consequences, and was ready with a score of questions as to these. I
remember saying to myself, that first automobile ride: "If this girl
goes on thinking, she will get into trouble! She will have to stop,
for the sake of others!"

"You must meet my husband some time," she said; and added, "I'll
have to see my engagement-book. I have so much to do, I never know
when I have a moment free."

"You must find it interesting," I ventured.

"I did, for a while; but I've begun to get tired of so much going
about. For the most part I meet the same people, and I've found out
what they have to say."

I laughed. "You have caught the society complaint already--_ennui_!"

"I had it years ago, at home. It's true I never would have gone out
at all if it hadn't been for the sake of my family. That's why I
envy a woman like you--"

I could not help laughing. It was too funny, Mrs. Douglas van Tuiver
envying me!

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Just the irony of life. Do you know, I cut you out of the
newspaper, and put you in a little frame on my bureau. I thought,
here is the loveliest face I've ever seen, and here is the
most-to-be-envied of women."