"Pretty well," answered Carmen, moistening her lips. "Who is Mrs. May? I
heard of her once. She's a friend of the Morehouses."
"She's a new importation," replied Theo lightly. "So far as I can make
out, she and Mr. Hilliard met in New York."
"Is she--pretty?"
"Yes, very. Fair hair and gray eyes that look dark. Mourning is becoming
to her."
"Is she a widow?"
"She--gives that impression," Miss Dene smiled. This Carmen Gaylor was
like a beautiful, fiery thundercloud. Teasing her was delightful. Theo
felt as if she were in a play. It was a dreadful waste of good material
not to have an audience. But she would "use the scene" afterward. She
remembered hearing a great actress tell how she visited hospitals for
consumptives, and even ran up to Davos one winter, when she was preparing
to play _La Dame aux Camelias_. Theo would have done all that if she had
been an actress. She was fond of realism in every form, and did not stick
at gruesomeness.
"A grass widow?" exclaimed Carmen eagerly.
Theo shrugged her shoulders. "Really, I can't tell you."
Carmen supposed that she knew little of Mrs. May, and had met her for the
first time at Santa Barbara with Nick. With Nick--motoring! The thought
gave Carmen a strange sensation, as if her blood had turned to little
cold, sharp crystals freezing in her veins.
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