But Chloe pointed to the paper.

"Read—read!" she muttered.

Mrs. Verulam snatched the World from her, and read this innocent little paragraph:

"'A considerable sensation has been caused in the neighbourhood of Florida by the Van Adam divorce, the details of which have only just become generally known. They are, unfortunately, very unfavourable to the beautiful Mrs. Van Adam, from whom the famous orange-grower and millionaire has been freed by the action of the court. A great deal of sympathy is expressed for Mr. Van Adam, whose honeymoon had scarcely concluded when the sad circumstances arose which obliged him to condemn, not merely his wife, but also his trusted friend, Mr. Bream Rockmetteller, the well-known stockbroker. Mr. Van Adam is staying at present at his bungalow in the midst of his orange-groves in Florida. His only companion is[Pg 33] said to be the monkey which used in former days to accompany him on all his wanderings.'"

[Pg 33]

"That's Boswell," Chloe murmured hysterically.

Mrs. Verulam laid the paper down rather impressively.

"Chloe," she said, "you can never get into the cage now, that is certain."

Chloe sobbed. It was a bitter moment for her. She looked at the invitation-cards. She thought of the panthers and of the Prince and Princess, and became rapidly, and very naturally, hysterical.

"Is it—oh, is it quite impossible?" she said in a broken voice.

"Quite. If you were a man, now!"

Chloe lifted her head.

"If you were a man," Mrs. Verulam continued, in the voice of a philosopher, "that paragraph might open the cage-door for you. London is very fond of wicked men—forgive me, darling!—of men who are supposed, and hoped, to be wicked. With your wealth, your history, and a different sex, you would be a great success this season."

"Oh, why am I not a man?"

"Marriner—she's my maid, and marvellously well informed about everything—Marriner might know. I can't tell."

"And I have been a man. How cruel it all is!"

 Prev. P 23/264 next