of quasistatic poroelasticity
1 (λ + μ) r
Gij (x, ω) = δij − ∂i ∂j −
4πμr μ(λ + 2μ) 8π
r 1 − e−qr
− ∂i ∂j + , (2.96)
(λ + 2μ) 8π 4πq 2 r
(1 − e−qr ) 1 e−qr
i (x, ω) = − ∂i , g(x, ω) = , r = |x|. (2.97)
α 4πr ω 4πrκ
After application of the inverse Laplace transforms to Eqs. (2.83) and (2.84), we ob-
tain the (x, t)-presentation of displacements and pressure in the medium with source
Homogeneous media with external and internal field sources 19
(2.98)
p(x, t) = i (x − x , t) ∗ Fi (x , t)dx + g (x − x , t) ∗ f (x , t)dx .
(2.99)
In these equations, the kernels Gij (x, t), i (x, t) are the originals (the inverse Laplace
transforms) of the Green functions Gij (x, ω), i (x, ω) in Eqs. (2.96) and (2.97) and
i (x, t),
g (x, t) are the originals of ω1 i (x, ω) and ω1 g(x, ω). Explicit expressions of
the originals have the forms
1 1 r
Gij (x, t) = δij − (λ + μ(1 + ))∂i ∂j δ(t)−
4πμr μ(λ + 2μ) 8π
1 Qr
− ∂i ∂j H (t) − erf c √ , (2.100)
(λ + 2μ) 4πQ2 r 2 t
1 Q Q2 r 2
i (x, t) = − ∂i δ(t) − exp − , (2.101)
α 4πr 8(πt)3/2 4t
1 Qr
i (x, t) = − ∂i H (t) − erf c √ , (2.102)
α 4πr 2 t
Q Q2 r 2
g (x, t) = exp − . (2.103)
8κ(πt)3/2 4t
For compressible fluids, the linearized equations of motion are formulated in terms of
fluid pressure p(x, t) and velocity υi (x, t) of fluid particles [10]
∂p ∂υi
+ K∂i υi = 0, ρ + ∂i p = qi . (2.105)
∂t ∂t
Here, ρ is the fluid density, K is the fluid bulk modulus, and qi is the body force
acting on fluid particles. Applying the time derivative to the first equation and using
20 Heterogeneous Media
the second one, we obtain the equation for acoustic pressure p(x, t) in the form
1 ∂ 2p K
∂i ∂i p − = −∂i qi , c2 = . (2.106)
c2 ∂t 2 ρ
1 ∂ 2 υi 1 ∂qi
∂i ∂j υj − =− . (2.107)
c2 ∂t 2 K ∂t
ω2
∂i ∂i p(x) + κ 2 p(x) = −∂i qi (x), κ2 = . (2.108)
c2
The Green function g(x) of the operator ∂i ∂i + κ 2 (the Helmholtz operator) is the
solution of the equation
e−iκ|x|
g(x) = . (2.110)
4π|x|
The partial solution of Eq. (2.108) can be presented in the integral form
p(x) = ∂i g(x − x )qi (x )dx . (2.111)
For time-harmonic acoustics, the Green tensor Gij (x) of the operator ∂i ∂j + κ 2 δij
in Eq. (2.107) for the velocity of fluid particles is the solution of the equation
The Fourier transform G∗ij (k) of the Green function satisfies the equation
After application of the inverse Fourier transform, we obtain the x-presentation of this
function
1 e−iκ|x|
Gij (x) = − δij δ(x) + ∂i ∂j . (2.115)
κ2 4π |x|
and Maxwell equations for the amplitudes of these fields take the forms [1]
Applying the operator rot to the first equation and using the second one, we obtain
The Green function Gij (x) of the operator −rotij rotj k + κ 2 δik is the solution of the
equation
Using the identity (2.12) we can rewrite this equation in the equivalent form
Application of the Fourier transform operator yields the equation for the Fourier trans-
form G∗ij (k) of the Green function Gij (x)
1 ki k j
G∗ij (k) = δij − 2 2 . (2.124)
k2 −κ 2 κ k − κ2
22 Heterogeneous Media
After application of the inverse Fourier transform, we obtain the explicit form of the
Green function Gij (x)
1 e−iκ|x|
Gij (x) = g(x)δij + ∂i ∂j g(x), g(x) = . (2.125)
κ2 4π |x|
For the current amplitude Ji (x), the electric Ei (x) and magnetic Hi (x) fields in the
medium are presented in the integral forms
Ei (x) = −iωμ Gij (x − x )Jj (x )dx , (2.126)
Hi (x) = − rotij Gj k (x − x )Jk (x )dx . (2.127)
For a finite function qi (x), the partial solution of this equation is presented in the
integral form
ui (x) = gij (x − x )qj (x )dx , (2.129)
where gij (x) is the Green function of the operator ∂k Cikj l ∂l + ρω2 δij . Thus, gij (x) is
a vanishing at infinity solution of the equation
Lik (∂)gkj (x) + ρω2 gij (x) = −δij δ (x) , Lij (∂) = ∂k Cikj l ∂l . (2.130)
For any fixed vector ξi , the tensor Lij (ξ ) = ξk Cikj l ξl is positive and symmetric. There-
fore, there exists a basis of orthogonal normalized eigenvectors eiα (ξ ) (α = 1, 2, 3)
such that this tensor is presented in the form
3
Lij (ξ ) = lα (ξ )eiα (ξ )ejα (ξ ), lα (ξ ) > 0, α = 1, 2, 3. (2.134)
α=1
Here, lα (ξ ) are the eigenvalues of Lij (ξ ). Presenting the tensor Fij (z) in the basis eiα ,
3
Fij (z) = fα (z)eiα (ξ )ejα (ξ ), (2.135)
α=1
and using Eq. (2.133), we obtain the equations for the functions fα (z) in the form
lα (ξ )fα (z) + ρω2 fa (z) = δ(z), α = 1, 2, 3. (2.136)
1 iω|z| lα (ξ )
fα (z) = − exp − , υα (ξ ) = . (2.137)
2iρωυα (ξ ) υα (ξ ) ρ
Then, using Eq. (2.132), we obtain the equation for the Green function gij (x)
3
1 eiα (ξ )ejα (ξ ) iω ω|ξ · x|
gij (x) = δ(ξ · x) − exp −i dSξ .
8π 2 ρ |ξ |=1 υα (ξ )2 2υα (ξ ) υα (ξ )
α=1
(2.138)
3
iω eiα (ξ )ejα (ξ ) ω|ξ · x|
gijω (x) = − exp −i dSξ =
16π 2 ρ υα (ξ )3 υα (ξ )
α=1 |ξ |=1
√
iω ρ −3/2 √ −1/2
=− L (ξ ) exp −iω|ξ · x| ρLkj (ξ ) dSξ . (2.141)
16π 2 |ξ |=1 ik
Here, the function exp(Tij ) is defined for any symmetric tensor Tij with eigenvalues
tα and eigenvectors eiα by the equation
3
exp(Tij ) = exp(tα )eiα ejα . (2.142)
α=1
1 xi
δ(ξ · x) = δ(ξ · n|x|) = δ(ξ · n), ni = , (2.143)
|x| |x|
the static part of the Green function is presented as the integral over the unit sphere
1
gij (x) =
s
L−1 (ξ )δ(ξ · n)dSξ . (2.144)
8π 2 ρ|x| |ξ |=1 ij
Thus, the static part gijs (x) is a homogeneous function of the order of |x|−1 , while the
dynamic part gijω (x) has no singularity at x = 0.
For an isotropic medium with Lame constants λ, μ, the Green function of time-
harmonic elasticity takes the form
−iβ|x|
1 2e e−iα|x| e−iβ|x|
gij (x) = β δij − ∂i ∂j − , (2.145)
4πμβ 2 |x| |x| |x|
ρ ρ
α=ω , β =ω . (2.146)
λ + 2μ μ
In these equations, λ and μ are effective Lame constants of the solid skeleton with dry
pores, α and β are Biot’s parameters defined in Eq. (2.77), η is the fluid viscosity, χ
is the medium permeability, ρ is the effective density
where ρf and ρs are the densities of the fluid and solid phases, φ is the medium poros-
...
ity, u̇i , üi , and u i are the first, second, and third time derivatives of the displacement
vector, ṗ is the first time derivative of the pressure, and Fi and f are the field sources.
For time-harmonic poroelasticity, Fi (x, t) = Fi (x)eiωt , f (x, t) = f (x)eiωt , and
the displacement vector ui (x, t) and pressure p(x, t) are presented in the forms
ui (x, t) = ui (x)eiωt , p(x, t) = p(x)eiωt . From Eqs. (2.147) and (2.148), we obtain
the system of equations for the amplitudes ui (x) and p(x)
For finite functions Fi (x) and f (x), a partial solution of this system is presented in
the integral form
ui (x) = Gik (x − x )Fk (x )dx + i (x − x )fˆ(x )dx , (2.153)
p(x) = k (x − x )Fk (x )dx + g(x − x )fˆ(x )dx , (2.154)
where Gik (x), i (x), g(x) are the Green functions of the system (2.150)–(2.151).
Substituting Eqs. (2.153) and (2.154) into the system (2.150)–(2.151) and equating
the expressions in front of Fi and f in the left and right hand sides of the resulting
equations, we obtain the systems of partial differential equations for the Green func-
tions
(λ + μ)∂i ∂k + (μ∂j ∂j + ρt ω2 )δik Gkj (x) −
α ∂i j (x) = −δij δ(x), (2.155)
− α ∂j Gj i (x) − κ∂j ∂j + β i (x) = 0, (2.156)
(λ + μ)∂i ∂j + (μ∂k ∂k + ρt ω2 )δij j (x) −
α ∂i g(x) = 0, (2.157)
α ∂j j (x) − κ∂j ∂j + β g(x) = −δ(x).
− (2.158)
Application of the Fourier transform operator to these equations yields the system
−(λ + μ)ki kk + (−μk 2 + ρt ω2 )δik G∗kj + i α ki j∗ = −δij , (2.159)
α kj G∗j i − −κk 2 + β i∗ (x) = 0,
i (2.160)
26 Heterogeneous Media
−(λ + μ)ki kj + (−μk 2 + ρt ω2 )δij j∗ (x) + i
α ki g ∗ = 0, (2.161)
α kj j∗ − −κk 2 + β g ∗ = −1.
i (2.162)
Here, G∗ij , i∗ , and g ∗ are the Fourier transforms of the Green functions Gij (x), i (x),
and g(x). The functions G∗ij (k) and i∗ (k) can be found in the forms
k i kj ki k j
Gij = A 2 + B δij − 2 , i∗ = (−iki )C,
∗
(2.163)
k k
where A, B, C are scalar functions of the variables ki . Substitution of these ex-
pressions into the system (2.159), (2.162) yields the following equations for these
functions:
κk 2 − β 1
α ∗ (λ + 2μ)k 2 − ρt ω2
A=− , B= , C = − , g = ,
μk 2 − ρt ω2
(2.164)
= (λ + 2μ)k 2 − ρt ω2 −κk 2 + β + α2k2. (2.165)
After application of the inverse Fourier transforms, the explicit equations for the Green
functions take the forms
e−iκt r e−iκt r − e−iκf r e−iκt r − e−iκs r
Gij (x) = δij + g1 ∂i ∂j + g2 ∂i ∂j ,
4πμr 4πμr 4πμr
(2.166)
2
1 μ κ2 1 μ κf
g1 = 2 − s2 , g2 = − 2 − 2 , (2.167)
(κf − κs2 ) M κt (κf − κs2 ) M κt
−iκf r
e − e−iκs r
α κf2 κs2
i (x) = γ ∂i , γ= , (2.168)
4πr βμ κt2 (κf2 − κs2 )
e−iκf r e−iκs r 1 κf2 κs2 M κf
2
g(x) = b1 − b2 , b1 = 1− ,
4πμr 4πμr βμ κ 2 − κ 2 μ κt2
f s
(2.169)
2
1 κf2 κs2 M κs
b2 = 1− , r = |x| , M = λ + 2μ. (2.170)
βμ κ 2 − κ 2 μ κt2
f s
μ iμκt2 μχ
ε2 κ 4 + i iκt2 ε 2 + Mβ +
α2 κ 2 − (μβ) = 0, ε2 = (2.172)
M M ωη
with negative imaginary parts.
The electric charge (2.174) is called the dipole of vector intensity Mi = mei con-
centrated at the point x = 0. The electric potential that corresponds to this charge is
defined by the equation
u(x) = g(x − x )Mi ∂i δ(x )dx = Mi ∂i g(x). (2.175)
If dipoles with density Mi (x) are distributed in a region V , the electric potential u(x)
takes the form
u(x) = ∂i g(x − x )Mi (x )dx , (2.176)
V
The kernels of the integral operators in Eqs. (2.173) and (2.176) have weak singu-
larities when x → x (g(x) = O(|x|−1 ) and ∂i g(x) = O(|x|−2 )), and these integrals
exist in the ordinary sense. The integrand function in Eq. (2.177) has a strong singu-
larity when x → x (Kij (x) = O(|x|−3 )), and this integral needs regularization. Let
28 Heterogeneous Media
υε (x) be a sphere of a small radius ε with the center at point x. The integral (2.177)
can be presented in the form
Kij (x − x )Mj (x )dx ≈ Kij (x − x )Mj (x )dx +
V V \υε (x)
+ Kij (x − x )dx Mj (x). (2.178)
υε (x)
Here, V \υε (x) is the region V without the excluded sphere υε (x). In the variable
y = x − x , the last integral in this equation is
Aij = Kij (x − x )dx = Kij (y)Vε (y)dy, (2.179)
υε (x)
where Vε (y) is the characteristic function of a sphere of radius ε with the center at
y = 0: Vε (y) = 1 if y ∈ υε (0), Vε (y) = 0 if y ∈/ υε (0). The integral on the right hand
side in Eq. (2.179) is calculated over the entire 3D space. Using the Parseval formula,
we change the integrand functions with their Fourier transforms and write
1
Aij = Kij (y)Vε (y)dy = Kij∗ (k)Vε∗ (k)dk. (2.180)
(2π)3
In this equation, Kij∗ (k) and Vε∗ (k) are the Fourier transforms of the functions Kij (y)
and Vε (y)
mi mj ki
Kij∗ (k) = Kij∗ (m) = , mi = , (2.181)
mk Ckl ml |k|
j1 (ε|k|)
Vε∗ (k) = 4πε 2 , (2.182)
|k|
where j1 (z) is the spherical Bessel function of the first kind. Then, after introducing a
spherical coordinate system in the k-space, we obtain the equation for the tensor Aij
∞
1
Aij = Kij∗ (m)dSm Vε∗ (|k|)|k|2 d|k|, (2.183)
(2π)3 S1 0
where S1 is the surface of a unit sphere in the k-space. Taking into account the equation
1 4π ∞
Vε (0) = Vε∗ (|k|)e−ik·y dk = Vε∗ (|k|)|k|2 d|k| = 1,
(2π)3 y=0 (2π)3 0
(2.184)
Finally, regularization of the formally divergent integral in Eq. (2.177) follows from
Eq. (2.178) by ε → 0
Ei (x) = pv Kij (x − x )Mj (x )dx + Aij Mj (x). (2.186)
V
Here, pv V ...dx is the Cauchy principal value of the integral defined by the equation
pv Kij (x − x )Mj (x )dx = lim Kij (x − x )Mj (x )dx . (2.187)
V ε→0 V \υε (x)
The first integral on the right hand side is continuous on because the integrand func-
tion has a weak singularity. Let us consider the limit of the second integral when x
tends to a point x 0 ∈ from outside or inside of the region V . We introduce Cartesian
coordinates (y1 , y2 , y3 ) with the origin at the point x 0 and the y3 -axis directed along
the external normal n0i = ni (x 0 ) to and consider the limits of the integral
Jij (y) = Kij (y − y )dy (2.189)
V
when y tends to zero from the side of the normal n0i or from the opposite side. Let
a point y =y 0 , y 0 = 0, be fixed. Then, we introduce the dimensionless coordinates
ξi = yi / y 0 , (i = 1, 2, 3). Because Kij (y) is a homogeneous function of the degree
of −3, the integral (2.189) in the new coordinates takes the form
0
Jij (y) = Jij (y ξ ) = Kij (ξ − ξ )dξ = Kij (ξ − ξ )V (ξ )dξ , (2.190)
V
tends to the origin. In the limit y 0 → 0, the region V (ξ ) is transformed (in the coordi-
nates ξi ) into the half-space ξ3 < 0, i.e., V (ξ1 , ξ2 , ξ3 ) → H1 (ξ1 , ξ2 , ξ3 ) = 1 − H (ξ3 ),
where H (ξ3 ) is the Heaviside function (Fig. 2.1).
30 Heterogeneous Media
Figure 2.1 The local coordinate system at the boundary of the region containing field sources.
The same procedure gives us the limit of Jij (y 0 ) when y 0 → −0 from inside V , i.e.,
1
Jij− (0) = lim Jij (y 0 ) = [Kij∗ (0) + Kij∗ (n0 )], y0 ∈ V . (2.195)
y →−0
0 2
Hence, the jump of the integral Jij (y) in Eq. (2.189) on the boundary of the region
V is
It follows from Eq. (2.188) that the jump of the potential Ei (x) on the boundary of
the volume V is defined by the equation
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“Now you are going away because I have been disagreeable,”
remarked Madame Koller reproachfully. “And poor Ahlberg—”
“Must take care of you, and do his best to amuse you,” answered
Pembroke with a laugh and a look that classed Ahlberg with
Madame’s poodle or her parrot. “Good-bye,” and in a minute he was
gone. Madame Koller looked sulky. Mr. Ahlberg’s good humor and
composure were perfectly unruffled.
Hardly any one noticed Pembroke’s little expedition except Mrs.
Peyton and Olivia Berkeley. Mrs. Peyton mounted a pair of large
gold spectacles, and then remarked to Olivia:
“My dear, there’s French Pembroke talking to my niece, Eliza
Peyton—” Mrs. Peyton was a Peyton before she married one
—“Madame Elise Koller she now calls herself.”
“Yes, I see.”
“I suppose you saw a good deal of her in Paris, and my sister-in-
law, Sarah Scaife that was—now Madame Schmidt. She showed me
the dear departed’s picture the other day—a horrid little wretch he
looked, while my brother, Edmund Peyton, was the handsomest
young man in the county.”
“We saw Madame Koller quite often,” said Olivia. Mrs. Peyton
was amazingly clever as a mind reader, and saw in a moment there
was no love lost between Olivia Berkeley and Madame Koller.
“And that Mr. Ahlberg. Sarah Scaife says he is a cousin of Eliza’s
—I mean Elise’s—husband.”
“I should think if anybody knew the facts in the case it would be
Sarah Scaife, as you call her,” replied Olivia laughing. “I believe he is
a very harmless kind of a man.”
At that Mrs. Peyton took off her spectacles and looked at Olivia
keenly.
“I hate to believe you are a goose,” she said, good-naturedly; “but
you must be very innocent. Harmless! That is the very thing that man
is not.”
“So papa says, but I think it comes from Mr. Ahlberg eating
asparagus with his fingers and not knowing how to play whist, or
something of the kind. I have seen him on and off at watering places,
and in Paris for two or three years. I never saw him do anything that
wasn’t quite right—and I never heard anything against him except
what you and papa say—and that is rather indefinite.”
“And you didn’t observe my niece with French Pembroke, did
you?”
Olivia Berkeley’s face turned a warm color. Such very plain
spoken persons as Mrs. Peyton were a little embarrassing. But just
then came the sound of the Colonel’s voice, raised at a considerable
distance.
“Olivia, my love—God bless my soul—Mrs. Peyton—there’s that
charming niece of yours—what a creature she was when she lived in
this county as Eliza Peyton—a regular stunner, begad—I must go
and speak to her—and my particular friend, Ahlberg—excuse me a
moment, my love.” Colonel Berkeley stalked across the track,
receiving all the attention which Pembroke had tried to avoid. Life in
his beloved Virginia had almost driven the Colonel distracted by its
dullness, and he could not but welcome a fellow creature from the
outside. He buttoned his light overcoat trimly around his still
handsome figure, and bowed majestically when he reached the
carriage. Madame Koller returned the bow with a brilliant smile. She
was beginning to feel very much alone, albeit she was in her native
county, and she welcomed Colonel Berkeley as a deliverer. Evidently
she soothed him about Dashaway. Pembroke, passing by, heard
scraps like the following:
“I have seen just such things at the Grand Prix—”
“Madame, the infernal system here of putting up irresponsible
negro boys—”
“I could see he had a superb stride—”
“Dashaway, Madame Koller, comes from the very best stock in
the State of Virginia.”
The day wore on, and by dint of spinning things out most
unconscionably it was dusk of the clear autumn evening before the
cavalcade took the dusty white road toward home. In “the Isleham
carriage” Colonel Berkeley leaned back and waxed confidential with
his daughter.
“My dear, Eliza Peyton—Madame Koller I should say—is what
you young sprigs call green—excessively green. She imagines
because I am old I am a fool. And that precious scamp, Ahlberg—”
“Why do you call him a scamp, papa?”
“Why do I call Petrarch an African?”
“Mrs. Peyton seems to have some kind of a prejudice to Mr.
Ahlberg, too.”
“Aha, trust Sally Peyton to see for herself. She’s devilish tricky, is
Sally Peyton—not that I have any cause to complain of it—none
whatever. She’s very sharp. But we’ll go and call some day on Eli—
Madame Koller. She’s not bad company for the country—and I’ve
heard she could sing, too.”
“Yes, we will go,” answered Olivia, suppressing a yawn. “It’s in
the country, as you say.”
CHAPTER II.
Does anybody ever ask what becomes of the prime donne who
break down early? Madame Koller could have told something about
their miseries, from the first struggling steps up to the pinnacle when
they can fight with managers, down again to the point when the most
dreadful sound that nature holds—so she thought—a hiss—laid
them figuratively among the dead. Nature generally works
methodically, but in Madame Koller’s case, she seemed to take a
delight in producing grapes from thorns. Without one atom of artistic
heredity, surroundings or atmosphere to draw upon, Eliza Peyton
had come into the world an artist. She had a voice, and she grew up
with the conviction that there was nothing in the world but voices and
pianos. It is not necessary to repeat how in her girlhood, by dint of
her widowed mother marrying a third rate German professor, she got
to Munich and to Milan—nor how the voice, at first astonishingly pure
and beautiful, suddenly lost its pitch, then disappeared altogether. It
is true that after a time it came back to her partially. She could count
on it for an hour at a time, but no more. Of course there was no
longer any career for her, and she nearly went crazy with grief—then
she consoled herself with M. Koller, an elderly Swiss manufacturer.
In some way, although she was young and handsome and
accomplished, she found in her continental travels that the best
Americans and English avoided the Kollers. This she rashly
attributed to the fact of her having had a brief professional career,
and she became as anxious to conceal it as she had once been
anxious to pursue it. M. Koller was a hypochondriac, and went from
Carlsbad to Wiesbaden, from Wiesbaden to Hyéres, from Hyéres to
Aix-les-Bains. He was always fancying himself dying, but one day at
Vichy, death came quite unceremoniously and claimed him just as he
had made up his mind to get well. Thus Eliza Koller found herself a
widow, still young and handsome, with a comfortable fortune, and a
negative mother to play propriety. She went straight to Paris as soon
as the period of her mourning was over. It was then toward the latter
part of the civil war in America, and there were plenty of Southerners
in Paris. There she met Colonel Berkeley and Olivia, and for the first
time in her adult life, she had a fixed place in society—there was a
circle in which she was known.
What most troubled her, was what rôle to take up—whether she
should be an American, a French woman, an Italian, a German, or a
cosmopolitan. For she was like all, and was distinctively none. In
Paris at that time, she met a cousin of her late husband—Mr.
Ahlberg, also a Swiss, but in the Russian diplomatic service. He was
a sixth Secretary of Legation, and had hard work making his small
salary meet his expenses. He was a handsome man, very blonde,
and extremely well-dressed. Madame Koller often wondered if his
tailor were not a very confiding person. For Ahlberg’s part, he
sincerely liked his cousin, as he called her, and quite naturally
slipped into the position of a friend of the family. Everything perhaps
would have been arranged to his satisfaction, if just at that time the
war had not closed, and French Pembroke and his brother came to
Paris that the surgeons might work upon poor Miles. They could not
but meet often at the Berkeleys, and Pembroke, it must be admitted,
was not devoid of admiration for the handsome Madame Koller, who
had the divine voice—when she could be persuaded to sing, which
was not often. He had been rather attentive to her, much to Ahlberg’s
disgust. And to Ahlberg’s infinite rage, Madame Koller fell distinctly
and unmistakably in love with Pembroke. If Ahlberg had only known
the truth, Pembroke was really the first gentleman that poor Madame
Koller had ever known intimately since her childhood in Virginia.
Certainly the wildest stretch of imagination could not call the late
Koller a gentleman, and even Ahlberg himself, although a member of
the diplomatic corps, hardly came under that description.
Pembroke had a kind of hazy idea that widows could take care of
themselves. Besides, he was not really in love with her—only a little
dazzled by her voice and her yellow hair. His wrath may be imagined
when after a considerable wrench in tearing himself away from Paris,
and when he had begun to regard Olivia Berkeley with that lofty
approval which sometimes precedes love making, to return to
Virginia, and in six weeks to find Madame Schmidt and Madame
Koller established at their old place, The Beeches, and Ahlberg, who
had been their shadow for two years, living at the village tavern. He
felt that this following him, on the part of Madame Koller, made him
ridiculous. He was mortally afraid of being laughed at about it.
Instead of holding his own stoutly in acrid discussions with Colonel
Berkeley, Pembroke began to be afraid of the old gentleman’s
pointed allusions to the widow. He even got angry with poor little
Miles when the boy ventured upon a little sly chaff. As for Olivia
Berkeley, she took Madame Koller’s conduct in coming to Virginia in
high dudgeon, with that charming inconsequence of noble and
inexperienced women. What particular offense it gave her, beyond
the appearance of following Pembroke, which was shocking to her
good taste, she could not have explained to have saved her life. But
with Madame Koller she took a tone of politeness, sweet yet chilly,
like frozen cream—and the same in a less degree, toward
Pembroke. She seemed to say, “Odious and underbred as this thing
is, I, you see, can afford to be magnanimous.” Colonel Berkeley
chuckled at this on the part of his daughter, as he habitually did at
the innocent foibles of his fellow creatures. It was very innocent, very
feminine, and very exasperating.
Nevertheless, within a week the big landau was drawn up, and
Colonel Berkeley and his daughter set forth, en grand tenue, with
Petrarch on the box, to call on Madame Koller. The Colonel had
never ceased teasing his daughter to go. Time hung heavy on his
hands, and although he had not found Madame Koller particularly
captivating elsewhere, and Madame Schmidt bored him to death
upon the few occasions when she appeared, yet, when he was at
Isleham, the ladies at The Beeches assumed quite a fascinating
aspect to his imagination. The Colonel had a private notion of his
own that Madame Koller had been a little too free with her income,
and that a year’s retirement would contribute to the health of her
finances. Olivia, however, believed that Madame Koller had but one
object in returning to America, and that was because Pembroke had
come. She remembered one evening in Paris, Pembroke had
“dropped in,” American fashion. The doctors had then said that
nothing could be done to restore poor Miles to comeliness—and
meanwhile, another blow had fallen upon the two brothers. Their
only sister, Elizabeth, a handsome, high spirited girl, older than they,
had died—and there had been a violent breach between her and
their father to which death alone put a truce. When the country was
overrun with troops, a Federal officer had protected the plantation as
far as he could, had saved the old father from the consequences of
his own rash conduct, and had taken a deep and tender interest in
the daughter. This was enough to blast Elizabeth’s life. She gave up
her lover—silently, but with a strange unyielding gentleness, she
kept aloof from her father. She was not condemned to suffer long.
The unhappy father followed her swiftly to the old burying ground at
Malvern. Men commonly seek distraction in griefs. Pembroke was
like the rest. He was popular, especially among the English colony
where his love of sports and manly accomplishments made him a
favorite—to say nothing of that prestige, which attaches to a man
who has seen service. He had gone into the war a lieutenant, and
had come out as major of his ragged, half-starved regiment.
Therefore when Pembroke idled and amused himself in Paris, for
some time Olivia could only feel sympathy for him. She knew well
enough that his means were small and the company he kept was
liable to diminish them—but after a while, she began to feel a hot
indignation against him. So on this particular evening, the Colonel
falling asleep opportunely, she took occasion to express her opinion
to Pembroke, that their ruined country needed the presence and the
service of every man she could call her own. Pembroke defended
himself warmly at first. He came for Miles’ sake—the boy whom he
had thought safe at school, and who ran away in the very last days
of the war to enlist—and almost the last shot that was fired—so
Pembroke said bitterly—disfigured the boy as he now was. Miles had
been eager to come, although Pembroke was convinced from the
beginning that neither the French, nor any other surgeons could
repair the work of that shot. He admitted that the boy had borne the
final decision with great manliness and courage “for such a little
chap,” the elder brother said fondly. When pressed hard by Olivia
about returning home, Pembroke though had no resource but
epigrams.
“At all events,” she said presently, with a pretty air of heroism,
“Papa and I are going home just as soon as papa can do without his
crutch. Papa is a patriot, although he does talk so remarkably
sometimes.”
“Then, after you have got back, you can let me know how you like
Virginia as it is, and perhaps I will follow,” he answered, laughing in a
very exasperating way, Olivia thought. But when the Berkeleys got
home they found that the Pembrokes had arrived some weeks
before them—and soon afterward Madame Koller and her mother
turned up quite unexpectedly at their deserted old place, only to be
followed shortly after by Ahlberg, who, from his abode at the village
tavern rode over every day on a sorry nag, to see Madame Koller.
Imagine all this in a provincial country neighborhood!
Mr. Cole, the clergyman of Petsworth parish, was a bachelor, a
small, neatly-featured person, suspected of High Church leanings.
The Colonel had bluntly inquired of him if he intended to call on
Madame Koller.
“Hardly, I think, sir,” responded Mr. Cole, with much severity. “She
has not once been to church since she returned to the county—and
she only two miles off—and I hear that she and her friend Mr.
Ahlberg play billiards all day long Sunday, when they are not playing
cards.”
“Only the more reason for you to convert the heathen, ha! ha!”
answered the Colonel—“and let me tell you, Cole, if you hadn’t been
a clergyman, you would have been a regular slayer among the
women—and the heathen in this case is about as pretty a heathen
as you can find in the State of Virginia, sir.”
Evidently these remarks made a great impression on Mr. Cole,
for on the sunny afternoon, when Colonel Berkeley and Olivia drove
up to the door of The Beeches, they saw a clerical looking figure
disappear ahead of them within the doorway.
“The parson’s here, by Jove,” chuckled the Colonel.
The house was modern and rather showy. Inside there were
evidences that Madame Koller was not devoid of taste or money
either. The Berkeleys were ushered into a big square drawing-room,
where, seated in a high-backed chair, with his feet barely touching
the floor, was the little clergyman.
“Why, Cole, I am deuced glad you took my advice,” cried the
Colonel, advancing with outstretched hand and with a kind of hearty
good fellowship that pleased Mr. Cole, and yet frightened him a little.
He was a good soul and divided his small salary with his mother, but
he thought Colonel Berkeley’s society rather dangerous for a
clergyman. He used too many expletives, and was altogether too
free in his notions of what a churchman should be—for the Colonel
was a stanch churchman, and would have sworn like a pirate at
anybody who questioned his orthodoxy.
“Doing missionary work, hay, Mr. Cole?” continued Colonel
Berkeley, while Olivia and Mr. Cole shook hands.
A faint pink mounted into the clergyman’s face. His curiosity had
got the better of him, but the excellent little man fancied it was his
Christian charity that won the victory.
“Well, Colonel,” he begun, “upon reflection I concluded it was my
duty to call on Madame Koller. I wasn’t in this parish—in fact, I
wasn’t ordained at the time Madame Koller was Miss Eliza Peyton,
and Madame Schmidt was Mrs. Edward Peyton. And being the niece
of my excellent friend—Mrs. Sally Peyton—”
“Excellent friend, eh—well, don’t you trust Sally Peyton too far,
my good fellow. She was a mighty uncertain kind of a friend thirty or
forty years ago—not that I have any particular reason for saying so.
But you are quite right in paying your respects to Eliza Peyton—I
mean Madame Koller, and I only hope she’ll find our society
agreeable enough to stay here.”
A considerable wait ensued. Olivia had begun to wonder how
long it took Madame Koller to make a complete toilet, when a white
hand moved the curtain from a doorway, and noiselessly and gently
Madame Koller entered.
She was heartily glad to see them—their call was not very
prompt, but it would have been a cruel mortification had they omitted
to come. Olivia’s hand she pressed—so she did the Colonel’s—and
also Mr. Cole’s, who colored quite violently, although he struggled for
self-possession.
“We are very glad you have come,” said Olivia, with her sweetest
affability, “you will be a great acquisition to the neighborhood. You
see, I am already beginning to think more of our own neighborhood
than all the rest of the universe.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” answered Madame Koller, with
equal cordiality. The two women, however, did not cease to examine
each other like gladiators.
“And Mr. Cole, I think you were not here when I lived at The
Beeches as a girl.”
“No, madam,” replied Mr. Cole, who had now shaded from a red
to a pink.
“And did I not have the pleasure of seeing you at the Campdown
races the other day?”
Mr. Cole turned pale and nearly dropped off his chair. The
Colonel roared out his pleasant cheery laugh.
“No madam, you did not.” Mr. Cole made his denial so emphatic
that he was ashamed of himself for it afterwards.
“But you, Miss Berkeley, were there. My cousin Ahlberg saw you.
He praised you. He complimented you. ‘I have often seen that face,’
he said. ‘There are some faces which one remembers even in the
whirl of the greatest cities. I drive around the Bois de Boulogne—
once—twice—three times. I speak to a hundred friends. I see a
thousand faces. They pass before me like shadows of the night. One
face strikes me. It rises like a star from out the sea. Ah, I exclaim,
‘here is another photograph for my mental portrait gallery.’”
Neither the Colonel nor Olivia was fully prepared to accept
Ahlberg. Consequently, Madame Koller’s remark was received with a
cool smile by Olivia—and a sniff by the Colonel. But Mr. Cole was
quite carried away by Madame Koller’s declamatory manner, and her
really beautiful voice.
“What a gift of tongues,” he said. “Madame Koller, if a—er—
public speaker—a religious instructor had your felicity of expression
—”
“I trust,” answered Madame, “some time to have the pleasure of
hearing your felicity of expression. I am not what you call a Christian.
I believe in a system of ultimate good—a philosophy if you will—”
“Yes, yes,” cordially chimed in Colonel Berkeley with something
dangerously like a wink, “I knew Madame, as soon as I saw you that
you believed in a system. It’s very useful and elastic and
philosophic.”
Madame playfully waved her hand at the colonel, and turned to
Mr. Cole.
“We will be friends, nevertheless,” she said with a captivating
smile. “I will visit your church in the morning, and you will return to
luncheon with me, and we will have a little game of billiards
afterward.”
Mr. Cole’s delicate face grew ashy. He, John Chrysostom Cole,
playing billiards on Sunday! What would his mother say—and what
would the bishop say! Olivia looked a little shocked because of
course Madame Koller must know better. Not so the Colonel. He
laughed heartlessly at Mr. Cole, and began to think Eliza Peyton was
a more amusing person than he had fancied.
“Madame Koller,” began Mr. Cole solemnly after a moment, “your
long absence from this country—your unfamiliarity with clergymen
perhaps—and with the American Sabbath—”
“Oh, yes, I remember the American Sabbath very well,” replied
Madame Koller laughing and raising her eyebrows. “My aunt, Mrs.
Peyton, always took me to church with her, and I had to listen to Dr.
Steptoe’s sermons. Oh those sermons! However,” she added,
turning her expressive eyes full on Mr. Cole. “I know, I know yours
must be very different. Well, I will go. And forgive me, if I sometimes
shock you—forgive and pity me.”
Mr. Cole thought that only a heart of stone could have hardened
against that pretty appeal. And the widow was so deliciously
charming with her half-foreign manner and her whole-foreign look.
But billiards on Sunday!
“Extend the invitation to me, ma’am,” said the Colonel. “I go to
church on Sunday—I have no system, just the plain religious belief
of a churchman and a gentleman—my ancestors were not a lot of
psalm-singing hypocrites, but cavaliers, madam, from the Court of
Charles the Second. But after I’ve been to church to please my
conscience and my daughter, I don’t mind pleasing myself a little. I’ll
play billiards with you—”
The door opened and Ahlberg appeared. Now Mr. Ahlberg was
not a favorite of Colonel Berkeley’s at any time—still less of Olivia’s;
but it was in the country, and it was very, very dull, so he got the
most cordial greeting he had ever had from either of them. The
conversation became general, and as soon as Ahlberg had the
opportunity, he edged toward Olivia. He was no gentle,
unsophisticated creature, like Mr. Cole. He knew that Olivia
Berkeley’s polite and self-possessed manner toward him concealed
a certain hardness. He made no particular headway in her good
graces he saw—and not much more in the Colonel’s. But both
gentlemen were hard up for amusement, and each was willing to be
amused, so, when Mr. Ahlberg, after a few well-bred vacuities with
Olivia, devoted himself to Colonel Berkeley, he was rewarded with
the intimation that the Colonel would call on him at the village tavern,
and this was followed up by another hint of a dinner invitation to
follow. This cheered Mr. Ahlberg very much, for to tell the truth he
was as near starvation as a man could be in this nineteenth century,
who had money in his pocket. If, however, Mr. Ahlberg had made it
his business to horrify Mr. Cole, he could not have done it more
thoroughly. He bewailed the absence of book-makers at the races,
and wished to know why elections were not held in America on
Sunday, took occasion to say that religion was merely an affair of the
State, and he too was a believer in a system. When they all rose to
go, poor Mr. Cole was quite limp and overcome, but he made an
effort to retain his self-possession. He urged both Madame Koller
and Mr. Ahlberg to attend the morning service on the following
Sunday. Both promised conditionally.
The clergyman had walked over from the rectory where his
mother presided over his modest establishment.
“Come, Cole,” cried the Colonel, who was the soul of hospitality,
“here’s another seat in the carriage. Come back to dinner with us.
I’ve got some capital champagne, and Olivia will play for you.”
“I don’t care about the champagne, thank you,” answered Mr.
Cole, “but I’ll come for the pleasure of Miss Olivia’s playing and her
society also.”
Scarcely had the carriage turned into the lane, when Mr. Cole
burst forth:
“Miss Olivia, did you ever meet a more godless person in your life
than Mr. Ahlberg?”
“I don’t think I ever did,” answered Olivia, with much sincerity.
“But the widow—Eliza Peyton—eh, Cole? I think you have made
some headway there,” cried the Colonel, wagging his head at the
little clergyman. Mr. Cole’s heart began to thump. Strange it was that
although he ought, as a Christian and a clergyman, to disapprove of
Madame Koller with her beautiful blonde hair, he could not find it in
his heart to feel it. Nevertheless he could say it easily enough.
“I very much doubt, sir, the propriety of my visiting at The
Beeches.”
“Pooh, pooh. You’ll get over it,” chuckled Colonel Berkeley.
Ah, John Chrysostom! Has it never been known that the outward
man denounced what the inward man yearned and hankered after?
At this very moment do you not remember the turn of Madame
Koller’s handsome head, and the faint perfume that exhaled from her
trailing gown?
“We must invite them to dinner,” said the Colonel, decidedly.
“Cole, you must come, too. That poor devil, Ahlberg, is almost
starved at the tavern on fried chicken three times a day, and claret
from the tavern bar.”
CHAPTER III.
A round of solemn afternoon dinings followed the return of the
Berkeleys to Isleham, and were scrupulously returned. But both the
Colonel and Olivia felt that it would not be well to include any of the
county gentry the day Madame Koller and Mr. Ahlberg were to dine
with them. Mr. Cole had already been invited—and Colonel Berkeley
of his own free will, without saying a word to Olivia, asked the two
Pembrokes. Olivia, when she heard of this, was intensely vexed.
She had used both sarcasm and persuasion on Pembroke in Paris to
get him home, and he had laughed at her. Yet she was firmly
convinced, as soon as Madame Koller expressed a determination to
come, either Pembroke had agreed, or else Madame Koller had
followed him—in either case Olivia was not pleased, and received
the Colonel’s information that the Pembrokes would be there sure in
ominous silence. Nothing remained but for her to show what a
remarkably good dinner she could give—and this she felt was clearly
within her power. She was naturally a clever housekeeper, and as
the case often was in those days, the freedom of the negroes had
made but little difference in the ménage at Isleham. Most of the
house servants had turned squatters on the plantation. Petrarch,
unpopular among his confrères because of his superior advantages
and accomplishments as well as his assumption of righteousness,
was the major-domo—and then there was Ike, a gingerbread colored
Chesterfield, as dining-room servant.
“Miss ’Livy, you jes’ let me manage dem black niggers,” was
Petrarch’s sensible advice. “Dey doan know nuttin’ ’bout a real swell
dinner. I say yistiddy to Cook M’ria, ‘Why doan yer have some
orntrees fur dinner outen all dat chicken an’ truck you has lef’ over
ev’y day?’ an’ Miss ’Livy, ef you will b’lieve me, dat nigger, she chase
me outen de kitchen wid a shovel full o’ live coals. She ain’ got no
’spect for ’ligion. Arter I got out in de yard, I say, ‘You
discontemptuous, disreligious ole cantamount, doan’ you know
better’n to sass de Lord’s ’n’inted?’” (this being Petrarch’s favorite
characterization of himself). “But M’ria ain’ got de sperrit ’scusin’ ’tis
de sperrit o’ owdaciousness. Ez fur dat Ike, I done tole him ‘I am de
Gord o’ respicution,’ an’ he ’low I ain’t no sech a thing. I gwi’n lick dat
yaller nigger fo’ long.”
“You’d better not try it Uncle Petrarch—” (Petrarch was near to
sixty, and was therefore by courtesy, Uncle Petrarch). “Ike won’t
stand it, and I won’t have it either, I can tell you.”
The Berkeleys went against the county custom, and dined in the
evening. Therefore, at seven o’clock precisely, on the evening of the
dinner, French Pembroke and his brother entered the quaint old
drawing-room at Isleham. Olivia had learned the possibilities of
ancient mahogany furniture and family portraits, and the great
rambling old house was picturesque enough. A genuine Virginia
wood fire roared up the chimney, where most of the heat as well as
the flame went. Wax candles, in tall silver candlesticks, were on the
mantel, and the piano. Miss Berkeley herself, in a white wool gown,
looked a part of the pleasant home-like picture, as she greeted her
two guests. French Pembroke had called twice to see them, but
neither time had Olivia been at home. This, then, was their first
meeting, except the few minutes at the races. He was the same
easy, pleasantly cynical Pembroke she had known in Paris. There
was another French Pembroke whom she remembered in her
childish days as very good natured, when he was not very tyrannical,
in the visits she used to pay with her dead and gone mother long ago
to Malvern—and this other Pembroke could recite wonderful poetry
out of books, and scare little Miles and herself into delicious spasms
of terror by the weird stories he would tell. But Miles had changed in
every way. He had been in his earlier boyish days the pet and darling
of women, but now he slunk away from the pity in their tender eyes.
He had once had a mannish little strut and a way of looking out of his
bold blue eyes that made a path for him wherever he chose to tread.
But now he shambled in, keeping as far out of sight as possible
behind the elder brother’s stalwart figure.
Colonel Berkeley shook Miles’s one hand cordially. His armless
sleeve was pinned up to his coat front.
“God bless my soul,” the Colonel cried. “Am I getting old? Here’s
little Miles Pembroke almost a man.”
“Almost—papa—you mean quite a man. It is a dreadful reflection
to me that I am older than Miles,” said Olivia, smiling. Then they sat
about the fire, and Olivia, putting her fan down in her lap, looked
French Pembroke full in the face and said, “You know, perhaps, that
Madame Koller and Mr. Ahlberg dine here to-night?”
“Yes,” answered Pembroke, with all the coolness of conscious
innocence—or brazen assurance of careless wickedness, Olivia
could not tell which.
“You saw a good deal of them abroad, didn’t you?” was her next
question.
“Yes,” again replied Pembroke.
“Olivia, my dear,” said her father, who very much enjoyed this
little episode, “you women will never learn that you can’t find
anything out by asking questions; and Pembroke, my boy, remember
that women never believe you except when you are lying to them.
Let him alone, Olivia, and he will tell you the whole story, I’ll warrant.”
Olivia’s training had made her something of a stoic under Colonel
Berkeley’s remarks, but at this a deep red dyed her clear pale face.
She was the best of daughters, but she could at that moment have
cheerfully inflicted condign punishment on her father. Pembroke saw
it too, not without a little malicious satisfaction. She had quietly
assumed in her tone and manner that he was in some way
responsible for Madame Koller and her mother being at The
Beeches—an incident fraught with much discomfort for him—none
the less that there was nothing tragic about it, but rather ridiculous.
All the same, he determined to set himself right on the spot.
“Of course, I saw them often. It would have been quite
unpardonable if I had not, considering we were often in the same
places—and our land joins. I can’t say that I recollect Madame Koller
very much before she went away. I only remember her as rather an
ugly little thing, always strumming on the piano. I took the liberty of
telling both her and Madame Schmidt that I did not think they would
find a winter at The Beeches very pleasant—but it seems she did not
agree with me. Ahlberg is a cousin by marriage, and has been in the
diplomatic corps—”
And at that very moment Petrarch threw open the drawing-room
door and announced “Mrs. Koller and Mr. Ahlberg, sah.”
Madame Koller’s appearance was none the less striking in
evening dress, with ropes of amber around her neck, and some very
fine diamonds. Who says that women are indifferent to each other?
The instant Olivia beheld Madame Koller in her gorgeous trailing
gown of yellow silk, and her jewels, she felt plain, insignificant, and
colorless both in features, dress and manner—while Madame Koller,
albeit she knew both herself and other women singularly well, almost
envied Olivia the girlish simplicity, the slightness and grace that
made her a pretty picture in her white gown with the bunch of late
autumn roses at her belt.
The clergyman came last. Then Petrarch opened the folding
doors and announced dinner, and Colonel Berkeley gallantly offering
his arm to Madame Koller, they all marched in.
Something like a sigh of satisfaction escaped Mr. Ahlberg. Once
more he was to dine. Madame Koller sat on the Colonel’s right, and
at her right was Mr. Cole. The clergyman’s innocent heart beat when
he saw this arrangement. He still fancied that he strongly
disapproved of Madame Koller, the more so when he saw the
nonchalant way in which she took champagne and utterly ignored
the carafe of water at her plate. Mr. Cole took only claret, and
watered that liberally.
Madame Koller certainly had a very pretty manner—rather
elaborate and altogether different from Olivia’s self-possessed
simplicity. She spoke of her mother—“so happy once more to be
back in Virginia.” Madame Schmidt, always wrapped up in shawls,
and who never volunteered a remark to anybody in her life, scarcely
seemed to outsiders to be quite capable of any enjoyment. And Aunt
Peyton—dear Aunt Peyton—so kind, so handsome—so anxious that
people shall please themselves—“Upon my soul, madam,” cried the
Colonel, with much hearty good humor, “I am delighted to hear that
last about my old friend Sally Peyton. I’ve known her well for fifty
years—perhaps she wouldn’t acknowledge it—and a more
headstrong, determined, self-willed woman I never saw. Sally is a
good woman, and by heaven, she was a devilish pretty one when—
when—you may have heard the story, ma’am—but she always
wanted to please herself a d—n sight more than anybody else—
including Ned Peyton.”
The Colonel said this quite pleasantly, and Madame Koller smiled
at it—she seldom laughed. “Were you not some years in the army,
Colonel Berkeley?” she asked presently. “It seems to me I have
some recollection of having heard it.” Colonel Berkeley colored
slightly. He valued his military title highly, but he didn’t know exactly
how he came by it.
“The fact is madam,” he replied, clearing his throat, “in the old
days we had a splendid militia. Don’t you remember the general
musters, hay? Now I was the—the commanding officer of the
Virginia Invincibles—a crack cavalry company, composed exclusively
of the county gentlemen—and in some way, they called me colonel,
and a colonel I remained.”
“The title seems quite natural,” said Madame Koller, with a sweet
smile—“You have such a military carriage—that indescribable air—”
at which the Colonel, who never tired of laughing at other people’s
foibles, straightened up, assumed a martial pose, and showed vast
elation and immense pleasure—which Madame Koller saw out of the
corner of her eye.
Miles, sitting next Olivia, had grown confidential. “I—I—want to
tell you,” he said bashfully, “the reason why I didn’t come to see you
in Paris. It required some nerve for a fellow—in my condition—to
face a woman—even the best and kindest.”
“Was that it?” answered Olivia half smiling.
“You are laughing at me,” he said reproachfully.
“Of course I am,” replied Olivia.
A genuine look of relief stole into his poor face. Perhaps it was
not so bad after all if Olivia Berkeley could laugh at his
sensitiveness.
“So,” continued Olivia, promptly, “you acted like a vain, foolish
boy. But I see you are getting over it.”
“I’ll try. You wouldn’t treat me so cavalierly, would you, if—if—it
were quite—dreadful?”
“No, it isn’t dreadful at all, or anything like it,” replied Olivia, telling
one of those generous and womanly fibs that all true women utter
with the full approval of their consciences.
Meanwhile, Ahlberg and Pembroke had been conversing.
Ahlberg was indeed a clever fellow—for he talked in a
straightforward way, and gave not the slightest ground in anything he
said for the suspicion that Pembroke obstinately cherished against
him.
“What do you do with yourself all day, Miss Berkeley?” asked
Pembroke after a while.
“There is plenty to do. I have a dozen servants to manage that
ran wild while we were away—and the house to keep, and to look
after the garden—and I ride or drive every day—and keep up my
piano playing—and read a little. What do you do?”
“Nothing,” answered Pembroke, boldly.
Olivia did not say a word. She threw him one brief glance though,
from her dark eyes that conveyed a volume.
“I have a license to practice law,” he continued, coolly. “I’ve had it
for five years—got it just before the State went out, when I went out
too. Four years’ soldiering isn’t a good preparation for the law.”
“Ah!” said Olivia.
“I have enough left, I daresay, to keep me without work,” he
added.
If he had studied how to make himself contemptible in Olivia’s
eyes, he could not have done so more completely. She had acquired
perfect self-possession of manner, but her mobile face was as yet
undisciplined. When to this last remark she said in her sweetest
manner, “Won’t you let Petrarch fill your glass?” it was equivalent to
saying, “You are the most worthless and contemptible creature on
this planet.” Just then the Colonel’s cheery voice resounded from the
foot of the table.
“Pembroke, when I drove through the Court House to-day, it
made me feel like a young man again, to see your father’s old tin
sign hanging out of the old office, ‘French Pembroke, Attorney at
Law.’ It has been a good many years since that sign was first put up.
Egad, your father and I have had some good times in that office, in
the old, old days. He always kept a first-class brand of liquors. His
style of serving it wasn’t very imposing, but it didn’t hurt the liquor.
I’ve drank cognac fit for a king in that office, and drank it out of a
shaving mug borrowed from the barber next door—ha! ha!”
A change like magic swept over Olivia’s face. It indicated great
relief that Pembroke was not an idle scamp after all. She tried to look
sternly and reproachfully at him, but a smile lurked in her eyes.
“You are not as lazy as I thought you, but twice as deceitful,” she
said.
Pembroke was amused at the extreme suavity of the two ladies
toward each other, knowing that at heart it masked an armed
neutrality. Particularly did he notice it after dinner, when they
returned to the drawing-room and the piano was opened. Madame
Koller was asked to sing, but first begged that Miss Berkeley should
play. Olivia, without protesting, went to the piano. Her playing was
finished and artistic, and full of the delicate repose of a true
musician. When she rose Madame Koller overflowed with
compliments. “And now, madam,” said the Colonel, rising and
offering his hand with a splendid and graceful flourish, “will you not
let us hear that voice that charmed us when you were little Eliza
Peyton.”
Madame Koller did not like to be called Eliza Peyton—it was too
commonplace—Elise Koller was much more striking. And then she
was uncertain whether to sing or not. She had tried hard to keep that
stage episode secret, and she was afraid if she sang, that something
might betray her. She glanced at Ahlberg, as much as to say, “Shall