Richard, with the bow of a Cavalier, kissed the
one offered him as gallantly as if she had been a
duchess, telling her he had the rarest treat in store
for her as soon as Unger came, and Nathan with
mock devotion held the other between his two palms,
and said that to be scolded by Miss Clendenning was
infinitely better than being praised by anybody else.
These pleasantries over, the two old gallants returned
to the piano to wait for Max Unger and to study
again the crumpled pages of the score which lay
under the soft light of the candles.

The room relapsed once more into its wonted quiet,
broken only by the whispered talk of well-bred people
careful not to disturb each other. Mrs. Horn
had begun to knit again. Miss Clendenning stood
facing the fire, one foot resting on the fender.

This wee foot of the little lady was the delight
and admiration of all the girls about Kennedy
Square, and of many others across the seas, too--
men and women for that matter. To-night it was
encased in a black satin slipper and in a white spider-
web stocking, about which were crossed two narrow
black ribbons tied in a bow around the ankle--such
a charming little slipper peeping out from petticoats
all bescalloped and belaced! Everything in fact
about this dainty old maid, with her trim figure filling
out her soft white fichu, still had that subtlety of
charm which had played havoc with more than one