il. Hugo thought her very beautiful, which she was not. A plump,
voluble, full-bosomed woman, exquisitely neat, with a clear, firm skin,
bright brown eyes, an unerring instinct for clothes, and a shrewd
business head. Hugo's devotion amounted to worship.

He used to watch her at her toilette in their rose and black mahogany
front bedroom. Her plump white shoulders gleamed from pink satin straps.
She smelled pleasantly of sachet and a certain heady scent she affected.
Seated before the mirror, she stared steadily at herself with a
concentration such as an artist bestows upon a work that depends, for
its perfection, upon nuances of light and shade. Everything about her
shone and glittered. Her pink nails were like polished coral. Her hair
gleamed in smooth undulations, not a strand out of place. Her skin was
clear and smooth as a baby's. Her hands were plump and white. She was
always getting what she called a facial, from which process she would
emerge looking pinker and creamier than ever. Lil knew when camisoles
were edged with filet, and when with Irish. Instinctively she sensed
when taffeta was to be superseded by foulard. The contents of her
scented bureau drawers needed only a dab of whipped cream on top to look
as if they might have been eaten as something souffle.

"How do I look in it, Hugo? Do you like it?" was a question that rose
daily to her lips. A new hat, or frock, or collar, or negligee. Not that
she was unduly extravagant. She knew values, and profited by her
knowledge.

"Le's see. Turn around. It looks great on you. Yep. That's all right."

He liked to fancy himself a connoisseur in women's clothes and to prove
it he sometimes brought home an article of feminine apparel glimpsed in
a shop window or showcase, but Lil soon put a stop to that. She had her
own ideas on clothes. He turned to jewellery. On Lil's silken bosom
reposed a diamond-and-platinum pin the size and general contour of a
fish-knife. She had a dinner ring that crowded the second knuckle, and
on her plump wrist sparkled an oblong so encrusted with diamonds that
its utilitarian dial was almost lost.

It wasn't a one-sided devotion, however. Lil knew much about men, and
she had an instinct for making them comfortable. It is a gift that makes
up for myriad minor shortcomings. She had a way of laying his clean
things out on the bed--fresh linen, clean white socks (Hugo was addicted
to white socks and tan, low-cut shoes), silk shirt, immacu