ible likeness of Catherine herself. Esther began to think that men
were excessively queer and variable; the more she tried to please them,
the less she seemed to succeed; but Mr. Wharton certainly took more
interest in the St. Cecilia as it advanced towards completion, although
it was not in the least the kind of work which he liked or respected.

Mr. Hazard took not so much interest in the painting. His pleasure in
visiting their gallery seemed to be of a different sort. As Esther
learned to know him better, she found that he was suffering from
over-work and responsibility, and that the painters' gallery was a sort
of refuge, where he escaped from care, for an entire change of
atmosphere and thought. In this light Esther found him a very charming
fellow, especially when he was allowed to have his own way without
question or argument. He talked well; drew well; wrote well, and in case
of necessity could even sing fairly well. He had traveled far and wide,
and had known many interesting people. He had a sense of humor, except
where his church was concerned. He was well read, especially in a kind
of literature of which Esther had heard nothing, the devotional writings
of the church, and the poetry of religious expression. Esther liked to
pick out plums of poetry, without having to search for them on her own
account, and as Hazard liked to talk even better than she to listen,
they babbled on pleasantly together while Catherine read novels which
Hazard chose for her, and which he selected with the idea of carrying
her into the life of the past. There was an atmosphere of romance about
her novels, and not about the novels alone.

_Chapter V_

While this ecclesiastical idyl was painting and singing itself in its
own way, blind and deaf to the realities of life, this life moved on in
its accustomed course undisturbed by idyls. The morning's task was
always finished at one o'clock. At that hour, if the weather was fine,
Mr. Dudley commonly stopped at the church door to take them away, and
the rest of the day was given up to society. Esther and Catherine drove,
made calls, dined out, went to balls, to the theater and opera, without
interrupting their professional work. Under Mrs. Murray's potent
influence, Catherine glided easily into the current of society and
became popular without an effort. She soon had admirers. One young man,
of an excellent and very old Dutch family, Mr. Rip Van Dam, took a
marked fancy for her.