Huskinson got the case." [Pg 31] "Dreadful!" Chloe, who had been looking very emotional during the latter part of her tragic narrative, changed her expression to one of calm indifference at this remark. "Why dreadful? I don't think so. It was all done very quietly, right away from New York. Nobody will hear of it over this way. Even in New York they don't know it, for Huskinson turned sulky when he'd done it, went back to his oranges, and won't say a word to anyone. Bream's still down with fever somewhere in California. And though he's got that big voice he scarcely ever speaks. Besides, I'm innocent." She looked hard at Mrs. Verulam. "Yes, dear; I know that." Chloe winked away something that might have been the usual thing that is winked away on such an occasion. Then she said with a gay smile: "So I've packed my trunks, and come over here to forget it all and have a good time." Mrs. Verulam gazed at her meditatively, and said "Oh!" Chloe, her narrative over, seemed to desire movement. She got up and wandered about the room in a slightly reckless manner, touching ornaments with fingers that seemed deliberately dare-devil, and examining pictures with eyes that were self-consciously bold. Occasionally she shot a side-glance towards Mrs. Verulam, who re[Pg 32]mained with her feet planted on the satin footstool in an attitude of profound and rather grievous thought. Presently, in her peregrinations, Chloe reached the World, which Mrs. Verulam had flung down in her wrath of ennui. Chloe bent and picked it up. [Pg 32] "Ah, this is your great paper!" she cried. "I love it. I want to see my name in it some day." While she spoke, she had been idly turning the pages. And now she gave a great cry, such as Marguerite gives over the dead body of Valentine in the fourth act of "Faust." Mrs. Verulam started round on her sofa, and saw that Chloe's face was pale as death, and that the World was fluttering upside down in her nerveless hand. "Chloe, what is the matter? Are you ill? Oh, I must ring for Marriner!"
Prev.
Back
Top