The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-22
The Story Of Julia Page-By Kathleen Norris

was thin ana a Eittle freckled ana covered with a fine blond down, (which | merged on her forehead into the | straight rise of. her carrot-coloured | hair. Her eyes were sharply blue, | set in thick, short, tawny flashes. She | was an entffusiastic' sportswoman, we'll inforp1ed :offs 5il topics of the day, assured of her position and sure of~hensef, equally, at home in her rid ing tweeds and mud-splashed derby, and the trailing satin evening gowns that left her bony, little shoulders bare, and were embellished by match less diamonds or pearls. There was no sentiment in her, her best friends were of both sexes and all ages. but she attached Jim to her train, par ronized and bullied him, and they be- came good friends.
 Mrs Chancellor talked well, and talked a great deal. aand she stimu- lated Jim to talk, too. Never in his life had so constant a demand been made upon his conversational powers; and every hour with her increased his admiration for Ivy and lessened his valuation of his own wisdom. She was a thorough Englishwornan, con- sidering everything in life desirable only inas1nuch as 1t was British. To- ward America her attitude was one or generous laughter touched with inn patience. She never for one moment considered seriously anything Amer ican. Mrs. Chancellor tn ought all of 1t really tco funny-"rarely too fen ny,'' as she pronounced it. Only one thing made her more angry than the | defence of anything American, and | that was dispraise of anything Brit | ish. The history of England was sacred to her: London was the crown | and flower of the worlds civilization; | English children, English servants, | English law, were all alike perfect, | and she also had her country's rever- | ence for English slang, quoting and repeating tt with fondest apprecia- l ton and laughter. Nothing pleased her more than to find Jim unfamiliar with some bit of slang that had been used in England for 20 years; her laughter was fresh and genuine as she explained it, and for days after ward she would tell her friends of his unfamiliarity with what was an ac- serted part of their language. She look him to picture galleries | bewildering him with her swift deci- | sions. Jim might come to a stand | before portrait by Sargent.
 Isn't this wonderful, Ivy Green ?' It was his own name for her, and she liked it.
 +That?'' Asweeping glance would appraise 1t. ''Yes, of course. it's quite too extraordinary she would concede DTlSkly.. All lI1pOSSlOle creature, iOl course; one feels that he was laugh ing at her all the time-it's not his best work, rarelyi" And she would drag Jim past 40 interesting canvases to bounce upon some obscure, small painting in a dark corner. ''There!' she would say triumphantly, isn't that astonishing! So kyawiously frank, if you know what I mean? It's most amazings-his serl1s of depth, If you know what I mean? Rarely, to splash things on in that way, and to grasp it." A clawed little hand would illustrate grasping. "Its as- tonishing!" @
 Jim, staring at a picture of some sky, some beach, and a face of rock, would mummur a somewhat Dewild- cred appreciation. looking out of the corner of his eye, at the same time at the attractive gondo1ier singing to his pretty lady passengers. on the right, or the nice young peasant nursing her baby in a sunny window the left.
 "Of course, it's the only thing here, | this year, absolutely the only one,'' Mrs. Chancellor would conclude. ''The | rest is just one huge joke. I know i Artie Holloway-Sir Arthur, he Is ufte well, and I told him so! He's a director
 
 much about itI" Jim would say ad- miringly.
 "One must know about such things, 1 my lear boy,'' she always answered | serenely. "One isn't an oyster, after l all!"
 It was this dashing lady and not | Barbara who first brought Jim's mind to a sense of his own injustice to Ju- lia, or rather to realization that the situation, as it stood, fair to neither Julia nor himself. Not that he ever mentioned Julia to Ivy; but she knew, of course, of Julia's exist ence, and being as shrewd- and. exper- fenced woman she drew her own con clus5ens. 7. One day she expressed her self very frankly on the subject. "You've taken the rooms above Sir Peyeri1's. heh % she asked him.
 "wel1. yes" Jim answered, after seconds pause They're bully roomsI"
 "Oh, rather-they're quite the nic- est in town" she stated. But, say, my dea boy. wasn't the rent rather steep?"
 ''Not terrible" He mentioned it. And I've taken 'em for five years, he added.
 "For-eh 9" She brought her san dy lashes together and studied him through them. You're rarely going +o Stou tbaYo uo,, nj child