Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-09-24

T T was the last of Mrs. Wander
l veer's dinners before that lady
made her regular June crossing. She
always did the same thing-went to
London for July, to Ostend for Au-
gust, spent September in the Alps and
Italy, two weeks Of Paris in October,
and then home, where she regularly
made her first appearance at the open
ing of the horse show.
Some of her friends suggested the
North Cape, or Vienna, or California
by way Of variety, but Mrs. Wander
peer was used to her route; she knew
all the hotels and they knew her and
what she wanted and she did not wish
to be bothered by making any new ar
rangements.
One thing Mrs. Vanderveer could
do, though, which suited everybody,
and that was to give a dinner. She
not only provided perfect viands, but
she had interesting people, or enough
of them to leaven the lump of average
human d%ullness, and she usually had
some agreeable surprise in the way Of
odd dishes, unique favors, or, mayhap,
a celebrated artist.
Jimmie Garretson, although a young
bachelor, was an old friend of Mrs.
Vanderveer's, and she often relied up
on him to help her out at her dinners.
She had written him he was to take
in Mrs. LIE Clair, a newcomer, a friend
of her friends, the Nesbitts, and a
lady with a history which had been
exploited in the yellows almost coin
cident with her arrival from San
Francisco.
81 want you to be your incest to
her, Jimmie" wrote Mrs. Vanderveer,
make it as easy for her as possible.
She is a dear woman, and this is to be
her first appearance in New York So
ciety. 1t will be something of an or
DEAL"
Later she wrote him that he was
not to take in Mrs. LIE Clair, for whom
she had thought of some one else, but
the second Miss Nesbitt.
The evening of the dinner Mrs. Van
derveer seemed perturbed at greeting
Jimmie. you're not to go in with
Miss Nesbitt," she said, "her fiance,
n of the officers on the Ohio, came
in yesterday and l had to make a
place for him. My cousin, Mrs.
Trench, a widow, who has been in
from Bermuda for some time, arrived
Unexpectedly this morning, and J
have had two regrets at the last mo-
ment. I'm somewhat upset about my
arrangements, and l don't know Just
what" Some one called her away.
A little later she returned jubilant.
tits all arranged beautifully now.
cts awfully good of you, Jimmie,
dear, to let me o you around like
this. I'm sure you'll be very nice to-
but listen to me, you are always NIGEL"
She had him by the arm and was
plotting him across the drawing room.
He found himself standing before a
handsome young woman about five
years younger than himself (Jimmie
was 30) and dressed in black velvet
with a diamond star in her dark hair.
81 want to present my particular
friend, Mr.. Garretson, Mrs. =" just
then the Misses Nesbitt, who stood
near, laughed in chorus, a little loud
ly for perfect breeding, and the name
was lost to Jimmie-"he is such a
valued friend-I am sure Mrs. Van
derveer ended in a soft, unintelligible
murmur.
The exodus to the dining room be-
gan almost Immediately, and Jimmie
bad no time to observe particularly
his partner for the feast until they
were seated at the table. Then, n
der the soft shaded lights, he saw
that she was even prettier and young
er looking than he had at first
thought. She looked to be rather un-
der than over rs, was slender and ele-
CANT in figure, her head small and
shapely, her large dark eyes far apart
and her nose short and straight.
Conversation languished until after
the fish. Jimmie was not in his most
talkative vein-it was a little awk-
ward not knowing his companions
name-and she herself was not com
municative.
With the entree matters looked 10