of myself--he had wonderful taste in such things. It was his
affair with me that finally cost him his place--and his wife, too,
for that matter. When I'd got all he had I left him and came to
New York. The rest isn't a pretty story, for I went the way most
girls do who have that appeal I spoke about."

Miss Lynn made this declaration calmly as she busied herself with
the glass her servant had fetched. She dissolved a portion of the
powder in the spoon, then carefully transferred the liquid into
the cap of a pearl-and-gold fountain-pen. Inserting the open end
of the receptacle into first one, then the other nostril, she
inhaled the contents.

"What are you doing?" asked Lorelei, curiously.

"Something to quiet my nerves. I--wonder why I told you all this?"
She eyed her guest speculatively, then shrugged. "Well, since
we're to be neighbors, we must be friends, and there's no harm
done. Now that Jarvis and I are engaged, he's awfully particular
about the company I keep, but he likes you. How different they act
when they're in earnest! He even wants me to quit work now, but I
like the excitement--it's better than waiting." She glanced at her
wrist-watch and drew herself together. "Our time is up, dear; we
must get back to the show-shop."




CHAPTER XII