Milford chronicle., 1925-06-05

trained and inclined, among his friends,
to boast of his political and social
rights. But instinctively he held the
Peakes in reverential awe. They were
to him standard of greatness; all the
mythical estates which he had just
described, dWelt in his Imagination, an
ideal of what the Peakes should be.
His pride in them was nothing less than
his pride in himself. He had bOasted
magnificently for fear that this arrogant
stranger, coming to his home town,
should dare to look down on ZenO's
pantheon. And for the. same reason
there were several things he did not
mention. He failed to explain
that he, Zeno, had been hired to come
in, Just as half the other servants had
been hired to come in, during, san
Pillars stay. He failed to explain how
the servants were gossiping of unpaid
butchers bills even while the ovens
were choked with festival meats. Or
how Mr.. Garnett had been heard
Quarreling with his second wife because
she refused to surrender any more
money from her own estate. Nor did
he give the true reason why the fine old
mansion now stood isolate among shops,
boarding houses and public institutions.
Zeno, in fact, had lied like gentleman.
Meanwhile the Marquis Carlos Do
mingo de San Pillar descended to the
first dinner dance of his season in that
generous Southern city. Many laugh
ing voices, coming from the wide draw
ing room apprised him of the fact that
guests had arrived and that he was, as
usual, little late.
Bunny. you little old slow-pOlSew
A beautiful comet, all in rose and
silver, rushed at him just as he rounded
the newel-pOst and addressed him thus
unceremonioUSly. Bunnyl She always
had names for things, and she would call
him that, the little savage!
"AdOrable!" he whispered, but Flora
Lee drew back her sweetly modelled
head; hazel eyes teased him and a red
mouth with an interesting little crease
in its lower lip invited him yet warned
him away. Between Carlos and Flora
Lee kissing was over for the time. He
hadn't asked her father, as a serious
foreigner should, and she had passed
the point of trifing. Also people from
the drawing room could see them and
talk and venture opinions.
"Ah, but it has been such a long
time" he was peTsevering when she
hooked her gloved arm in his and led
him forward.
"Foolish one, you've got more time
than brains. Now come in and show
your pretty tricks. All the worlds
waiting for you
"I too am waiting for you, Flora
Leel"
"Flatteurl" she whispered and
squeezed his arm by way of atonement.
A wave of emotion seemed to sweep
him forward, quite at the mercy Of this
North American girl who enjoyed a
freedom, permitted intimacies unheard
of among unmarried ladies of his world.
In their early philanderings back in
Paris he had remained sane enough to
consider her estates in the New World.
Tonight he was beyond such calcula-
tions. He was recllessly in love for
the first time, perhaps in seven years.
The Peakes had never been more
lavish with their decorations. Under
garlands of red roses, hanging from
chandeliers to cornices a score of pretty
girls. their faces animated under the
fluffy pompadours Of 1913, their
shoulders yelled in clouds of pink, blue
and silver tulle, their arms decorously
sheathed in long white gloves, their
waists pinched in and girt with sashes,
their narrow skirts flounced and ruffied,
stood in animated groups; eyes shining,
lips busy with affable nosnense, they
held the attention of young cavaliers
much as their grandmothers had done
in the days when the Peake drawing
room had been Victorian in its stilted
elegance. To Judge Peake this younger
tribe was a rough and rowdy breed;
but his presence lent certain stateli-
ness as he went among them tenight,
distinguished, withered old fellow who
had offered hospitality in this house for
nearly fifty years. To the Marquis of
San Pillar he gave his fine, wrinlded
hand with a "glad to see you, sir" and
the two of them exchanged look of
recognition. Whatever their difference
in breeding, they were men Of the same
caste.
"Oh, Rolandl Roll'' Flora Lee was
signalling to a tallish young man,
obviously a Peake. Hes the Big
Brother" she whispered to San Pillar.
Hes only been married six months,
and it's turned him into a regular
numbering bore. Rol, come here"