Angela's Business

rain poured. With a ragged bit of chamois, the old-fashioned girl polished her already comely nails. The window-curtain, shrunken and twisted with more than one wa

to-day, and the motor-cars of the Bles

OVER INTO WA

out, were at this hour out, battling. Mrs. Flower was lying down in her room, doing her own refreshing. As for the cook downstairs, she had her orders, and recked not of Charm. Angela, thus, had her strictly earned leisure; and, on the other hand, she had not those intenser occupations for leisure, reforms, fights, and attacks on Morals, such as engross

-party she had understood, from the start. But perhaps she had never meant to hurt them so badly as this; and that Mr. Garrott could vanish utterly from Wash

come to think of the occurrence on the sofa. She a

g with dirty water. A dingy old shed or outhouse, where some previous tenant had thriftily stabled a horse, contributed not a little to the wintry desolateness of the scene. B

though, of course, in an indirect manner. She had described him as a person of the lowest ideals. At this Cousin Mary had protested, quite indignantly; and, though Angela well knew there were phases of Mr. Garrott which her mannish cousin was not likely ever to see, that stout championship had doubtless done much to check her first resentment and make her see things in a t

bell. Though its clanging nowadays rarely meant anything exciting, the diversion, on the whole, was n

and did; sometimes she answered the bell, sometimes she "had her hands in the lightbread," etc. The present seemed to be one of the latter times. The bell pealed again; a vo

none other than her disg

ently, and kissed Angela's cheek. "I hope I didn't bre

sin Mary. How d' you

ses of a costume rather elaborate for bad weather and a workaday world. Nor did Cousin Mary's manner s

wished they hadn't expelled her from the High School, and sent her off to a Grammar School, in a low quarter of the city. And then besides that, whatever Cousin Mary's strange ideas and behavior, th

she unbuttoned her coat, nevertheless, the Latrobe heater being, like th

dressed up! I believe y

wn at herself w

sort of one, a luncheon. And we didn't leav

They're fun, I th

d here. I've wanted specially to see you for several days, Angela, but I haven't seemed to find a

in Mary, I haven'

h me to a lecture," said Cou

ctant at the mention of engagements, fell perceptibly

y,-but you know I don't appreciate lect

d that word at all. It's a talk, a personal talk to women by a wom

is she going to talk abo

ars ago, before you could remember. I got her to come here to speak, myself,-and expect to lose some money on the transaction, too,-heigho! But I don't mind really, it's such a privilege to

her subject,

marriage and

er smooth cheeks. It really seemed that Mary had learned nothing, from the painful lesson sh

r wont: "No, Cousin Mary, I really d

s expression, looked surprised, though, perha

ed the subject would have a s

e!-Oh,

mbition of every normal woman, I believe,-or one of them,-no matter what else she may have in her head! Well, you see, that's exactly wh

ked, but once more standing firm for propriety against all the astonishing Newness-"I

by intuition? It seems to me ... But perhaps your feeling i

the times-and all. But that's the way I was brought up to feel, and

y little parlor, during which t

ho knows?-I believe it's the most complicated and difficult vocation in the world. Compared with it, any ordinary man's profession-like engineering, for instance-looks to me like simplicity itself. And, Angela, I can't believe that every woman is born with all this understanding, all this difficult expert k

to stop her ears herself, i

ast like engineering-not in the least! I don't think of them as subjects for lectures by experts! And I was brought

Mary, good-humoredly-"a confirmed old maid school-teacher who's just scandalized half the city, and been publicly dismis

m different. I don

think about

of it at all,

he said, in the nicest way: "Well, then, forgiv

e had always said that, to her mother and others. So talk flowed easily into other channels, and the air of cousinly amity was soon restored.

yet!" said she

anyway, whether or no. How pretty you look, Angela,"

rty hadn't kept you

tive archness, "I stayed after everybody was gone just to talk to Charles Garrott, whom you dislike so muc

on were lost upon Angela. "Mr. Ga

age party for Donald-and Helen Carson! Donald's leavin

.... Who else was at t

ioned, and Fanny for chap

. In fact, she felt blankly depressed. Mr. Garrott's luncheon h

course I like him very much. You know I told you long

ged your opinion, when you told me the

it, Cousin Mary! I thought you

Angela felt her position to be annoying. But she explained with that complet

I put all the blame on him, and was awfully mad with him, I admit. But since then, the more I've thought of it, the more I've seen th

tto," said the stormy Miss Wing. "And Mr. Garrott thin

about it all, you see. Cousin Mary-whe

e Mr. Garrott!" said

've just

onth. He's going down to his mother's in the country on Saturd

hard that, while her friends and relatives-and Cousin Mary, of all people-were going to jolly lunches of the younger set, her invitations should be only to New-Woman lectures

her mother was discovered prone upon a pillowless lounge, dangerously facing a gaslight and reading a magazine which had no covers. Having

that sort of woman, whatever their theories may be. And that's just it-that explains Mary's whole lurid cou

red feet were clad in faded cotton stockings; she herself looked high-bred and faded. Her air and tone were those of one to whom life had brought rude shocks-such as, that lovely w

t is all. Until she completely changes her ideas on

besides-that's the sort of connections

Angela, having moved restlessly about the room for a time, had halted at the window. Hence, she gazed out at a board fence billed all over with adver

they're not attractive to men! They simply ge

a. In the silence of the house, the front door was heard to open and shut. Then ther

hing to distrac

as over at half-past three. If only, only, he'd try to get some p

ed her mother, generally, and p

ow, drumming on the drippin

elations that would help us! We're the only family

lainingly the branch of her family to whic

ly, and also as usual. "When they think we're not good e

bservation. Her gaze out the window became thoughtful, and then inte

tion. An untutored voice bawled up

hasn'

he young housekeeper, af

telephone from Mrs. Doremus's now, it'll be too late for

stood still, knitting her brows slightly, glancing about. She wanted

verything was far from new now. A very large old walnut wardrobe occupied all one side of the room, awkwardly substituting for a clothes-closet. The bed was of yellow imitation-oak, and sagged considerably in the middle from worn-out springs. The bureau was to match; its somewhat wavy mirror

e other hand, whose exquisite personal neatness had attracted the notice of Charles Garrott himself, was more or less indifferent about a room which nobody but the family ever saw. The door of the wardrobe stood open now, with one of the yellow bureau-drawers; a pair of shoes rested on the

one. Upon its face was a dusky smudge, souvenir of some forgotten encounter, and, near the smudge, some hand had once written the word "Mrs.," and then lost heart and abandoned the whole enterprise. Still, it was possibly the only envelope in the

aving addressed the remainder of the envelope, after the "Mr.," she sat biting the penholder for

[wrote Angela f

t, I did not think it would be so

I have felt that I should not have said what I did. I

me in to see me-and I will explain ju

ost cor

la F

again, this time with a bang. Having hastily tucked the note into the experienced envelope, Angel

of her room, had fallen backward off the stepladder into a bucket of paste. Wallie was an eccentric, undoubtedly. Still, he was admitted to be obliging enough about little things. Now he made no special object

ke it for me, Wallie," said Angela,

e'll be an answer or not. You'd better just ask him, that's the