the dance that night. She accepted, but without enthusiasm. Where
were the thrills she had expected to experience while receiving the
homage paid a visiting girl? He was just a grocery clerk named
Peters!

Yes; Romance had died out in the Middle Ages. . .

She felt very blase as she hung up the receiver.




CHAPTER V

IN THE MANNER OF THE DUCHESS


It was raining--a gentle, trickling summer rain, when, under a heap
of magazines near a heavenly attic window, Missy and Tess came upon
the paper-backed masterpieces of "The Duchess."

The volume Missy chanced first to select for reading was entitled
"Airy Fairy Lilian." The very first paragraph was arresting:

Down the broad oak staircase--through the silent hall--into the
drawing-room runs Lilian, singing as she goes. The room is deserted;
through the half-closed blinds the glad sunshine is rushing, turning
to gold all on which its soft touch lingers, and rendering the
large, dull, handsome apartment almost comfortable. . .