I am staying for a few days at Creston River.
Will you come down and meet me at Creston pool? I will wait for you till
evening.
IX
CHARITY sat before the mirror trying on a hat which Ally Hawes, with
much secrecy, had trimmed for her. It was of white straw, with a
drooping brim and cherry-coloured lining that made her face glow like
the inside of the shell on the parlour mantelpiece.
She propped the square of looking-glass against Mr. Royall's black
leather Bible, steadying it in front with a white stone on which a view
of the Brooklyn Bridge was painted; and she sat before her reflection,
bending the brim this way and that, while Ally Hawes's pale face looked
over her shoulder like the ghost of wasted opportunities.
"I look awful, don't I?" she said at last with a happy sigh.
Ally smiled and took back the hat. "I'll stitch the roses on right here,
so's you can put it away at once."
Charity laughed, and ran her fingers through her rough dark hair.
She knew that Harney liked to see its reddish edges ruffled about her
forehead and breaking into little rings at the nape.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132