Mrs. Kate made an inarticulate sound which might almost be termed a
snort, and walked from the room with her head well up and a manner which
silently made plain to the onlooker that she might say many things which
would effectually crush her opponent, but was magnanimously refraining
from doing so.
Josephine did not even pay her the tribute of looking at her; she had at
that moment heard a step upon the porch, and she was leaning to one side
so that she might see who was coming into the dining-room. As it
happened, it was Mason himself. Miss Josephine immediately lost interest
in the arrival and took to tracing with her finger the outline of a
Japanese lady with a startling coiffure and an immense bow upon her
spine, who was simpering at a lotus bed on Josephine's kimono. She did
not look up until some one stepped upon the porch again.
This time it was Ford, and he stopped and painstakingly removed the last
bit of soil from his boot-soles upon the iron scraper which was attached
to one end of the top step; when that duty had been performed, he paid
further tribute to the immaculate house he was about to enter, by wiping
his feet upon a mat placed with mathematical precision upon the porch,
at the head of the steps.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124