vived all seasons. She was like a child with some
wonderful new French doll. There was always a crowd of young married
people about her, which is a healthy sign. She and Patty became
inseparable comrades. They shopped together, went to the matinees, and
drove and rode together.

Everything went along smoothly, too smoothly. Fate never permits
anything like this to prosper long.

For the first time in her career Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene saw her
position menaced. The younger set no longer consulted her as formerly.
When, like Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene, a woman has nothing more serious to
live for than to organize social affairs, the slightest defection from
her ranks is viewed in the light of a catastrophe. She had called on
Mrs. Bennington the second, armed with all those subtle cruelties
which women of her caliber know so well how to handle. And behold! she
met a fencer who quietly buttoned the foils before the bout began. She
had finally departed with smiles on her lips and rage in her heart.
This actress, whom she had thought to awe with the majesty of her
position in Herculaneum, was not awed at all. It was disconcerting; it
was humiliating. She had condescended to tolerate and was tolerated in
turn. Katherine adored Patty, and Patty had told her that she hated
Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene. Naturally Katherine assumed the defensive
whenever she met the common enemy.

But Mrs. Haldene could wait. She had waited before this. She had made
certain prophecies, and it embittered her to learn that so far none of
these prophecies had come true. She could wait. Something was destined
to happen, sooner or later. She knew human nature too well not to be
expectant. To Mrs. Haldene the most gratifying phrase in the language
was: "I told you so!" Warrington had disappointed her, too. He behaved
himself. He did not run after young Mrs. Bennington; he never called
there alone; he was seen more frequently at the old Bennington place.
The truth is, Patty was busy reforming the wayward dramatist, and
Warrington was busy watching the result. There were those who nodded
and looked wise whenever they saw the two together.

Oh, Herculaneum was a city to be desired, socially. Everybody was on
his or her best behavior. It was only from among the poor that scandal
gleaned her items for the newspapers. The shooting of such a man by
such a woman's husband aroused only the mildest comment. But that
class of people, don't you know, is so primeval. To kill