Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-10-18
EVENING SHORT STORY.
HER REFORMATION.
BY NELLIE R. BLIssETT.

peace of mind she had never dared to
look at herself frankly before, but to-
day a great change had come to her.
1t was a relief to be honest with the
figure which looked back at her out OF
the long glass. With a sort of amused
curiosity she studied its face, its beau
tifully dressed hair its gorgeously in
appropriate tea gown of a crude pc
tuna share, fashionable at the mo-
ment, which Mrs. Inglesham-the Mrs.
Inglesham of yesterday-had persuad-
ed at least one-half of her mind to con-
slider becoming to her.
"Ill go and have it out with the old
man." she said.
With a step lighter than it had been
for years she swept serenely up the
great staircase, trailing the petunia
draperies after her with a crisp rus
Ting of silk. At the door of Ingle-
sham's sanctum she paused for a sec
ond. 1t was a place from which she
had always felt herself excluded a
place in which mysterious business was
transacted, mysterious millions were
gambled with in a way she did not
profess TO understand. There had been
many things in Inglesham's amazing
career which she had not understood,
from which she had been shut out, as
it were, by a barrier of fine clothes
and diamonds and carriages and
horses and a hundred other agreeable
tri6es appropriate to her position If as
inappropriate to her character and up-
bringing as the petunia tea gown. But
now that the crash had come to Ingle-
sham she had reached a point which
she understood perfectly and the bar
riers of wealth and luxury troubled her
no more. Yesterday she would have
knocked at the door of that fateful
little room! to-day she went boldly in.
He looked up almost ~nervously as
she entered. Probably she vas going
to reproach hint was only what he
deserved. Somehow he quailed and
felt small before this big, handsome
woman in the p~etunia tea gown whom
his folly had sudden1y. reduced to pow
erty.
$50 you're in a hole, Morris?" she
said, quite calmly. You might have
told me, | think"
"Tm-sorry," he SAIL, almost hum
bly,.
Eyes, l suppose you are" she said.
81 thought you would be-that's why
l came. You're sorry!" She laughed
suddenly-a short, fierce little laugh.
well I'm a fool, l suppose, Morris,
for I'm not sorry at all-I'm glad"
Inglesham stared at her helplessly.
"Glad?"
She nodded, smoothing out with a
hand blazing with rings the stiff folds
of petunia silk.
"Yes-glad. Gladder than I've been
about anything for years. Oh, l know
you thought l was Observation-Disclosures
just all could do. for you and l a
aged to do-somehow. | played the
game and let you think l liked it.
Morris, l loathed it!'
Inglesham could only sit silent in
ever-increasing amazement.
She rose suddenly to her feet with
an irrepressible movement of freedom
of escape.
MY goodness, how heavenly it isl"
she said. 81 shall never have to both
err my head about saying the wrong
thing or doing the right one. l shall
never have to fool about with these
silly society women, with all their
stupidities and hypocrisies, their pet
charities and their queer love affairs
and their c~ard-playing and smoking
and all their other nonsense and wick
edness. I'm only Polly Inglesham-I
don't understand their ways and never
shall. oh. I'm going to be so happy,
Morris-you just wait and sect"
Speech came to Inglesham at last-in
a sudden gush of shame, of remorse.
MY God, Polly. what a brick you are!"
he said. "And what a fool I've been. |
was ashamed of you'll thought you
different from other women who picked
up manners and ways of speaking and
things like that-little. wretched things
that don't matter. | thought you might
have made yourself more like them
and if you had you'd have been rolling
me into the dirt to-day instead of stick
ing to me like this. But there's worse
than you know, ~Polly-I'ye gambled
with other peoples money, as we'll as
my own, and lost it. | didn't mean IN
harm. but the harms done all the same.
People will call me a swindler-you
must be prepared for that"
Mrs. Inglesham laughed.
I'm quite prepared for it," she said.
Il expected it-you see, | learned a
thing or two in high society, if | didn't
learn I've saved a little Of
my own. Morris-you gave me more
than I was able to spend. l was just
totting up what I've got and l think
you can pay the people whose money
you gambled with. Look! Iput it down
on a bit of paper to show you"
She held out a crumpled slip of paper
to Inglesham. He studied it for a mo-
ment and locked up. There were sud-
den tears in his eyes. 'Yor-you've
saved my name, Polly" he said. hoarse-
1r fT a1. I~@I- 49,. III t. ~ e.