The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-12-27
ok that had. as it we're, settled upon her

look that had. as it were, settled upon her
face
And so matters went on for about six
| weeks. TrX grew little aler, little
| mole silent each day, but she tried hard to
be what the Colonel called Companion
| able though she had to own to herself
| that some times he seemed just triiie
| bnred. The summer was now in its decline.
| The leaves upon the trees were beginning
| 10 look soberly brown, as II preparing for
| the change that must come t. leaves and
men alike, and although bright berry
would here and there CLEAN out from
among the russell hedge it was
only for the sake of pointing a
| contrast. The little seaside town began
! to take up sort of autumnal ap-
| pearance. With the drawing in Of the days.
| the picnics began to give way to cosy little
| dinner parties. The Colonel was in his ele-
mpnt there. He never admired his hand
| some person more, nor was more thorough
| ly satisfied with his own personality than
when, CARRIED in the most satiny and eX-
| quiSitely fitting suit Of Dlark, an almost
historic ruby blazing on the immaculate
linen that covered his manly breast, he was
seated, an honnred guest, at some select
dinner party. Mrs. Danvers, an invalid,
went nowhere. TriX now aud then W ent
! her mothers substitute, but mostly the
gallant Colonel went out to dinner as
bachelor.
Al whose house he first met Mrs. Tremen-
heere it matters not. What mattered more
to IriX was that the fl st time she saw them
together they >eemed to nave arrived at
pronounced footing of friendship. Not that
this ould have disturbed her in itself; she
was accustomed to it. But what disturbed
TrX was that he had never talked about her,
and yet he seemed to know her well. Like
most vain men the Colonel delighted in talk
ing about the people for whom he had an at
traction indeed TriX was won't to tease him
concerning these harmless ''conqueatS" Of
his. But uf Mrs. Tremenheere he had never
spoken word. TriX had not much knOwl-
be certain that this silence was a dangerous
symptom.
She sat opposite to the pair, her indignant
gray eyes glOwerng on them, much to the
amusement of her host, who was a bit of
cynic. She had come to this dinner party
mainly, she thought, to please the
Colonel, who had always protested that lie
hated going about alone. Indeed, this was
true in a general way, as he was of all men
the most dependent on others for amuSe-
ment. But un this occasion she had donned
her pretty dinner dress with great Hche at
her heart, and a sense of the emptiness of
her world now that Ralph 0rmist0n had
been banished from it, to please her father.
who sat opposite her ogling and flirting
with pretty woman at least twenty years
his junior.
1t was not decorOus. thought Trix, an in
suit both to her mother and herself. But
the Colonel sat on placidly talklng in his
most brilliant vein, very much pleased with
himSeli. Oh, those stories that she had
heard at least hundred times before and
had never found very funny. They Jared
upon her now as they never had done, but
they seemed to amuse Mrs. Tremenheere.
She Laughed gaily. and the Colonel, well
pleased with his own wit, joined in her
laughter, while Trlx groaned inwardly.