d a summons from Mrs.
Scot-Williams, whose horse I rode in the suffrage parade. Out of a sky
already cleared of its darkest clouds there shot a shaft of light. I
could see nothing at first but the brightness of Mrs. Scot-Williams'
proposition. It blinded me to all else. I felt as if some enormous
searchlight from heaven had selected poor, battered Ruth Chenery Vars
for special illumination.

Mrs. Scot-Williams had observed that my place at Mrs. Sewall's was now
filled by another. Therefore it had occurred to her that I might be free
to consider another proposition. If so, she wanted to offer me a
position in a decorator's shop which she was interested in. I might have
heard of it--Van de Vere's, just off Fifth Avenue.

Van de Vere's--good heavens--it was all I could do to keep the tears out
of my eyes! Five hundred dollars in the bank--and now kind fate offering
me a seat in heaven that I hadn't even stood in line for! What did it
mean?

Mrs. Scot-Williams, across a two by four expanse of tablecloth (we were
lunching at her club), slowly unfolded her proposition to me, held it up
for me to see, turned it about, as it were, so that I could catch the
light shining on it from all sides, offered it to me at last to have and
to hold. I accepted the precious thing.

"Rainbows really do have pots of gold, then!" I remember I exclaimed.

CHAPTER XXVII

VAN DE VERE'S

Van de Vere's was a unique shop. It had grown from a single ill-lighted
sort of studio into a very smart and beautifully equipped establishment,
conveniently located in the shopping district. It looked like a private
house, had been, originally. There were no show windows. The door-plate
bore simply the sign V. de V's. A maid in black and white met you at the
door (you had to ring), and while she went to summon Miss Van de Vere or
her assistant, you were asked to be seated in a reception-room, done in
black and white stripes.

Virginia Van de Vere was as unique as her shop. She wore long, loose
clinging gowns, with heavy, silver chains clanking about her neck or
waist. She wore an enormous ring on her forefinger. Her hair, done very
low and parted, covered both her ears. It was black, so were her eyes.
She hadn't any color. She led a smart and fashionable life outside
business hours, going out to dinner a good deal (I had seen her once at
Mrs. Sewall's) and making an impression with free and daring speech. She
lived in a gorgeous apartment of her