Anna Alice Chapin

“ Jerry, darling, I do really feel shivery; fetch me your hunting coat, there's an old dear. It's warm, and it ought to look well, too!”
It did, that coat of the hunting “pink” that is really scarlet, and that matched her lips that were still too red. So, red and white and gold, she crouched against the black of the velvet-covered hammock until all the guests were gone.
Then, and then only, did Mrs. Darrell raise herself slowly from the somber throne she had improvised for herself out of the rolled-up hammock and the black velvet cloak. ”

“ Jeremy Darrell had a fine sense of the artistic in affairs such as the one in hand. His spirit rebelled against a slip in the arrangements for a “party” he was giving, and Leila sensed something wrong when she heard his voice in a deep rumble from back of the cottage:
“Hawkins! Oh, Hawkins! The champagne is all right—frappé to a turn, I should say by the feel of the bottles—but the claret is too cold. Man, don't you know that red wines should never be chilled?” ”

“ It had been put there to hold a table cloth from blowing in the blast, and she heard Hawkins murmur a remonstrance as she let the white linen folds swirl for a moment before putting the paper weight down, but the thing fascinated her. It had, she vaguely recalled, come from Mexico, and would be, with its heavy yet deadly keen point, no mean weapon. Weapon! There it was again. Now why, she asked herself, should her mind run on weapons and—murder—to-night?
She laughed quickly and light-heartedly. She had nothing to fear from the world, nothing. ”

“ Others still, most discerning of all, accepted her simply as a particularly charming citizen of the world who carried with her the fragrances of little-known corners of this earth, the shadows and glimmerings of adventurous happenings not familiar to commonplace lives. ”

“ Me? Rather!” returned Jeremy Darrell, with a supreme and rather beautifully confident tranquility. Then he departed, with his heavy step and the bulky carriage that was not without dignity.
Leila smoothed her hair. She, too, could see the smoldering fire in her own eyes. It did not startle her, but it sobered her queerly. “I love him so!” she whispered voicelessly to herself. “What should I do if I were to lose him? What would I do to keep him? What would I——” She sat very still, staring at the brilliant yet relentless charm of her own face. She had never loved any one very much before ”

“ Close against his breast she whispered:
“I'll do it all over again, Jerry!”
“Do what all over again? Your hair? Oh, it looks all right enough now, but it won't if you rumple it on my shirt front. And look at my tie. It's ruined for to-night. I'll have to put on a fresh one.”
“Do,” said Leila, laughing as she surveyed the very crooked bow which he had originally achieved. “It's a mercy, dear, that you have to. And this time, angel, I'll tie it. Where, oh, where, Jerry, did you learn to tie white ties?” ”

“ High tide and a storm were coming together. She wrapped the heavy black velvet cloak about her, and turned back to survey the porch which was to be the setting for her début into Jeremy's own particular crowd.
It was the usual over-the-sea veranda, large and square enough to be used as a room on occasion, with heavy Venetian blinds, and a starry garland of electric lights along the sloping cedar roof. A flight of wooden steps led down to the water. At low tide there was a tiny bathing beach which she and Jeremy proposed to use ”

“ Being also unusual in that she honestly cared only for the opinion of the man she loved, she depended very little upon mirrors, especially at crucial moments such as this, when she was preparing to welcome her husband's friends and relatives for the first time. ”