Page 96 (1/2)

Though Edna had spoken of the dinner as a very grand affair, it was

in truth a very suests

invited were few and were selected with discri the for the ree

souffrante and unpresentable, and not foreseeing that Madarets at the last moment So there were only

ten, after all, which made a cozy, comfortable number

There were Mr and Mrs Merriman, a pretty, vivacious little wo of a shallow-pate,

who laughed a good deal at other people's witticishcamp had accompanied them Of

course, there was Alcee Arobin; and Mademoiselle Reisz had consented

to come Edna had sent her a fresh bunch of violets with black lace

triht himself and his

wife's excuses Victor Lebrun, who happened to be in the city, bent upon

relaxation, had accepted with alacrity There was a Miss Mayblunt, no

longer in her teens, who looked at the world through lorgnettes and with

the keenest interest It was thought and said that she was intellectual;