ices for charitable purposes, but I noticed these hostesses never received him in their homes. It must be said that Will rarely accepted an invitation which did not include me, though I often realized

t the proper clothes for such occasions; it was imperative that Will dressed well, and I did no

The lady who maintains a handsome apartment and entertains lavishly is probably a "kept" woman with an ambiguous past. Occasionally one finds a multiple divorcée with money, playing at patroness to some impecunious song-writer or handsome actor with more brawn than brain. But the "kept" lady predominates. She is ubiquitous. She dresses à la mode, she is an habituée of the smart restaurants, an inveterate first-nighter. Her "particular friend" may be a married man of the "my wife-don't-understand-me" brand, or he may be one of the "get-r

re quite respectable families, bored by the drab routine of conventional society, entertain the actor as a kind of sauce piquante to their monotonous lives. But this is the exception and not the rule. Wholly misinterpreting my motive, Will defended his profession with a blind prejudice. After that he did not ask me to accompany him to the various functions. It became qui

gan to formulate a little circle of my own. There was a sculptor to whom I was particularly attracted. He was a Western product, and was preparing to go abroad to study. I had always had a fondness for sculpture, and during my enforced retirement I amused myself at moulding with clay. A baby's hand I had made attracted his attention one day he had called

pt the gown and not to feel hurt, that she was dead broke and could not afford to make me a "decent" Christmas present. The gown, she sai

looked at myself in the mirror, I felt quite pleased with the reflection. White was always becoming to me.... I did not tell Will

n Will called me to help him with his tie I walked into his room with an

s will make in one's feelings. Miss Burton told me once that, whenever she was down on her luck and felt depressed, she forthwith went on a sartorial debauch. She bou

cocktails was being passed. Will was standing at the foot of the stairs talking with his hostess. A large nude figure

en doing to Alice? She's gone clean off her head-threa

that moment our hostess saw me and nudged Will

til my wedding ring cut into the flesh, and made me wince. I was wondering who "Alice" could be and what Will had to do with her. Our hostess's "friend" was present. He was a middle-aged man with a ruddy c

e late on your cue. I suppose you w

velling. He had a face such as I imagined Molière conceived for his Tartuffe; his voice was caressing and made me sleepy. Opposite me sat a well-known star. He was famous for his magnetism. Although I could not discern it, there must have existed something of the sort, for every leading woman who engaged with him, sooner or later, succumbed to his charm. I myself knew of one

ted with the singer, who was as poor as Job's turkey, and while her protector was absent-(he was married and had several grown children)-the lady consoled herself with song. This easy, matter-of-fact way in which these topics were discussed, the utter lack of restraint between the sex

was a noisy argument going on

g out the voice of our hostess, and I saw

Mrs. Hartley!" bellowed

not knowing the subj

ing my sculptor friend with exaggerated courtesy. "I'll give her back to you in a minute.... Mrs

should have been embarrassed. To-night,

that's the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time I've answered that

us!" urged

" I began, "I never

seated at the far end of the

ing to his typewriter is a part of the routine of a busines

rom the curvilinear gentlemen

t is up to the women to see that you do!" I sat down. I felt ashamed of my vulgarity. Our host sugg

s asked why husbands and lovers were excluded. I felt my mouth drawing down at the corners, an

forts; she thought it funny. Finally, he slipped his hand beneath the table and let it rest upon my knee. I arose and asked the sculptor to exchange seats with me. I think he understood, for as I passed him

ing quite pale. He could not, of course, realize that at that moment I had suddenly noticed that Will's companion was dressed all in black and wore gardenias. A moment later the host

and the period between that and morning was too long to go without food. I wanted to ask my maid whether she had remembered my instructions. The telephone was in a kind of closet off the hostess's bedroom; beyond the bedroom was her boudoir, reached by a door from the corridor. I had finish

ing a fool of me and of yourself. The first thing you know you

nd into the conversation? You know how it is between us. We haven't lived as man and wife fo

use before Wil

; everybody will know what's ha

these silences were t

this far if you didn't care,"

you need be ashamed of-nothing that you couldn't tell

and a few suppers on the side nothing. I suppose you wouldn't mind telling y

way for a few minutes-you're a fascinating devil-and the wine helped some

tend to kill him or kill herself? I almost

et's go down. Somebody

eyed, for there

said. "The giant from the West is keepi

med on the point of bursting from t

corridor. At the head o

s you to make women

t love me; I don't flatt

ghed sn

they n

t and good-bye," s

ne," he answered, "

e followed. I found my way down the servants' stairs and entered the dining-room from the butler's pantry. When Will came