The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-12
THE EVENING STORY
In Her Moment OF Weakness.
(By Cecily Allen.)

In Her Moment Of Weakness.
(By Cecily Allen.)
She had always been distressingiy
capable and competent.
ST don't believe Beatrice ever had
| a headache or nervous spell like you
girls have" Henry Dalton had re-
| marked one day to his two sisters.
absorbed by bonbons and new novels.
| and wrapped in Indifference and silk
negligees.
And the tone in which he spoke
was not entirely complimentary. In
fact, a distinct note Of personal injury
rang through it For how can man
assume an attitude of protective
| chivalry toward q girl entirely capable
| Of doing for herself.
| Beatrice never dropped her fan or
| her handkerchief nor came into the
drawing room with her glove unbut-
toned, nor gave opportunity for the
| little services which other women
| seemed to have demanded of Henry
Dalton since he had risen to the
| dignity Of knickerbockers.
| Yet withal. Beatrice Craig was
nothing If not feminine. She wore
the softest and most clingfng Of fab
RIGS. She played golf but did not
court bare arms and tan. She wore
tailored suits. but she softened them
| at her throat. She was rufhy and
f1uffy-but she never tore her rufaes,
| and then asked for pin to make re-
pairs.
And if all these things she was be-
| fore her fathers failure and death,
she was doubly inaccessible and i'm
pregnable after reverses overlook her.
Before that she had simply fenced
| with Dalton. Now she donned an
armor that seemed well-nigh IN
| vulnerable.
Directly the estate was settled up
and the smallness of their Inheritance
was made known to her, Beatrice
Craig had turned breadwinner, In
a smart shop where layettes of the
most superlative f1neness and beauty
were sold.
In the front room with it's exquisite
fittings and scented presses, she ex-
hibited wares selected to suit the
matrons among whom she had grown
from girlhood to womanhood. In the
rear room, she gathered the most ex-
pert needlewoman her purse could
} command, and all work was done un-
der her direct supervision.
Her delighted clientele said that
her success was founded on this per-
J sonal oversight. Her doctor said that
nervous prostration would inevitably
) result from her persistent, close con-
finement to business; her mother wept
in sheer loneliness at first, and later
| drffted from their tiny apartment
back into the old bridge-playfng
novel-reading circle of gray-haired
friends. And what Henry Dalton said
Is not for repetition here. For hav-
ing no nieces or nephews, how could
he offer a decent excuse for haunting
a layette shop? And only at her shop
was Beatrice to be found-save the
. cruelty few hours when outraged ma
, ture demanded rest and refreshment.
! wi
ton thrust into the dim background
1 of the life when her father made al
D things lovely for her well-shod feet tt
walk upon, she was standing before
her cheval mirror, preparing for &
r return just a brief return glimpse
' to the old life.
Her mother had wept to some pur.
. pose. The doctor had r said certain
5 sharp things that were more effec-
tive than maternal tears-and sc
3 Beatrice had accepted the De Haven
t Smiths warm invitation to spend the
r week end and perhaps a few day:
D more at their lodge in the Catskills.
- Beatrice surveyed with critical eye
E her smartly tailored travelling suit and
then cast a smiling glance at the sui
case where rested delightful
j matinee product of her own work
< room. 1t would be good to lie abet
mornings and drink her chocolate IL
a love of matinee like that: AMI
4
{ books and wear the white crepe d.
n chine, made over for the trip, to din
s ner. Old times-yes, she was stronl
8 enough now to stand an occasional
dip back into old times.
Beatrice, here's a G. o. d. parce
y from Mason'sI picked up a love o
' a waist for $13.75. Have you an!
q money!"
!; Beatrice readjusted her veil to ;
q more fetching angle, and murmured
as we'll as the pins in her mouth
: would permit:
Eyes, mother, there's a roll Of bill
e in my bag, the large pocket. TAX
what you think will last you until
= | come back"
: An hour later Beatrice leaned bacl
luxuriously in the parlor car, her un
: seeing eyes fixed on the Hudson pano
rama. 1t was good-just to do moth
ing. And when the call for luncheon
l'came she felt hungry-and smiled. Thu
s doctor had said change was all sh'
8 needed and here she was hungry al
d ready. for the first time in weeks.
:. The obsequious darby in charge o
o her table gave her the perfection o
4 beautiful pigskin hand bag that restet
t against the window. That bag hat
: been one of Dalton's gifts, and at tina
It very moment the giver himself wa
d sitting at a table behind Beatrice
: watching her every move with hungr!
o eyes. He knew that she was going t
: the De Haven Smith lodge. Mrs
IS Smith had boldly held this out as ;
e bait in his invitation. but somehow h
IL felt that the psychological moment TO
4 making his presence known had no
e yet arrived. He noted sometimes .
e new droop in her shoulders. Occa
= sionally, too, she leaned her head Of
her hand between courses. This wa
the reaction which the doctor had pre-
dicted-but Henry Dalton did no
!, know this. He thought only that sh
) was slowly but surely killing hersel
by reason of her pride-and he mus
e stand idly, dumbly by, simply becaus
n he was so disgustingly rich that sh
Il