t afternoon and Doris had little time for
talk, but she asked Patricia to stay for a chat after the samovar was
taken away, and Patricia very willingly promised. The guests left at the
proper time, but the girls seemed loath to leave. They lingered, talking
about all sorts of glorious futures they were planning and discussing
the eager present with great animation.

"Tancredi says that Rosamond Merton is going into opera as soon as she
is done with her," a girl whose name Patricia did not know leaned across
a space to tell her. She knew that Patricia was Rosamond's closest
associate and she was following the social impulse to please.

Her friendly action brought the color to Patricia's cheeks and her eyes
shone.

"How splendid!" she said ardently. "How did you hear it? Do you know
Tancredi?"

The girl shook her head. "My sister knows her," she replied, "and she
told her that Carneri, the director of the Cosmopolitan Company, told
her she should have a place whenever she was pronounced fit by Tancredi.
Pretty great for the Fair Rosamond, isn't it? They say she met him at a
luncheon she gave to Milano and her teacher at the Ritz last week. It
pays to be rich as well as talented, you see."

"Is she really very rich?" asked Patricia, and then was sorry she had
spoken. It seemed as though she were prying into Rosamond's private
affairs.

"Of course. She's old Cedar-tank Merton's only thing," replied the girl
rather flippantly, Patricia thought. "She's hordes and gobs of coin, as
well as being gifted with a voice and a family tree that makes the
California redwoods look like mere bushes. You're with Tancredi, too,
aren't you?"

Patricia nodded.

"I suppose she has a name, though I haven't heard it," the girl said to
Constance, who was chatting with someone at an opposite table.

Constance did not hear her, but Patricia readily supplied the
deficiency.

"I'm Patricia Kendall," she said, feeling rather apologetic for herself,
though she did not know quite why.

"I'm Louise Woods," replied the other. "I'll look you up some time after
I've spotted you and tell you what Tancredi says about _you_."

"Oh, it couldn't be much," cried Patricia in dismay. "I've just begun to
study and Tancredi only bothers with me because a friend of hers asked
her to."

The girl seemed not much impressed. "You've got something up your
sleeve, I think," she smiled as she rose. "Tancredi doesn't cast her
pearls before swine that way."