Omaha daily bee., 1922-05-02
" The
Dancing Master
BY RUBY AYRES.
leea,lns.a from Ys.lrsa., !,
BY RUBY AYRES.


Elizabeth lett the cards lying on
the table aud went up TO her room
There was q little sorry feeling Al
her heart; once she had been only
too anxious TO be friends with her
aunt and Dolly; she wondered II il
meant that she was getting hard and
worldly because she no longer cared.
The cards were followed by a let
ter IN the morning.
My dear Elizabeth so Mrs. Ma.
son write, "a lit,ls bird has been
whispering the mos, wonderful
secrets TO me. Can they be true!
And was right. after all. when
prophesied that my country duckling
would blossom into a swami"
Mrs. Mason had rather mixed her
metaphors. and Elizabeth irowned
over them in perplexity.
"Will you come TO tea with me,
dear child? Come tomorrow il you
&C. my letter in time. Dolly sends
her love. and is longing to see you,
as ! am!-Your affectionate Aunt"
Elizabeth read the letter twice be-
fore she grasped its meaning. The
balance OF the scales had tipped since
she left her aunt's house. Then they
had been. only too anxious to be rid
OF her, and Mrs. Mason had forbid.
den her TO mention their relation
ship. Now. apparently. they were
ready to proclaim il with pride.
"Come to tea tomorrow" the lc,-
ter said. That meant today. Eliza.
beth left little fut,cr OF excite.
ment. ~
Why not go? She was curious TO
sec what sort OF reception she
would get.
She said nothing about il 20
Madame. And. with quaint feel
ing OF bravado, drove all the way to
her aunt's house in a taxicab.
She had taken great pains with
her toilet. and dressed her hair as
fashionably as she could, but when
she found herself once more in the
familiar hall, her heart began to fail
her.
Memories came rushing back.
bringing renewed pain-memorics of
her first meeting with Pat Royston
and of Dolly's condemnation of him:
OF his many kindncsscs to
her and happy hours which could
never come again.
She felt just as terrified and uer-
vous as she had done once months
before as she heard her name an
nounced at her aunt's drawing room
and saw Mrs. Mason rise to meet
her.
There was nobody else in the
room for which she was unspeak-
ably grateful; but she turned cool
cheek to her aunt's elusive kiss.
Was the whole world a sham she
asked herself impatiently, and why
should such hypocrisy be coun-
$50 sweet of you to come, dear"
Mrs. Mason cooed. She took her
niece's hand and drew her down to
the big couch. "Let me look at you.
How you have altered! Elizabeth,
you are quite prettyp
Elizabeth said: ooh. am T." help
lessly. The old fear OF her aunt was
still with her; she felt unhappy and
i'll at case.
"And what are all these wonderful
stories | have been hearing of your"
Mrs. Mason went on in her most
sugary voice. "You must tell me all
about it. ! am so proud of you,
Elizabeth"
Elizabeth flushed: words of bitter
reminder rose to her lips, but she
checked them.
"I'm afraid I haven't anything to
tell" she said painfully. I'm work
ing very hard-that is all"
Mrs. Mason tapped her cheek in
playful reproof.
"You think it's secret" she said.
my dear, | assure you everyone
knows about it. everyone! The
dear duchess! So sweet of her to
give you such an opportunity. We
shall be there, of course. Dolly is
so excited about it."
Elizabeth looked at her aunt help
lessly. Madame had SO impressed
upon her that the whole affair was
to be kept secret that she could
not understand how any knowledge
Of it had leaked out She had. not
learned that the. surest method OF
publicity is to try to keep a thing a
profound secret.
"Such a fortunate, fortunate little
girl" Mrs. Mason went on, with a
sort Of purr. II have told everyone
about you, Elizabeth-how that you