Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-28

cared for the man. and he was very nice
chap and had money,-but she craved po-
sition. told her that as far as Philadel-
phia was concerned the Market-st. legend
had passed into history. To rush into the
Rittenhouse Square neighborhood these days
was sure sign of being a parvenu.
The Reserve, it seems, was conservative
and clannish. He had lived on a certain
street for many years His family was
identified with the neighborhood. He went
to church twice or three times on Sunday,
and there was midday dinner and a cold
tea,-you know the kind of people, and
he would not move. | saw that, notwlth-
standing her apparent lack of romance, Lii
lie really liked the Reserve from West Phil
adelphia. | thought from what | had seen
of him that she would be very silly to let
such chance slip. 1t was for her with her
social talent to make the way, and if she
left it to me | was sure that could engineer
the matter through splendidly.
SO | took this little affair in charge, and
have never had occasion to regret it. 1t
was not much to do: but it required tact,
patience, and perseverance, and above all
the constant advice of-well, an authority
like myself.
7 SAW plainly that my man from West
Philadelphia was much taken by the
blond beauty and the charm of my fair
Southern friend; also he was not a little
impressed that she knew some people in
the fashionable whirl. He took quite for
granted that she was the daughter of an old
family, with the usual traditions associ-
ated with the land of Dixie.
1t was not difficult for me to find out
whether he was as financially eligible as
reputed. There are many rich men and
families of wealth who are quiet and con
sentative and are known only to a small
CIRCLE but their fortunes have solid founda-
TONS Fashionable Philadelphia knows
nothing of them; but the business element
is not so ignorant. My return mail was
most satisfactory
l took the widow, my hostess, into my
confidence. No woman can withstand the
lure of matchmaking, if it doesn't interfere
with her personal plans. She took up Lille;
which wasn't altogether unselfish, for one
cannot have too many pretty women in
party, especially one girl with SO many at
fractions as Lille Durham. Beauty draws
men as flowers draw bees.
OF course the man from West Philadelphia
was included He was quite presentable He
was retiring, and that was in his favor, and
he was well groomed, with a substantial
look
Up to this time no one had paid much at
tention to him. OF course had to consider
what the fashionable Philadelphia folk might
say; for | was looking into the future. My
own party had the usual provincial New
York disregard for the opinion of Philadel-
phians. To be quite truthful, the smartest
Philadelphia there had married woman
who had a large fortune gained in the retail
trade, and they were not in a position to
"start anything" as we say now.
The prominence we gave to the man from
West Philadelphia by including him in our
parties attracted the attention of Others to
him. My rival promoters began investiga-
tions on their own account. They learned
that the Philadelphia mans wealth was well
into seven figures. He was about five times
richer than | had estimated. Then there
was a rush for him.
Three London hostesses, each one of
whom was on intimate terms with the house
hold at Sandringham, and could count for
cousins Dukes and Duchesses by the dozen,
concentrated on landing the Philadel-
phian.
| had my work cut out for me. 1t took
all my finesse, all my strategy, all my expe-
rience in game in which | considered my
self past master, to hold the man In line
Then too, the time was short. March was
beginning to melt into April. The hotels
were only half full. Even the cake walkers