The Washington herald., 1906-12-09

Genevra had returned from finishing
school, this time to stay, and she sat
down by the open window to face GER
tain problem which had been trying to
confront her for some time, and now
must be definitely settled. There was
no more school, no more anything to do,
only future Of eternal days with aunt
and uncle. living as they lived, among
the people they liked. Her eyes closed
tragically. and tears forced themselves
below the lashes.
She could see herself as she had come
10 them six years ago-plain Jennie then,
a slight girl of twelve. dressed in cheap
mourning, carrying all her worldly goods
in two heavy travelling bags. From the
little village to the great city Jennie had
come alone: from the house of death to
the abode of frivolity. And how the
magnifeence of her uncle's home had
impressed her! With what awe had the
small girl slipped into spindle chair and
gazed about her, while the manservant
went to announce the new arrival 10 her
aunt
The room was much the same to-day
as it was then-slippery floors. spotted
with Oriental rugs. silken, lustrous, lux
urious; damask-covered furniture, with
wandering. golden legs and arms: the
walls heavy with wide giit-framed paint
ings: the ornate ceiling; the frieze Of
Cupids, pink and plump, pursuing one an
other; here and there a marble statue;
here and there a palm. And then, when
her aunt had been heard coming heavily
down the stairs, rustling at every step
when she had pushed aside the rose-eol-
ored drapery with one thick. white. be-
jeweled arm, and stood there a moment.
very pink and very blue and very golden
when she had come IN and greeted her
kindly. affectionately. saying that she
was not 10 be an orphan any longer, but
their little girl. and that her name was
to be Genevra,-
The young girl sat up hastily. They
had been all that was good to her-or
they had tTied-and now duty demanded
the response they askcd-that she be as
a daughter to them. She was anxious to
be worthy OF their generous affection at
any cost. and it would cost Tears flowed
again. It meant the ending Of al her
giTlhoOd friendships, for the girls she had
met at school belonged TO families that
did not know Mr. and Mrs. Pilger-would
not know them Could she ever forget
having brought her dearest chum home for
few holidays and OveThearing later the
remark that the PilgeTs were "hOpelessly
vulgar. you know. though you wouldn't
Sxnect it, to see Genevra," That they
were so she knew. All this would mean
frer- Of
was beginning to realize.
At the sound OF approaching silken-
shrOuded footsteps she rose quickly and
began to take down her hair. Mrs. Pilger
entered, big and blond and smiling. and
Genevra kissed her warmly.
Dressing for dinner. deaT7 I've got a
great surprise for you tonight. No, I won't
tell you anything about it, You'll see him
at dinner time"
Laughing, her aunt went away, and
Genevra clutched at the dressing table
shivering suddenly. Now Il had come
They had invited TO dinner the man who
had been hanging for two years like a
threatening cloud over her horizon. II
must be Hopper. the young business
partner of her uncle! She had never
seen him, but could he be anything but
hOrrible-the man who had said her aunt
h
Of whom her uncle spoke as a darned
good fellow, an artist at connecting GER
tain drinks, and the very devil with the
women?
The preparation Of her toilette for that
dinner was the most sickening trial she
had ever undergone but it was nothing
in comparison witt the dinner. The guest
Of honor sat beside her, and murmured
gallantTies in her ear. He was big and
sleek. with bold eyes and large laughter.
affecting massive jewelry set with just
sufficient number OF black pearls TO
throw the diamonds into greater contrast.
The girl hardly dared trust herself to
look upon the figure of her aunt. oppo-
site. 50 vast and tumultuous was the ex-
pause of bare whiteness above her green
blue gown, so myriad the colored gems
that glowed amidst the diamonds on her
shoulders, neck, and hair. Then when
her uncle. who drank much wine and
showed it in his eyes, slapped his wife
coarsely on the shoulder, she ficking a
few drops of water into his face in re-
turn. and they all laughed, Genevra felt
that she should surely be consumed with
hot humiliation.
The evening came to an end, with its