Henry C. Rowland

“ She's the kind that ought to have a home of her own. Domestic and affectionate, with a warm heart and none of those silly ideas that women have nowadays. But she was never much good as a business woman. Not that sort. It's only my influence that keeps her job for her now. If she lost that, I don't know what she'd do. Something reckless, I'm afraid. Pretty intense.” Slow shake of the head and distant gaze fastened on astral picture of Suzanne a king's favorite.
“Look here, Sydney,” said Claudius, “suppose I go and talk to this man Lehr, myself. ”

“ Fancy a person named Lehr, in the theater business, breaking with his fiancée because, with her brother, she had been living in the house of a person of Claudius' position! Besides, it was not as if Suzanne were a young girl. A widow of nearly forty, and a business woman at that, was not supposed to be kept in a glass case. ”

“ Suzanne was due to get married the first of the year. All off now. Nothing doing. Our own fault. Never thought this man, Lehr, was such a jealous chump. Wouldn't have let Suzanne accept your hospitality.” Puff, puff, cigarette ashes thoughtfully brushed away with little finger bearing heavy red-gold seal ring engraved with a device that might have been a skunk rampant on field argent, and trimmings. Arthur had cribbed it from “Heraldry.” “Lehr didn't want the engagement announced because his divorce was pending. Theatrical business. All kinds of money. ”

“ Lehr on personal topics, he being short of patience. The man might prove positively dangerous if crossed. Treat him right and he was mild as a lamb. All of which was lost on Claudius, who happened to be thinking about something else.
Then Lehr whirled about with a grunt, and Claudius thought how disgusting he was.
“Hah-de-do, Syd,” he grunted, and then, to Claudius, “Glad t' know you, Mr. Hanson. Have a chair.”
Claudius muttered a word of thanks and sat, marveling at Suzanne's taste. Instead of being disgusted, though, it made him very sorry for her. ”

“ CHAPTER IV. There are moments of such extreme vexation in the life of a rattlesnake, it is said, that the reptile turns and buries its fangs in its own body, expiring some minutes later. The first part of this assertion may be true, but we decline to believe that the snake dies of its own posion. ”

“ I know their kind. In the theaters they fight them with insect powder.”
“Do you want me to put you to bed?” Claudius threatened, and went out, much troubled.
The Arthurs' move in clearing out of the Casa Pompeiana was rather well planned, being calculated to upset Claudius' equanimity and at the same time leave him with an unpleasant lack of the mature counsel of friends while much disturbed. He was also supposed to miss Suzanne's pretty person and vivacious cheer, though it was admitted that the presence of the child dancer might mitigate this loss. ”