Lynn arose suddenly, her chin a bit high, a light of determination in
her eyes. She felt herself growing angry again: "Come and look at my view of the moon on the valley," she said
suddenly, pulling aside the soft scrim curtain and letting in a flood
of moonlight. "Here, I'll turn out the light so you can see better.
Isn't that beautiful?"
She switched off the lights and the stranger drew near apathetically,
gazing out into the beauty of the moonlight as it touched the houses
half hidden in the trees and vines, and flooded the Valley stretching
far away to the feet of the tall dark mountains.
"I hate mountains!" shuddered Opal, "They make me afraid! I almost ran
over a precipice when I was coming here yesterday. If I have to go back
that same way I shall take Laurie, or if he won't go I'll cajole that
stunning prince of yours if you don't mind. I loathe being alone.
That's why I ran down here to see Laurie!"
But Lynn had switched on the lights and turned from the window. Her
face was cold and her voice hard: "Suppose we go to bed," she said, "will you have the bed next the
window or the door? And what shall I get for you? Have you everything?
See, here is the bathroom. Father and mother had it built for me for my
birthday. And the furniture is some of mother's grandmother's. They had
it done over for me."
"It's really a dandy room!" said Opal admiringly, "I hadn't expected to
find anything like this," she added without seeming to know she was
patronizing. "You are the only child, aren't you? Your father and
mother just dote on you too. That must be nice. We had a whole houseful
at home, three girls and two boys, and after father lost his money and
had to go to a sanitarium we had frightful times, never any money to
buy anything, the girls always fighting over who should have silk
stockings, and mother crying every night when we learned to smoke. Of
course mother was old fashioned. I hated to have her weeping around all
the time, but all our set smoked and what could I do? So I just took
the first good chance to get married and got out of it all. And Ed
isn't so bad. Lots of men are worse. And he gives me all the money I
want. One thing the girls don't have to fight over silk stockings and
silk petticoats any more. I send them all they want. And I manage to
get my good times in now and then too. But tell me, what in the world
do you do in this sleepy little town? Don't you get bored to death? I
should think you'd get your father to move to the city. There must be
plenty of churches where a good looking minister like your father could
get a much bigger salary than out in the country like this. When I get
back to New York I'll send for you to visit me and show you a real good
time. I suppose you've never been to cabarets and eaten theatre
suppers, and seen a real New York good time. Why, last winter I had an
affair that was talked of in the papers for days. I had the whole lower
floor decorated as a wood you know, with real trees set up, and mossy
banks, and a brook running through it all. It took days for the
plumbers to get the fittings in, and then they put stones in the
bottom, and gold fish, and planted violets on the banks and all kinds
of ferns and lilies of the valley, everywhere there were flowers
blossoming so the guests could pick as many as they wanted. The stream
was deep enough to float little canoes, and they stopped in grottoes
for champagne, and when they came to a shallow place they had to get
out and take off their shoes and stockings and wade in the brook. On
the opposite bank a maid was waiting with towels. The ladies sat down
on the bank and their escorts had to wipe their feet and help them on
with their shoes and stockings again, and you ought to have heard the
shouts of laughter! It certainly was a great time! Upstairs in the ball
room we had garden walks all about, with all kinds of flowers growing,
and real birds flying around, and the walls were simply covered with
American beauty roses and wonderful climbers, in such bowers that the
air was heavy with perfume. The flowers alone cost thousands--What's
the matter? Did you hear something fall? You startled me, jumping up
like that! You're nervous aren't you? Don't you think music makes
people nervous?"