On the eleventh floor of the Bellingham, Donald stood hastily rolling
his new sweater into a brown-paper parcel. Now into Washington Street,
the little Fordette came curving and snorting toward him: toward him, no
doubt, in a spiritual, as well as a geographical sense. And still the
full depth of the young girl's design was simply this: that her new
principal friend, going off for a gay week-end among maidens more blest
by opportunity than she, might go with a last pleasant thought of her.
For Mr. Manford was Angela's principal friend now; there was no longer
the smallest doubt of that. On that day of culminating results last
week, when the unusual line of vehicles had stood before her door, the
stalwart engineer had definitely moved up to first place in her
thoughts. Not only had Mr. Manford called for an hour and three-quarters
that day, while Dan Jenney cooled his heels in the office, and then went
off for a walk alone: but then also he had first shown, by unmistakable
signs, that he was truly interested in her. Moreover, in the very same
moments, by a strange and rather exciting coincidence, she found herself
becoming almost certain that she was truly interested in Mr. Manford.
She must have been pretty certain, even then, for it was that night
after supper, just before she started off to the theater with Mr.
Tilletts, that she had told Dan Jenney in the parlor, sadly but firmly,
that it could never be, and given him back his ring.
And since then, the shy girlish surmise had been further fed. One
pleasant happening continued to lead to another. When she had asked Mr.
Manford, half-jokingly, to send her some picture post-cards from New
York, for her collection, it was--again--purely from the instinctive
wish to know that she remained in her new admirer's thought, even when
he was far away. But he had sent her not only stacks of the loveliest
post-cards, showing the Flatiron Building, the Statue of Liberty, and
other well-known sights, but also the most beautiful book, called
"Queens"--a book of gorgeous pictures of American girls, all in color,
by one of the most famous artists in Chicago. Of course, common
politeness demanded that she should thank him--for "Queens," if not for
the post-cards--just as soon as he got back. And the resultant talk,
quarter of an hour over the telephone, had been just as satisfying as
possible....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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