In Sight of St. Paul's — page 121: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

116 THE ASPASIA CLUB. of offending Harry, and so hurting herself. For the rest she cared little. ‘‘Oh, of her! Of your love, your wild beast, your Panther, of course ?”’ Harry was far from being pleased with this speech. He cared nothing for Beatrice Moreland, and he did care a ereat deal for the woman whom he felt she was sneering at. But, before he could frame a reply, a clear, rich voice startled them both. ‘“Ah, Beatrice, speaking of me!”’ Cynthia Dell had entered the little conservatory unperceived, and was standing not ten feet from them. | Beatrice started, and then turned to confront the woman she knew to be her rival and her enemy. ‘“Ves,’’ she said, boldly, with a sneer she took lit- tle pains to conceal; ‘‘of your conquests, of your good luck, of—of your age.’’ The Panther’s black eyes flashed, but there was a smile upon her lips, and she fanned herself with stud- ied nonchalance, as she replied, without a tremor in her voice: . ‘‘T understand perfectly, and appreciate the situa- tion. Success nowadays, my dear Beatrice, no matter what the line of business may be, isa crime, and it is the duty of the unsuccessful to punish it. I bow my head humbly to my unfair executioner. ’’ And she swept a magnificent but mocking cour- tesy to the angry Beatrice, . Gomicbooks (E(@) m