Mrs. Balfame: A NovelAtherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
General
Mrs. Balfame: A Novel
Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
Murder -- Fiction; Mystery fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
And since the leader of Elsinore had "learned things" she was of an
elegance whose differences from those of women born to grace a loftier
sphere were merely subtle. Her fine brown hair, waved in New York, and
coiled on the nape of her long neck, displayed her profile to the best
possible advantage; like all women's women she set great store by her
profile. Whenever possible it was framed in a large hat with a rolling
brim and drooping feathers. Her severely tailored frocks made her look
aloof and stately on the streets (and in the trains between Elsinore and
New York); and her trim white shirt waists and duck skirts, or "one
piece suits" for colder weather, gave her a sweet feminine appeal in the
house. At evening entertainments she invariably wore black, cut chastely
about the neck and draped with a floating scarf.
Poor Dr. Anna, uncompromisingly plain from youth, worshipped beauty;
moreover, a certain mental pressure of which she was quite unaware
caused her to find in Enid Balfame her highest ideal of womanhood. She
herself was never trim; she was always in a hurry; and the repose and
serenity the calm and sweet dignity of this gifted being both fascinated
and rested her. That Mrs. Balfame took all her female adorers had to
offer and gave nothing but enhanced her worth. She knew the priceless
value of the pedestal, and although her wonderful smile descended at
discreet intervals her substantial feet did not.
Dr. Anna, who had never been sought by men and had seen too many of
them sick in bed to have a romantic illusion left, gave to this friend
of her lifetime, whom the years touched only to improve--and who never
was ill--the dog-like fidelity and love that a certain type of man
offers at the shrine of the unattainable woman. Mrs. Balfame was
sometimes amused, always complacent; but it must be conceded that she
took no advantage of the blind devotion of either Dr. Anna or her
numerous other admirers. She was far too proud to "use" people.
Mrs. Balfame seldom discussed her domestic trials even with Dr. Anna,
but this most intimate of her friends guessed that her life with her
husband was rapidly growing unendurable. She was, naturally, the family
doctor; she had nursed David Balfame through several gastric attacks,
whose cause was not far to seek.
But despite much that was highly artificial in her personality, Enid
Balfame was elementally what would be called, in the vernacular of the
day, a regular female; for a fortnight she had longed to talk about
Dwight Rush. This was the time to gratify an innocent desire while
watching sharply for an opportunity to play for higher stakes.
"Anna!" she said abruptly, as they sped along the fine road, "women like
and admire me so much, and I am passably good looking--young looking,
too--what do you suppose is the reason men don't fall in love with me?
Dave says that half the men in town are mixed up with those telephone
and telegraph girls, and they are pretty in the commonest kind of way--"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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