Gray youth

half an hour, had been drying that lovely it was a treat to see 'em; and of course in running out quick to take 'em in she must go and drop an armful-her most partickler gent's

been looking through a Bridal Veil Waterfall. Not that there was anything to look at beyond it. The park had gone; the Jelly Factory was blotted out; the Suspension Bridge was

ford Street that morning. She had wanted to go because she wanted money; she had not wanted to go because the only means she knew of getting it was to borrow from Dorothy. Cosimo was away; h

d anim

tised upon her. She knew now why he had come so hurriedly to her that morning and dazzled her with his offer of a hundred pounds. Angiers', a far better firm than Croziers', had wanted her; that was why. Cr

rther from the truth. Croziers' were in the hands of circumstances, too, the circumstances that made one time ripe for a particular exhibition and another not.... Messrs. Angier? Mr. Dix knew nothing about Messrs. Angier and their arrangements. They might be all right; Mr. Dix had heard it said that Messrs. Angier were rather in the habit of promising more than they performed, but that was only a rumour, and Mr. Dix

option,"

ely the ground of Amory's complaint that Croziers' were seeing to it that she had no public at all)-when he had told her, that, if she really thought Angiers' could do better for her, Croziers' might be willing to release her from her obligation on re

ot principles. Amory didn't want to be severe on Dorothy, but some of the things she did seemed positively unprincipled. Not to go any further, there was Dorothy's undignified way of regarding her own sex. She seemed to concur in that view of it that made it merely the plaything of the other sex. Of course (to be quite fair) it wasn't to be supposed for a moment that Dorothy would have let Mr. Hamilton Dix kiss her, as he had wanted to kiss Amory. Amory was sure she wouldn't. But for all that there

ham gesture at her aunt's

stood that she was

been a rather nice Greek wine Walter Wyron had told her about, not to be bought in very small quantities, but of course they had not drunk the whole of it that night-indeed, it had lasted for weeks. And there had been cold sausages and salads from a German charcuterie, in glass, not in tins-it was not true economy to run the risk of ptomaine poisoning. And there had also been a few boxes of figs and candied fruits-she admitted those had been rather dear. And so on. Nor, if the party had been a great success, would she have minded a lit

sible to live much more cheaply than that. At first Mrs. 'Ill cooked her an occasional joint in her own oven at the Creek, but joints are not cheap when you throw a large portion of them away from sheer weariness of the sight of them. She had spent rather a lot on canvases, nothing on

ory had not the vaguest id

could well afford it, if one might judge of her fortune from her unhygienic but expensive dresses. If only the rain would stop she would go to Dorothy at once. She knew that Dorothy's position had improved, and, if the world chose to regard its art as a parasitic thing, the artist could hardly be blame

spilled from the eaves and to listen to the runnin

ce of Dorothy herself. The door flew inwards, and Dorothy Lennard stood there, a pair of blue eyes and the tip of a nose visible, the rest of her a shimmer of some greenish-yellow

Miller said Sloane Street, but it was so near I thought I'd come in-how a

bathing-cap, allowed the long garment to rustle in a smal

rist and patted hers

tting the space next to it. You do certify me? I said to Mr. Miller, 'What is the good of sticking a piece of the stuff under a tap in the window? What does it convey to anybody? They only think there's some fake somewhere (advertisers have faked so much, you see), and besides, it's been done.' So I said, 'Why not let somebody go o

ace her boots, and presently thrust out for Amory's examin

u-can't do without that nowadays-'I, the undersigned, Amory Towers'-if they've never heard of you they daren't say so when they see that.... Th

he black fire, gabbling wit

broken; the sink was full of articles awaiting that dreaded washing-up; and in the cupboard forgotten condensed milk tins and brick-like half-loaves turned yellow and green. Amory had cut off Mrs. 'Ill's daily visit; she now came on Saturdays only, and Cosimo had not been there to give her a hand. By the time Dorothy had drawn up the fire, and, going for the tea-things, had found plates with sardine-tails on their edges and cups w

s Aunt Emmie. Hang my family! Would any of them buy me a pair of Japhet Boots? My dear, I have to dress myself well: I can't afford to go about in rags! You don't suppose I buy my clo

ven know that in order that they might dance somebody else must weep. Dorothy had condemned herself. All sorts of people could put forward that plea of hers, "I have to get things one way and another." Amory wanted to know what Dorothy gave the world in re

; so I just potter along. As a matter of fact, I'm only in the studio about half my time; it's much more fun downstairs, talking over ideas with Mr. Miller. You wouldn't suppose, would you, Amory," she said suddenly, both earnestly and excit

p and her feet in Cosimo's old slippers sh

. We have to choose our time for these things; wait for the ripe moment. Wait till Hallowells' get their last storey up and the roof on, then we'll see. Mr. Mi

stand. Is this fashion

, Hallowells' are going to wake London up. Mr. Miller's pretty good at his job-waking London up-in other words, advertising, and I'm only a fashion-artist a lon

y mean that she was going to make all this money out of fashion-drawing! Adve

y counted the weeks, felt (as it were) Aunt Jerry's pulse, asked her how she was feeling each morning, penetrated into her hidden thoughts, anticipated her desires, and then sent the things along-descriptions of layettes and perambulators, of cribs and pens and patent bottles, of foods and clothes and schemes for insurance. "Baby will Soon be Cutting his Teeth," Mr. Miller, or whoever it was, began, whispering (so to speak) confidentially behind his hand; or "Of course if you WANT your Wee One to have Wind!"... That,

ver this and that "opening"; none of them seemed very promising. Dorothy was already lacing up the Japhet Boots; she was going to make her advertisement a "cinch" by walking back also in the downpour. But suddenly Amory remember

n we ourselves are poor. For a moment Dorothy's eyes

nder?" Then she added, "Reall

ered whether Dorothy thought she wo

for a moment. "If it's really urgent-I mean if you really must have i

and deserving artists should come to her, she would neither ask questions nor break off into pauses that came to the same thing. She did not deny Dorothy's right to refuse; she did deny her any

elf--" Dorothy said hesitatingly, and Am

t she was not behaving very well. Suddenly she said

d," said Amory, helping Dor

was wet and Amory dry, she suddenly passed her arm about her. She held her close, making her horridly wet, and

ow you'd been living when I washed up; eggs and sardines and pressed beef; and you're really run down. You ought never to have signed that contract, but I'll tell you what you perhaps can do about that. Tell Croziers' that you won't go to another dealer, but that you must have leave to sell things privately, and that you'll pay them commission just as

derfed. Amory wasn't sure that Dorothy wasn't simply one mass of pose. She could come here and speak her mind plainly enough, could talk in quite a grasping spirit of the money she intended to get; but Amory could imagine her with Mr. Miller-anything but plain; sly, wheedling, not helping in the emancipation of her sex at all,

fusively, but still with dignity, "Oh, thank you so very, very much ... if you could possibly get me the money.... Perhaps I ha

ur ignorance and inexperience. I should tell 'em they could make kite-ta

s, and secondly because she always wanted to wash herself when Mr. Dix had covered her with those galantined eyes. But Dorothy was not an arti

d?" she sighed. "I

pounds off the price of the picture I'll buy-for my scheme's bound to come off! So we'll call that a bet. And now I must fly. Do try my plan with Mrs. 'Ill. When's Cosi

about the Ararat Coat. But now she remembered.... "Oh, th

not, but I thought you might as well. Nobody need sign it for that matter, but we have our space, and it's a pity to waste this rain. An

shallow (but pe

your kindness-but as you say it isn't-if you wouldn't very

" said Dorothy. "I'll let you

arat and the Japhet Boots to the test of

the promise of her ten pounds, but it had cost its price. It had cost it in forbearance. Still, that was no more than all t

disappointed