FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  
e." "Yes, but they weren't cold and proud to their knights after they'd promised to marry them," urged Page. "They loved them in the end, and married them for love." "Oh, 'love'!" mocked Laura. "I don't believe in love. You only get your ideas of it from trashy novels and matinees. Girlie," cried Laura, "I am going to have the most beautiful gowns. They're the last things that Miss Dearborn shall buy for herself, and"--she fetched a long breath--"I tell you they are going to be creations." When at length the lunch bell rang Laura jumped to her feet, adjusting her coiffure with thrusts of her long, white hands, the fingers extended, and ran from the room exclaiming that the whole morning had gone and that half her bureau drawers were still in disarray. Page, left alone, sat for a long time lost in thought, sighing deeply at intervals, then at last she wrote in her journal: "A world without Love--oh, what an awful thing that would be. Oh, love is so beautiful--so beautiful, that it makes me sad. When I think of love in all its beauty I am sad, sad like Romola in George Eliot's well-known novel of the same name." She locked up her journal in the desk drawer, and wiped her pen point until it shone, upon a little square of chamois skin. Her writing-desk was a miracle of neatness, everything in its precise place, the writing-paper in geometrical parallelograms, the pen tray neatly polished. On the hearth rug, where Laura had sat, Page's searching eye discovered traces of her occupancy--a glove button, a white thread, a hairpin. Page was at great pains to gather them up carefully and drop them into the waste basket. "Laura is so fly-away," she observed, soberly. When Laura told the news to Aunt Wess' the little old lady showed no surprise. "I've been expecting it of late," she remarked. "Well, Laura, Mr. Jadwin is a man of parts. Though, to tell the truth, I thought at first it was to be that Mr. Corthell. He always seemed so distinguished-looking and elegant. I suppose now that that young Mr. Court will have a regular conniption fit." "Oh, Landry," murmured Laura. "Where are you going to live, Laura? Here? My word, child, don't be afraid to tell me I must pack. Why, bless you." "No, no," exclaimed Laura, energetically, "you are to stay right here. We'll talk it all over just as soon as I know more decidedly what our plans are to be. No, we won't live here. Mr. Jadwin is going to buy a new house-
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138  
139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
beautiful
 

Jadwin

 

writing

 

thought

 

journal

 
hairpin
 
thread
 

observed

 
soberly
 

basket


button

 

carefully

 
gather
 

geometrical

 
parallelograms
 

neatly

 
decidedly
 
precise
 

polished

 

discovered


traces

 

occupancy

 

searching

 

hearth

 

neatness

 

elegant

 

suppose

 

afraid

 

murmured

 

Landry


regular

 
conniption
 

distinguished

 

surprise

 

expecting

 
energetically
 

showed

 
remarked
 

Corthell

 
Though

exclaimed
 

fetched

 
breath
 
creations
 

Dearborn

 

things

 
length
 

thrusts

 
fingers
 

extended