Evening star., 1907-07-14


! her the position just vacated by NJ IS
| Hatch. No one had been a witness TO the
| bargain made between the two. bat. sharp
as Frances was IN her small way. she was
! no match for the older woman. and she
! had been woefully cheated and new IL. a
fact that embittered her against both aunt
I and niece, though Mary was entirely In
| nocent of any blame in the matter. Or
| phaned at two and left to the Indifferent
| care of servants. Frances had literally
grown up in the street, playing with pro-
m;scuous companions on the sidewalk and
| she had large amount of cheap sharpness
which made her peculiarly keen in her oh
scrvation. She had no sooner seen Mary
| than she jumped to the conclusion that
| there was something of a history behind
| her: such a conclusion with Frances meant
| that she would never rest until she had
exhausted every means at hand TO probe it.
! But the face she turned to Mary was CON
| ciilatlng: her short experience of the strug
| gle of life had taught her several bitter
lessons and she already developing
that miserable serviity of manner which
covers both likes and dslikes in some de
pendents and merges them at once into the
great army of hypocrites.
She pretended now to admire Mary's
morning gown while she was really observ-
ing that her slender fingers trembled slight
ly as she passed the French envelope to
and fro between them, for Mary's assumed
carelessness had not deceived Frances "A
moment: she had assumed too many emo
uons herself to be readily deceived by
counterfeit.
What a love of a frock" she remarked
turning from Mrs. Writings letters and
resting her elbow on the desk while She
viewed Miss Haddng; Il wish you'd give
it to me when you've finished it,"
Mary blushed the barefaced request for
old clothes shamed her She could not
imagine the other girls mental attitude.
/ should hate to give you a shabby
gown she said simply; Il never like to
wear them myself"
''Oh. l never did until that designing
creature married Uncle Fennel and pol
soned his mind against me-, Frances de-
clared: II used to have lovely things. but.
Of course. everything I've got now is two
years out of style and the sleeves have
changed So Molly Lane told me to turn
them upside down. Upside down. indeed!
Shed Ike to do that, | fancy, That's the
hateful way rich people talk to the poor
and the moment they know you've lost
your money they begin to notice how
shabby you are. 1 always ride in the trail
ers OF the cars now; ii you get into the
motor-car its full of dressed-up women
who stare and appraise your clothes inch
by inch That's the place to show off a
new gown, but don't you get on with
less you're as callous tea kettle"
Mary Hadding laughed outright 'Tve
worn shabby clothes myself, Miss Fennel,
on the Champs Elysee, too. but then the
Parisians have such good manners
''Washngtonians haven't; they're pigs
said the social secretary sharply: then
after moment she added more cordially:
I'VE see each other every day-dun't YOU
think Miss Fennel' bit formal?"
perhaps it is Mary assented without
warmth; she had a sharp distaste for
suming any intimacy with this little crea-
ture with the aggressive freckles across
the bridge of her aggressive nose.
"And-well. | thought you were we'll off"
Frances continued with bald curiosity;
I've often heard Judge Fennel say that
the Haddngs We're wealthy"
p.rfay %
losing her hold on the realities of life and
slipping over a precpice, but she had
learned to hide her feelings under these
shocks and she showed no emotion. Your
| uncle knew my family them she asked
"Oh, | believe he made mud pies with
some of your ancestors" replied Frances
carelessly: Il should take you to see him
if it wasn't for that-creature,'
Perhaps he will come to see us Mary
suggested. casting a plummet-line into the
sea of possible disasters.
mo, he won't. said the other girl de-
cisively: he only goes to one or two
houses and those are closed now on Mrs.
F. You know he's awfully old and rickety.
| We all thought he was going off. and that's
the cause of the mischief
Mary silent; Judge Fenners disabil-
tiles were suddenly relief to her and she
did not care to betray it in her voice. In
stead, she took this opportunity to evade
further questions and had turned to the
door when Frances stopped her.
I've got two dinner lists here" she OBJ
served. "and l see Mrs. Whiting has added
Schellng to both. l suppose he's con-
sidered a desirable parti, but ugh. isn't
he polished and fat?-and here she's added
Capt. and Mrs. Jerome for the same din
| ner with Madame Syrene. I wonder If she
knows that Christine is furious because he
took Madame S. TO the opera while she was
in Philadelphia? OF course Fred Cheever
gave her all those diamonds, but she'd make
mischief anywhere
It's not my affair" said Mary smiling:
IF it were-I should drop Madame Sy
rene
Frances opened her eyes. 'Oh, that
wouldn't do: she's diplomats wife and
you know she's awfully clever; all the men
like to meet her; one has to have draw
ing card for the men: she sits and smokes
with them after dinner Christine smokes
| too, and she used to be an outrageou fiirt;
it would be fun to see them have a tilt.
Who on earth is this Representative
Apple?"
II thought you knew everybody" replied
Mary from the door. She had got it open
now and stood on the threshold.
Frances elevated her brows and returned
to her dinner diagrams. "A good many
politicians stand at just thirty cents on the
social list she observed. but of course
this particular Apple is something or some
body or your aunt would never pick him up
for dinner, as far as l am concerned"
At this point Mary closed the door and
went slowly upstairs to read another letter
from May Hadding full of suggestions that
she must have received some money and it
would be convenient If she would promptly
forward it. 1t contained also some warn
ings against certain pitfalls that she was
to avoid in her intercourse with Mrs. Whit
ing. and mapped out line of conduct
which would certainly, in Mays opinion,
lead to a large donation
Mary smiled bitterly she read it. Lit
tie as May Hadding resembed her aunt
either in looks, bearing or character, she
was her counterpart in the management
of money. and Mrs. Whiting parted with
little except in the indulgence of her own
tastes and fancies She was mean to
everybody but herself. and her lavishly
conducted household was only an example
of her exalted egoism She had been
willing to let her niece appear unless she
was dressed to suit the elaborate setting of
her gold and white drawing rooms and her
frescoed ceilings. and had augmented
Mary's wardrobe by the gift OF several
more gowns. but she had not given her a
dollar to spend. and Mary knew that she
was keeping sharp account of her ex-
penses and exact reckoning Of the
money that she was supposed to have saved
out of the check sent to Paris.
She had explained all this with great pa
tience and lucidity to May Hadding. but
without result. and she was gradually Slip
ping into the habit of letting these missives
remain unanswered or only writing at long
intervals She knew that she was merely
Nat 1,,,A